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Julie Albright
memoir
Julie is the owner of The Writing Studio in Pittsburgh. Her short stories have appeared in Third Coast, The Good Men Project, womenwriters.net, and more. She received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant for her fiction, and was a finalist in the AWP Prize for the Novel competition.
Marcia Butler
essays
Marcia was a professional oboist for 25 years and performed all over the world. She now owns an interior design firm located in New York City, where she also has lived for over 40 years.
Dean Francis Alfar
fiction
Dean is a novelist and writer of speculative fiction. His fiction has been published and anthologized both in his native Philippines and abroad (Strange Horizons, Rabid Transit, The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror, The Apex Book of World SF, The Time Traveler’s Almanac, and the Exotic Gothic series among many others). His books include the novel Salamanca, short fiction collections The Kite of Stars and Other Stories and How to Traverse Terra Incognita, and the children’s book How Rosang Taba Won A Race. He has edited or co-edited volumes of the Philippine Speculative Fiction annuals, Horror: Filipino Fiction for Young Adults, The Farthest Shore: Fantasy from the Philippines, Outpouring: TyphoonYolandaReliefAnthology and Maximum Volume: Best New Philippine Fiction. His literary awards include ten Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature — including the Grand Prize for Novel for Salamanca — as well as the National Book Awards for the graphic novels Siglo: Freedom and Siglo: Passion, the Philippines Free Press Literary Award, and the Gintong Aklat Award. He is a member of the Manila Critics Circle. Dean lives in Manila with his wife, award-winning fictionist Nikki Alfar and their daughters Sage and Rowan. His 3rd collection of short fiction, A Field Guide to the Streets of Manila, will be available in late 2015.
Nicki Francis Alfar
fiction
Nikki has fought fire 7,000 feet in midair and killed a snake with a flip-flop. Confoundingly, she finds writing much harder, but has nevertheless managed to cadge recognition out of the Palanca, Nick Joaquin, and international Mariner literary awards. She therefore perseveres, getting fiction published locally and globally (Her Facebook timeline has an updated bibliography), including her short story collections WonderLust (Anvil Publishing, 2014) and the National Book Award-winning Now, Then, and Elsewhen (UST Publishing, 2013). She also smokes like a chimney, dances the tango with her husband Dean, and invents whimsical origami for their daughters Sage and Rowan. Nikki more often than not co-edits the critically-acclaimed annual anthology series Philippine Speculative Fiction, has further co-edited The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction 2005 – 2010 (UP Press), and edited the absolutely free Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler (Flipside Publishing). She’s a proud founding member of the LitCritters writing group, has been a fellow at the UP National Writers’ Workshop as well as a judge for the Palanca and Philippines Free Press literary awards, and was selected as one of twelve ‘Filipina writers of note’ by the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings. She’s perpetually learning to cook better, and speak some Spanish.
B. K. Fischer
poetry
B.K. Fischer is the author of two poetry collections, Mutiny Gallery, which won the 2011 T. S. Eliot Prize from Truman State, and St. Rage’s Vault, which received the 2012 Washington Prize from The Word Works. Her poems have appeared in The Paris Review, FIELD, Literary Mama, WSQ, The Hopkins Review, Crab Orchard Review, Ninth Letter, Southwest Review, and other journals. Also the author of a critical study, Museum Mediations: Reframing Ekphrasis in Contemporary American Poetry (Routledge, 2006), she was a finalist for the 2014 Balakian Citation in Reviewing from the National Books Critics Circle. She is a poetry editor at Boston Review.
Robert Hamburger
fiction
Robert has written books ranging over oral history, personal journalism, biography, travel/ memoir, and fiction. “The Splintered Mirror” is one of a series of stories that explore the lives of imagined artists and writers.
Evelyn C. Hankins
art gallery
Evelyn is a curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. Prior to being at the Hirshhorn, Hankins worked as an assistant curator at the Whitney Museum of Art before serving as curator at the University of Vermont. Hankins holds a B.A. (1990) from the University of California, Santa Barbara; and an M.A. (1994), and Ph.D. (1999) from Stanford University. Her research interests include: American modernism; contemporary art; museum theory.
Laurie Izes
memoir
Laurie worked for 11 years as CSX Transportation’s New York representative managing the transfer of the High Line elevated track to New York City. She has a BA from Columbia University and lives in Manhattan with her husband, three sons. their pet hamster, and too much laundry. She is working on a short story collection entitled, Difficult Love.
Gerry LaFemina
poetry
Among his numerous collections of poetry, prose poetry, and fiction, Gerry LaFemina’s latest titles are Little Heretic (poems) and Palpable Magic: Essays and Readings on Poets and Prosody. A noted editor and literary arts activist, he directs the Center for Literary Arts at Frostburg State University where he is an Associate Professor of English, and he serves as Executive Director of Poets@Work.
Amy Landau
essays
Amy is a native New Yorker and recent graduate from the MFA Creative Writing Program at Georgia College. She writes not only creative nonfiction but also short stories.
Quincy R. Lehr
poetry
Quincy is the author of several poetry collections, most recently Heimat and the forthcoming The Dark Lord of the Tiki Bar, and his poetry and criticism have appeared widely in North America, Europe, and Australia. He is the associate editor of The Raintown Review and lives in Brooklyn.
