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Tamara Adelman
essays
Tamara is a massage therapist, triathlete, and freelance writer living in Santa Monica, California. Devoted to training and traveling, she has competed in Ironman races in Brazil, South Africa, the Canary Islands, and Europe.
Derek Alger
essays
Derek is a graduate of the Columbia University MFA fiction writing program, and serves as a Contributing Editor to PIF Magazine. His fiction has appeared in Confrontation, Del So Review, and The Literary Journal, to name a few. He has worked as an editor and reporter for newspapers in the Bronx for over 20 years.
J.D. Anderson
memoir
J.D. Anderson: Part eco-tourist, part neurotic, part idiot manly man, I am a fifth-generation Montanan who, after circling the West, producing, directing, and editing public and nonprofit radio and television, now makes his home in the Black Hills of South Dakota. My most recent fiction and nonfiction contributions to periodicals are work in Polyphony, The FlyFish Journal, and The VLP Magazine. I hold an MFA from Pacific University-Oregon and I have taught as an adjunct at Black Hills State University in Spearfish.
JP Borum
fiction
JP Borum lives on New York City’s Upper West Side. For over twenty years he has worked as an art writer, contributing frequently to magazines such as Artforum and Raw Vision, and anthologies published by university presses such as Oxford and Ole Miss. He recently earned the MFA at NYU’s Creative Writing Program, and has turned his attention to writing fiction. Borum is currently an instructor of writing at NYU’s Liberal Studies, where he can be found hanging out in the hallways with poets and scientists.
Alec Bryan
memoir
Alec lives in Utah and doesn’t even have one wife. His first novel has been serialized by Prick of the Spindle, which after the third installment will now be published as a book via Aqueous Books this November, and is titled Night on the Invisible Sun. Short stories can be read at Oddville Press, Dogzplot, LITnIMAGE, Corium Magazine, The Waccamaw Journal, and forthcoming in Pank and Mudluscious. Visit him at www.alecbryan.com to see further information about the author and his projects.
Valentina Cano
poetry
Valentina Cano is a student of classical singing who spends whatever free time she has either reading or writing. Her work has appeared in Exercise Bowler, and is forthcoming in the winter editions of Blinking Cursor, Theory Train, Magnolia’s Press, Cartier Street Press, Berg Gasse 19, A Handful of Dust, The Scarlet Sound, and Perhaps I’m Wrong About the World. You can find her here: http://coldbloodedlives.blogspot.com
Liane Kupferberg Carter
humor
Liane Kupferberg Carter’s essays and articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, Babble, Skirt!, Errant Parent, Literary Mama, Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, and, forthcoming, in Brevity. She is a 2009 winner of the Memoir Journal prize for a memoir in prose.
Shanna Compton
poetry
Shanna’s books include For Girls & Others (2007), Down Spooky (2005), Gamers (2004), and several chapbooks, including Good Morning, Romantics (2010). This excerpt is from her forthcoming poetry collection The Seam Rovers (2011), and additional pieces of the book may be found in recent issues of Women’s Studies Quarterly, No Tell Motel, The Equalizer, and Black Warrior Review. For more information, see shannacompton.com.
Kipp Friedman
memoir
A native New Yorker, Kipp holds B.A.s in History and Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida before moving to Wisconsin, where he worked in public relations for GE Medical Systems and then as a marketing and public relations specialist for several organizations. He is also a professional photographer. Kipp currently resides in Milwaukee with his wife and they have a son in college. For the past three years he has been writing essays capturing childhood memories as the youngest son of the renowned novelist and playwright Bruce Jay Friedman. This is his second story for Ducts.org . Kipp is working on a memoir collection entitled, The Barracuda in the Attic, which is scheduled to be published by Fantagraphics Books in 2012.
Becki Fuller
art gallery
Becki is a Brooklyn based photographer and co-founder of the street art bog “The Street Spot”. Her passion for street art and graffiti takes her all around the five boroughs of New York and beyond, searching for beauty and inspiration in the urban landscape. Her photography has been exhibited at Pandemic Gallery, Fresthetic, and Outpost in Bushwick as well as numerous street art and graffiti books. She is a strong advocate for people taking back public space from corporate America and making it their own once again.
Jake Kalish
humor
Jake has written for Details, Maxim, Playboy, and Men’s Fitness, among other publications. He is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium Of Imaginary Fights and the proud father of Una and Esme.
Rachel A. Levine
memoir
“I have been writing since I was about 11 years old. I started with poetry, which came naturally, and have always loved the short form. Fiction came much later and was a challenge. Deciding to write my own memoir, to cull from my lifetime of journals, was not an easy thing to do. I tried to avoid the “squirm factor:” what readers do when a memoir tells more than you want to know! In the last few years I have completed a novel, Brooklyn Valentine, a screen play, several one-act plays, and some personal essays. The journals continue. Much of my work is on line at www.BrooklynValentine.com.”
