volume 2, issue 1
February 2022
JANNAH YUSUF AL-JAMIL is a Muslim-American writer who is learning how to do many things, such as how to cook shrimp and how to love. They read for antinarrative (@antinarrativeZ). Find their work in Overheard, Pollux Journal, and at jannahyusufaljamil.carrd.co. [Read: Laureate and Seven / SAB'A]
LORELEI BACHT (she/they) successfully escaped grey skies and red buses to live and write somewhere in the monsoon forest. They wish they could say that they have been working on a chapbook, but they have been drinking green tea and listening to frogs instead. They can be found on Instagram @lorelei.bacht.writer and on Twitter @bachtlorelei. [Read: Convalescing, I discover the skin.]
WREN BEE is a queer bird. They are most at home outside in the garden, by the water, or under the trees. They are passionate about building community with their human and non-human neighbors based on mutual care and mutual aid. They are fascinated by both the connections and the spaces between people, which leads them to a wide variety of creative expression—embroidery and spinning, painting and drawing, singing and songwriting, poems and stories—in an attempt to see more clearly. [Read: Notes from the war:]
KATE CAREY (she/her) is a fat queer polyamorous slut who sometimes spends whole days in bed crying because feelings are hard. Through deeply personal poetry and creative nonfiction, she touches on issues relating to trauma, fat liberation, mental illness and sexuality. You can find more about her at https://www.katemcarey.com/ [Read: Recipe for A Non-Functioning Adult]
DORIANA DIAZ is a storyteller, shapeshifter, and sensitive spirit rooted in Philadelphia's soulful rhythms. Doriana is the self-published author of Mami Calls Me Gabriella and Sunphases, both released in 2018. Her words have appeared in platforms such as: Nappy Head Club, Black Women Radicals, GROW/N Mag, Saddie Baddies, SYLA Studio, Black Girl Magik, We Heal Too, The Kraal, and many more! She believes words have DNA, they sit under our skin, erupting into soft and vivid explosions through our veins like lighting. Her writing is an exploration of cultural agency, archival documentation, and rhythms of resistance and expansion. [Read: Where I've Been]
DANIELLE ESPINOSA is a queer, Filipina therapist living in Los Angeles. She holds an MS in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton. Danielle moonlights as a poet and writer, exploring themes such as attachment, trauma, and being a child of immigrants. She can be found on Instagram and Twitter at @danielletherapy. [Read: Enchiladas]
MARIA GIESBRECHT is a Canadian poet with a unique storytelling style. She is an accountant by day and loves to travel and write about her experiences around the world. Maria is passionate about using storytelling and poetry as a means of self-reflection and healing. You can find her on Instagram @theguelphpoet. [Read: Not All My Ghosts]
TAYLOR GREENE (he/him) is an archaeologist living in Arkansas, so he spends more time reading in an office than you'd think. When he's not there, he likes taking long drives to see archaeological sites and find good BBQ places. His favorite tree is the magnolia in bloom, and his favorite coffee shop was the original Common Grounds in Lexington, Kentucky—although it’s gone now and their drip coffee was never very good. [Read: In Which We Find]
gripp is a writer / programmer / performer based primarily on the internet. Eeir work is multimedia and interdisciplinary, ranging from written word to performance art to electronic installation. Ee have appeared onstage as an actor and a poet, self-published and been printed in literary magazines, built digital chapbooks and chatbots, taught college courses and workshops, and have written, produced, and appeared in short films. Much of gripp's work is fantastical, surreal, and absurdist. It confronts race, gender, mental imbalance, loneliness, existential dread, and life as a cyborg. In eeir spare time, ee enjoy board games, avoiding attention, and writing biographies in the third person. [Read:
IN SEVENTH GRADE [WE] INSTALL SOFTWARE and I DONT WANT TO LIFT WEIGHTS WITH HIM]
