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Derek Alger

essays

Derek Alger is a graduate of the Columbia University MFA writing program, and serves as Editor-at-Large to PIF Magazine. His fiction has appeared in Confrontation, Del Sol Review, The Literary Journal, and Night Train, to name a few. He has worked as an editor and reporter for newspapers in the Bronx for over 20 years.

Duff Brenna

essays

Duff is the author of six novels. He is the recipient of an AWP Award for Best Novel, a National Endowment for the Arts Award, a South Florida Sun-Sentinel Award for Favorite Book of the year, a Milwaukee Magazine Best Short Story of the Year Award, and a Pushcart Honorable Mention. His work has been translated into six languages. He is editor-in-chief of Serving House: A Journal of Literary Arts.

Ruth Coe Chambers

humor

Ruth Coe Chambers, author of The Chinaberry Album, has published short stories and articles and written two prize winning plays.  She writes from her home in Neptune Beach, Florida.

Francis Davis

fiction

Francis won the Discovering New Writers of Fiction award  sponsored by Pennbook of Philadelphia and had a chapbook published  entitled Dying to be Released. His fiction has appeared in Natural  Bridge, Notes Magazine, The Gihon River Review, and is forthcoming in  Weber: The Contemporary West and Third Wednesday. He’s earned an M.F.A.  in fiction from the University of Montana and a Ph.D. in English from  the University of Nebraska. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife  and three children.

Stephanie Eckenrode

memoir

Stephanie is an Australian-born New Yorker and an award-winning advertising copywriter.

JC Elkin

memoir

JC is an award-winning author of fiction and poetry, and the founder of the Broadneck Writers’ Worshop. A reviewer and essayist for The Bay Weekly, her work has also appeared in The Way of the Buffalo, Earth’s Daughters, and the Maryland Writer’s Association poetry anthology, Life in Me Like Grass On Fire.

Jonathan Freiberger

fiction

Jonathan grew up in Tenafly, NJ and graduated from Oberlin College in 1991, barely managing a 3.0 GPA, having avoided reading most of the books assigned to him as an English major. He worked in Hollywood for a while then, tragically, fell into finance and banking. He currently lives in New Jersey, and is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Social Work with the hope of somehow saving the World from itself.

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.

Pamela Gross

poetry

Pamela’s first complete collection, Birds of the Night Sky/Stars of the Field, was published by University of Georgia Press in its Contemporary Poets Series. In 2009, two of the poems in that book were selected to be part of a national anthology, Poets Guide to the Birds, edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Antioch Review, The Ohio Review, The Southern Review, The Journal, Commonweal, and many other publications.

Christie Grotheim

essays

Christie is currently in the process of writing and publishing a series of personal essays. Her essays have been featured in online literary magazines including Ducts Webzine, Smith Magazine and Mr. Bellers Neighborhood. She participates in the 2nd Draft Reading Series, the Word of Mouth Non-Fiction Reading Series, and is also non-paying member of The Moth.

DeWitt Henry

essays

DeWitt, the founder and longtime editor of Ploughshares, is the author of the memoir, Sweet Dreams: A Family History, and also Safe Suicide: Narratives, Essays And Meditations. He has edited several highly praised anthologies, including Sorrow’s Company: Writers on Loss and Grief, and Fathering Daughters: Reflections by Men, with James Alan McPherson. He is currently a Professor of Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College.

Greg Herriges

essays

Greg is the author of essays, five novels, a memoir about his meeting with J.D. Salinger, and a new collection of short stories, The Bay of Marseilles and Other Stories (2011 Serving House Books). His short works have appeared in The Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, Story Quarterly, The Literary Review, The South Carolina Review, The Encyclopedia of Beat Literature, and Great Britain’s Popular Music and Society and World Wide Writers. He is currently a professor of English at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, IL.

Jessi Klein

humor

Jessi Klein is a New York comedian who appeared on The Showbiz Show with David Spade. She was previously a panelist on VH1’s Best Week Ever, and had her own special on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend. Klein served as Director of Development for Comedy Central and helped shepherd the network’s hit series Chappelle’s Show. She has also worked on Staff for the ABC series, Samantha Who? Starring Christina Applegate in Los Angeles.