Esther Mizrachi Mortiz
memoir
Esther Moritz is a former New Yorker and recovering attorney who lives and writes in Austin, TX. Esther’s memoir pieces have been published in Lilith Magazine. She has also been published on motheru.com, is a frequent contributor to drashpit.com, and has read her work in the Austin production of “Listen to Your Mother.” She is working on her first novel. Esther runs her own freelance writing business and writes almost anything–including educational and marketing materials, grant proposals, web content, and business documents–for a diverse group of clients.
Derek N. Otsuji
poetry
Derek teaches English at Honolulu Community College and works at Otsuji Farms, a family-run farmer’s market, on the weekends. His work is forthcoming or has appeared in Eclectica, Green Hills Literary Lantern, Inscape, Kaimana: Literary Arts Hawaii, The MacGuffin, The Midwest Quarterly, Word Riot, and Verdad. He won first place in the Eisteddfod Crown Competition and has studied writing with the late Welsh poet Leslie Norris.
Elizabeth Poreba
poetry
Elizabeth is a New York City high school English teacher who lives in the Lower East Side of Manhattan with her husband. She is a long-time member of the One O’Clock Poets and her work appears in the group’s anthology, This Full Green Hour. Finishing Line Press is in the process of publishing her chapbook, The Family Calling. Her poems have appeared in Commonweal, Poetry East, and the Southern Poetry Review.
Julie Prince
humor
Julie lives in The Bronx and is married with two teenaged children. She works for the New York City Department of Education and has so far lived to tell about it.
Jennifer Hasenyager Smith
memoir
Jennifer is a “retired” eye surgeon, a single mother, and a memoir author. She was a nationally known professor and eye surgeon in the Chicago area from 1999 through 2005 and have been honored by the American Academy of Ophthalmology for Dedication to Teaching and for Special Contribution to Ophthalmology. She began writing two years ago and is now completing a memoir about her time in medicine and the personal transformation that occurred as she recovered from her years as a doctor. Since leaving medical practice, she now works with gifted children and adults with learning problems—with a particular interest in the underlying neuroscience. She is also a pastel artist and has a black belt in Taekwondo.
Mary Smull
art gallery
Mary is an artist and educator living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in South Korea and Canada.
Randolph Splitter
fiction
Randolph has recently completed a novel called Bonobo Boy. A story adapted from the novel is just out from Chicago Quarterly Review. He has published two books, including the novella/story collection Body and Soul (Creative Arts). He has also written screenplays and made short films. He is currently working on a new novel.
Bill Stack
memoir
The story reveals part of my background. I grew up in Manchester, Ct, graduated from Georgetown University in 1969 and perused a career in investment management. The last major position in that career was as C.E.O of Soros Fund Management in New York City. I am now retired, living New Jersey and New York with my wife of 40 years, surrounded with three married children and nine grandchildren.
Sunsh Stein
memoir
Sunsh has lived in New York City for more years than she thought possible. She has a master’s degree in journalism and has written for JazzTimes and Jazz Notes. She’s the author of the unpublished Sibling Rivalry: The Road to Love Is Paved with Medication and is currently working on Reality — What a Concept. Sunsh also works as a patient advocate/educator/navigator.
Kristi Marie Steinmetz
fiction
After taking up residence in Hawaii (as a result of a post-undergraduate dare), Kristi Marie Steinmetz relocated to Seattle in the 90s where she received the M.F.A. in Creative Writing and the M.A. in Fiction from the University of Washington. She then moved on to Tallahassee to earn her Ph.D. in English from Florida State University, where she also taught poetry, literature, cultural theory, and writing for nearly a decade. Her work has been published in various places, including Poetry Northwest, The Oregonian, The Rutgers Review and, as a book chapter, in Finding Our Way: A Writing Teacher’s Sourcebook (Houghton Mifflin). Currently, she teaches writing at NYU, mothers a miracle-of-a-daughter along with a good ole boy-dog from Georgia, and is in the process of completing her first book, an autohistoria, “One Plus One Equals Three.”
Dana Elyse Tarasavage
poetry
Dana is a Yoga and Pilates instructor in New York City. She continuously finds herself exploring through poetry, creative free-writing, and movement. Her work has appeared in Omnibus. For more about her yogic endeavors, visit www.danaelyseyoga.com.
Thomas Ward
essays
Thomas Ward is a playwright and screenwriter whose plays include Keeping Watch, Going with Jenny, and Binge (produced by SLANT Theatre Project, New York City). He co-wrote the screenplay for the independent feature film Sironia directed by Brandon Dickerson and featuring the music of Wes Cunningham. Also an actor, Thomas appeared in the Off-Broadway premiere of Craig Wright’s The Unseen at the Cherry Lane Theatre and continues to work regionally across the country. Thomas is an Assistant Professor in the Baylor University Department of Theatre Arts and holds an MFA in Acting from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival/University of Alabama.