Fredricka R. Maister
essays
Fredricka is a New York City-based freelance writer. Her work has appeared in a variety of print and online publications, such as the Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Jewish Week, Baltimore Jewish Times, Long Island Woman, Big Apple Parent, Coping with Cancer magazine, Travel Thru History, and Huffington Post. Her essays have also been published in several anthologies, including The Man Who Ate His Book: The Best of ducts.org, Volume II and Wising Up Press’ View from the Bed/View from the Bedside.
Earl McKenzie
art gallery
St Hope Earl McKenzie (also known as Earl McKenzie) was born in the St Andrew Hills, Jamaica in 1943. He received his teacher education from Mico College, a BA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of British Columbia.His art education began at Mico College,after which he spent a year at the Alberta College of Art. At Columbia he did several courses in art history, and was introduced to philosophy of art by Arthur Danto, one of the leading figures in this field..McKenzie taught at Church Teachers’ College, Mandeville, for 25 years, where he included Art Education and English among the subjects he taught.He then taught Philosophy for 15 years at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and is now retired from that institution.A pioneering Caribbean literary and educational philosopher, he is the author of eight books, including two texts of academic philosophy, three collections of poetry, two collections of short stories, and one multi-genre volume of poetry, short stories and visual art.He has exhibited his paintings in Jamaica and the USA.He was awarded a Silver Musgrave Medal for his contribution to literature,and The Mico University College 175th Anniversary Award for distinguished service.
Catherine Pond
poetry
Catherine is a poet from Alpharetta, Georgia. In 2015, she was a recipient of the Lotos Foundation Prize and her manuscript was a Finalist for the Kathryn A. Morton Book Prize (Sarabande Books). She holds an MFA from Columbia University and she currently teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Barbara Russell
memoir
Barbara is an 82-year-old actor, comedian and educator. She was one of the very first teachers of reading on educational television (WQED-TV). With her comedy partner, the late Don Brockett, she performed in cabaret theatres throughout the United States. She is currently a Wolf Trap Teaching Artist and this summer she will be appearing at two summer theatres. In June she will take 11-year-old granddaughter to England, where she hopes to find more egg piercers.
Kevin Schulman
essays
Kevin is a rising junior at New York University majoring in music and a double minor in history and Irish studies. He hosts a weekly radio show on WNYU.
John Quilty
memoir
John Quilty is a writer who lives and works in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. His recent short shorts have been published on Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood. John is also a photographer whose photographs appear in The New York Times.
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 and literature at FIT SUNY. He has an MFA from Queens College CUNY.
Jacqueline Bishop
art gallery editor
Jacqueline is an award-winning photographer-painter-writer born and raised in Jamaica, who now lives and works in New York City (“Jamaica’s 15th Parish”). She has twice been awarded Fulbright Fellowships, including a year-long grant to Morocco; her work exhibits widely in North America, Europe and North Africa. She also teaches Liberal Studies at New York University; is the author of The River’s Song, a novel about growing up in Jamaica. She writes a monthly visual arts article for the Huffington Post. Visit Jacqueline Bishop at her website at: http://www.jacqueline-bishop.com
Mary Cool
Editor
Mary is a writer, editor and artist who lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Frida Kahlo is her artistic and inspirational muse, and she hopes someday to grow an equally decadent unibrow. Mary’s short fiction has appeared in the online magazines Hogglepot and Storychord, and she has performed her work in the Kick Assonance literary series at the KGB Bar in the East Village. She studied documentary filmmaking at The New School and blogs about learning to write through reading at captivatedaudience.blogspot.com.
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 The Best American Poetry, Rolling Stone, New Letters,Prairie Schooner, Verse, Court Green, The Journal, Barrow Street, and many other magazines and anthologies. Amy is Professor and Acting Chairperson of English & Communication Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology and lives with her two children in Astoria, Queens.
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 Tomlinson is co-founder of New York Writers Workshop, and co-author of its popular text, The Portable MFA in Creative Writing. His chapbook, Yolanda: An Oral History in Verse, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press (Oct 2015). His fiction, poetry, and essays have been published in China (United Verses), the Philippines (Esquire, Tomas, Silliman Journal, and Fast Food Fiction on Anvil Press), and in numerous venues in the US, including The Blue Lyra Review, Barnstorm Literary Journal, Caribbean Vistas, Soundings Review, Theory in Action, and in the anthology Long Island Noir (Akashic Books). He’s been an invited speaker and workshop leader in China, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and the US. He teaches in New York University’s Global Liberal Studies program. He’s been Fiction Editor with Ducts since 2005, where he’s been proud to showcase work from established US writers such as Kim Addonizio and Sheila Kohler, and to bring in writing from around the globe, from authors such as Damyanti Ghosh, Sarge Lacuesta, and M.G. Stephens.
Helen Zelon
essays editor
Helen is a nonfiction writer and editor who has won awards for investigative and education reporting; she has been living in Brooklyn since the BBC era (Before Brooklyn was Cool).
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. www.kashapova.com)
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.
Cindy Stockton Moore
Cindy Stockton Moore is a Philadelphia based artist: find out about current projects at cindystocktonmoore.com.