Mindy Lewis

essays

Mindy is the author of Life Inside: A Memoir, which received a starred Kirkus review and was named an Elle “Must-Read” and a 2003 “Book of the Year” by the American Journal of Nursing. She is also the editor of the anthology DIRT: The Quirks, Habits and Passions of Keeping House and a contributor to the New York Times Book Review. Her essays and articles have appeared in Newsweek, Body & Soul, Lilith, Poets & Writers, Arts & Letters Journal, Many Mountains Moving, Psychoanalytic Perspectives, huffingtonpost.com, and in anthologies. She teaches creative writing at Brooklyn College, The Writer’s Voice of the Westside YMCA, and Hudson Valley Writers’ Center, and has been a visiting writer at George Mason University’s MFA program. http://www.mindylewis.com.

Christopher Locke

essays

Christopher is a poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. He is the author of the poetry collection End of American Magic (Salmon Poetry, 2011). He has also published three chapbooks of poetry,  POSSESSED (Main Street Rag, Editor’s Choice Award — 2005), SLIPPING UNDER DIAMOND LIGHT (Clamp Down Press — 2002), and HOW TO BURN (Adastra Press – 1995). He currently resides in New Lebanon, NY with his wife and two daughters, and teaches literature and writing at The Darrow School.

Robert Marshall

fiction

Robert’s novel, A Separate Reality, was released in 2006 by Carroll & Graf and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction. In its review of A Separate Reality, The Washington Post called it “as good an encapsulation of adolescence as you’re likely to read.”  His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Salon, Event, Stickman Review, The Coe Review, Euphony, Blithe House Quarterly, and KGBbar.com, as well as in the anthologies Queer 13 and Afterwords.  In 2007, his investigative feature “The Dark Legacy of Carlos Castaneda” was chosen for “Best of Salon.”  As well as being a writer, he is also a visual artist, and has exhibited widely in both Europe and the United States at venues such as Richard Anderson Fine Arts, the Peter Kilchmann Gallerie in Zurich, the Koln Art Fair, White Columns  and the Brooklyn Museum. He is a recipient of fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, the Virginia Center and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Eric Victor Neagu

fiction

Eric lives in Chicago, where he works as a consultant.  Eric has degrees from Purdue University and The University of Chicago.  His fiction has appeared in Bartleby Snopes, The Pedestal Magazine, Bewildering Stories, Aphelion, and many other journals.  In addition to fiction writing, Eric spends time working on environmental issues in post-industrial communities.  He is also working on his first novel and a documentary about the Great Lakes.

Cheryl Pallant

memoir

Cheryl lives in Richmond VA, and has published several poetry books. The excerpt is from her forthcoming memoir, Ginseng Tango, about her life in South Korea. She continues to tango.

Joan Lauri Poole

poetry

Joan was born and raised in New York City. She lives in the Turtle Bay section of Manhattan with the poet John Couturier and an amazing canine named Oliver. Her work has been published in This Full Green Hour: An Anthology by the One O’Clock Poets (Sonopo) and in various small magazines (Shenandoah, Blue Mesa, New York Quarterly, Mudfish, and others). Carry Tiger Press is bringing out her first book, Bed of Crimson Joy, in 2011.

David Poolman

art gallery

David was born in Wallaceburg, Ontario. He is an MFA graduate from the University of Windsor, and a graduate of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Working in drawing, video, print media, and installation, Poolman has exhibited in art galleries and screened in festivals both nationally and internationally. Poolman currently lives in Toronto and is a professor of Drawing at Sheridan Institute. His video work is distributed through VTape and Ouat Media in Toronto.

Michael Sandler

poetry

Michael has other new work appearing in Moment Magazine, The Griffin, The Chaffin Journal, Diverse Voices Quarterly, California Quarterly, Natural Bridge, and Ship of Fools. He also works as an arbitrator in Mercer Island, Washington.

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.

Kate Tellers

memoir

Kate lives in Brooklyn with her fuzzy dog and husband. She is currently working on her memoir.