CANDICE KELSEY teaches writing in the South. Her poetry appears in Poets Reading the News and Poet Lore among other journals, and her first collection, Still I am Pushing, explores mother-daughter relationships as well as toxic body messages. She won the Two Sisters Writing Contest for her micro story, was chosen as a finalist in Cutthroat's Joy Harjo Poetry Prize, and was recently nominated for both a Best of the Net and two Pushcarts. Find her at www.candicemkelseypoet.com. [Read: To Be A Gannet on Skellig Michael and Skip Intro]
OLIVER ANTONI KRAWCZYK is a trans poet who wiggles steamed milky foam for a living. They have been published in table//feast, west review, and elsewhere. [Read: America's Pandemic Before Starting HRT]
NICOLE LALIBERTY is a writer and cartoonist living in Stratford, Connecticut. [Read:
Friends with Boys and My grandmother is trying on party gowns for my cousin's wedding]
COURTNEY LEBLANC is the author of the full length collections Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart (Riot in Your Throat) and Beautiful & Full of Monsters (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press). She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Riot in Your Throat, an independent poetry press. She loves nail polish, tattoos, and a soy latte each morning. Read her publications on her blog: www.wordperv.com. Follow her on twitter: @wordperv, and IG: @wordperv79. [Read: The End of the Year Approaches and I Wonder if I Should Make Resolutions]
CONNIE MAUNDER lives and works in North Yorkshire, England, and is a postgraduate student at the University of York. She is studying for a Creative Writing PGDip and enjoys all forms of creative writing. Her poetry can be found @mx_over on Instagram. [Read: She's looking for a vase]
EDYTHE RODRIGUEZ is a Philly-based poet who loves neo-soul, battle rap, and long walks through old poetry journals. Her work is a call for aggressive healing and sankofa. [Read: my back ain't no crystal stair]
SWAGATIKA SARANGI (she/her) floats between feeling like a cloud and a tree. A cheerleader for solitude, she writes, performs poems & stories, makes zines, and goes on dates with art. Living in Bangalore, she is a copywriter by profession. When not thinking about afternoon naps, she travels alone to anywhere her bank balance decides. Her poems have been published by Ayaskala, Zineabaad, Remington Review, All Ears Magazine, and are upcoming elsewhere. As a spoken word artist, her work has been featured by Tales & Tacos. Say hi @swagatika.sarangi on Instagram! [Read: Starve]
MELODY SERRA's passion is teaching and empowering others by sharing what she has learned. She helped launch an arts and crafts program at a children's hospital and also taught at San Quentin State Prison. Melody hopes to inspire youth to explore and expand their creativity through web development, writing, and art. [Read: Artifacts]
ANGIE SHENOUDA is a 21 year old poet from Las Vegas, Nevada. She feels most alive when surrounded by nature, dancing at concerts, and rewatching the Disney movie Soul for the millionth time. You can find her at @priority.happiness and her feminist artwork at @darlingangelcreations on Instagram. [Read: the first time i felt my pulse]
ANNA SHIRSHOVA (she/her) is a poet who studies and lives in London. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in Pile Press, Phantom Kangaroo, The Lovers Literary Journal, Blue Daisies Journal, The Graveyard Zine, Wingless Dreamer, W.E.I.R.D and others. Anna is also a co-founder and editor for an online magazine, The Literary Canteen. Her poetry is tender and elegant, with a sense of timelessness and stillness. When not writing Anna is busy scrapbooking, obsessing over scented candles or visiting as many coffeeshops as she can. To discover more, follow Anna on Twitter: @a_lowenzahn. [Read: Nightwalker]
PAULINA SUCRE is an illustrator living in New York City with her void cat, Inky. She can be found @dessertviolets on Instagram. [Look: cover art]
SARAI MARIE SUMI is a college English major trying to share her art. [Read: Strawberry Ice Cream]
CLEMENTINE WILLIAMS is a Black, queer undergraduate student hailing from North Carolina. They are working toward a degree in social work with a minor in criminology. Clementine is a new prose and poetry writer whose work centers around Black lesbianism and intersectionality. You can find them @fairyfemmes on Twitter. [Read: Confessionals]