Jack Willis
memoir
Jack is President of the Willis Group, a television and documentary film Production Company. He has been a producer and executive in commercial, cable and public television. He created and executive produced the EMMY award-winning innovative news show, THE 51st STATE, for WNET/13. He was Co-Executive Producer of PBS’ groundbreaking, EMMY award-winning, The Great American Dream Machine, and Willis’ series, CITY WITHIN A CITY, which also won an EMMY, and was widely credited with helping to achieve passage of Milwaukee’s Open Housing law in 1967. Willis has produced and directed numerous award winning documentaries and has also produced films for CBS News as well as THE HUMAN ANIMAL series (1986,) with Phil Donahue, for NBC. With his wife, Mary, he has written several highly rated network movies of the week and co-authored the book, BUT THERE ARE ALWAYS MIRACLES. He has a BA and LLB from UCLA and an Honorary Doctor of Law from St. Johns University in Minnesota.
STAFF
Jonathan Kravetz
editor-in-chief
Jonathan is a playwright, editor and some time trumpet player who spends too much time reading long feature stories on the world wide web. He is a co-founder of ducts and founder of the New York based reading series, Trumpet Fiction, held each month at KGB Bar in the east village. His plays have been produced in New York City and Brighton, England and he’s had readings in New York and Dallas. Learn more at jonathankravetz.com
Sharon Gurwitz
treasurer
Sharon’s careers as psychology professor, banker, and management consultant all come in handy for managing the business side of ducts. When she’s not working on a consulting project or writing her novel, she en
Dana Benningfield
memoir editor
Dana comes to her role of writer and editor with a breadth of experience in several disciplines. She started out as an advertising account executive on Madison Avenue before moving over to work behind the scenes in film production for Walt Disney Pictures. She then expanded to theatre arts, where she worked to develop new plays as literary manager, director and actor. Since moving into the publishing world, Dana has enjoyed working with numerous writers, both fiction and non-fiction, taking on editing and ghostwriting projects, as well as evaluating manuscripts for writers, publishers and agents. In addition to many notable writers, she credits her parents for her editing and story-telling abilities. As an English teacher, her mother emphasized the importance of sound writing and proper grammar; her father would often spin a tall bedtime tale, thereby instilling in her the power of a story well told. Dana holds a B.S. with honors in Advertising and Communications from The University of Texas at Austin, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and an M.F.A. from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival/UA. www.benningfield-editor.com
Anne Mironchik
assistant
Anne, although a fine treasurer, is much more renowned for her songwriting, which reaches back to capture the classic brilliance of favorite hits by Carole King and Laura Nyro. She blurs the lines between jazz, country, rock and R&B, weaving melody and rhythm together in masterful ways. Her rich alto voice leads listeners from one genre to another as she explores the struggles, loves, fears and joys of everyday heroes. When she’s not writing great music, Anne is busy crunching numbers for ducts! Anne’s new CD “Find Me” is now available and can be found at www.annemironchik.com. 4newsongs@earthlink.net
Kat Rodies
humor editor
Kat Rodies is a nurse practitioner, medical writer, and short fiction enthusiast who has been called the ideal person to have with you in a POW camp.
Elizabeth Rosen
essays editor
Elizabeth is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Lafayette College. In previous incarnations, she has also been a writer for Nickelodeon, an associate producer for the news, and the editor of two academic journals. She has published her nonfiction and fiction in various publications.
Cindy Stockton Moore
art gallery editor and illustrator
Cindy is a Philadelphia-based painter and writer. Her paintings have most recently been featured in ‘An Island Now Peopled,’ a two-person exhibition at Chashama Chelsea Project Space in New York. She has shown throughout the US and abroad; upcoming exhibitions include a two-person show at the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster and a solo exhibition of wall paintings at Artspace Liberti in Philadelphia. Her writing on art has appeared in ArtNews, NYArts Magazine, The New York Sun, in addition to university and gallery publications in the US and Canada. Cindy is currently a member of the curatorial team at Grizzly Grizzly, an artist run gallery. A listing of her current exhibitions and projects can be found at: www.cindystocktonmoore.com
Tim Tomlinson
fiction editor
Tim’s fiction has appeared in The Missouri Review, North American Review, Libido, and elsewhere. He’s published haiku in Modern Haiku, Time Haiku, and Black Bough. He’s an occasional journalist, and a full time teacher, working at both NYU and the New York Writers Workshop.
Illustrators
Chris Frost (humor section)
Chris Frost is a designer of handbags and men’s fashion. His illustrations have appeared in Ducts and Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium Of Imaginary Fights. He currently resides in Bushwick, but dreams of a move to Puerto Varas.
Natalie Lerario
Natalie has been working as a graphic artist since 2005 and has recently completed a web design certificate program in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Along with graphic design, Natalie also enjoys creating digital illustrations. www.NatalieLerario.com
Steve Tarantino
Steve attended FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology ) in New York for Illustration. He graduated in 1991 with a BFA in Illustration. www.stevetarantino.com.