Abigail Warren

poetry

attended Smith College where she received the Rosemary Thomas Poetry Prize. A resident of Western Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley arts community, she currently teaches writing, literature, and poetry at Cambridge College. She has participated in numerous poetry collectives, conferences, classes/programs, readings, literary fundraisers, and the Palm Beach Poetry Festival. She has taken workshops with Galway Kinnell, Sharon Olds, Claudia Emerson, and Daisy Fried, and has taught writing/poetry workshops to low-income women.

Louis Wittig

humor

There’s really not too much to know about Louis Wittig. He’s slightly overweight, his haircuts don’t always make perfect sense, and he thinks he’s a much better judge of character and investments than he actually is. He does try to write, though. His blog is www.mrbutterworth.com.

Vivian Yang

fiction

Vivian is a Shanghai-native and a top winner of The WNYC Loenard Lopate Show Essay Contest. She is the author of the novels “Memoirs of a Eurasian,” “Shanghai Girl,” “Shan Hai Gaaru” and the non-fiction “Status, Society, and Sino-Singaporeans”. She divides her time between New York and Shanghai.)

STAFF

Jonathan Kravetz

editor-in-chief

Jonathan is best known for his ability to scratch his forehead and squint his eyes simultaneously .  He 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, Dallas and Brighton, England.  He teaches creative writing in New York.

Derek Alger

essays editor

Derek Alger is a graduate of the Columbia University MFA writing program, and serves as Editor-at-Large to PIF Magazine. His fiction has appeared in Confrontation, Del Sol Review, The Literary Journal, and Night Train, to name a few. He has worked as an editor and reporter for newspapers in the Bronx for over 20 years.

Lisa Kirchner

memoir editor

Lisa is the producer and host of New York’s only reading and improv series, The Next Chapter. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Salon.com, BUST Magazine, The New York Post, Budget Travel, Kirkus Reviews and TheHuffingtonPost.com, among numerous others. Before moving to the Persian Gulf, she was the religion editor for Pittsburgh’s gay and lesbian newspaper, the bridal editor for its society rag, and an alt newsweekly dating columnist. Her flash essay, “My Husband: My Moto,” appeared in the compilation Learning to Love You More (Prestel Publishing, 2007). Her solo show, CRANKY WHITE GIRL IN QATAR, is the basis for her memoir. She currently lives in New York City.

Amy Lemmon

poetry editor

Amy is the author of two poetry collections: Fine Motor (Sow’s Ear Poetry Review Press, 2008) and Saint Nobody (Red Hen Press, 2009) and co-author, with Denise Duhamel of ABBA: The Poems (Coconut Books, 2010) and Enjoy Hot or Iced: Poems in Conversation and a Conversation (Slapering Hol Press, 2011). Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, New Letters,Prairie Schooner, Verse, Court Green, The Journal, Barrow Street, and many other magazines and anthologies. Amy is associate professor of English at the Fashion Institute of Technology and lives with her two children in Astoria, Queens.

Anne Mironchik

assistant

Anne 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.

Cindy Stockton Moore

art gallery editor

Cindy is a Philadelphia-based artist, whose paintings have 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 at venues such as Heskin Contemporary (New York, NY,) PS122 (New York NY,) The Painting Center (New York, NY,) Sandy Carson Gallery (Denver, CO,) and Public Fiction (the museum of) in Los Angeles, CA.  Her latest project ‘Zane’s Wake’  was recently on view at the ‘Book as Art’ show at The Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, FL.  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 in Philadelphia.

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.

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

Daniella Batsheva

Daniella is an illustrator and designer born and raised in Philadelphia, working in Los Angeles.  Brought up in a clash of cultures from various different countries, her work subtly reflects the frenzy of her home and family.  She graduated from The University of the Arts with a BFA in Illustration in May, 2011. Inspired by bad horror films, eastern culture, and candy, Daniella concocts edgy pieces with color palettes brighter than your mom’s 80’s jumpsuit.

Chris Frost (humor section)

When not reminiscing about life in the old New York, Chris Frost designs and crafts handbags. 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.

Yuliya Kashapova

Yuliya has been working in the design field for past 6 years as a graphic artist and illustrator. In 2005 she received BA in Design and Studio Art from UVA, and went on working on various projects in TV, film, and music industries in NYC, San Francisco, LA, and New Jersey. Her illustration works have been published in The New Yorker, and various literary magazines.

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

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