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Mary Adkins
memoir
Mary’s writing has appeared in Slate, the New York Daily News, and The Frisky. She won an Outstanding Playwriting Award at the Fringe Festival for The 49 Project. This excerpt is from her memoir, All the Homeless People Can Live in My Room. Her solo show, HELLO ME, I’M YOU: A MUSICAL IN POWERPOINT is alive and eager to premier.
Derek Alger
essays
Derek 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.
Linda Bamber
fiction
Linda teaches in the English Department of Tufts University. Her poetry collection, Metropolitan Tang, was published by Black Sparrow/Godine and Comic Women, Tragic Men, a scholarly book on Shakespeare, by Stanford University Press. Her poems, stories, essays and reviews have appeared in such places as The Harvard Review, The Kenyon Review, Tikkun, The Nation, Raritan, and Ploughshares. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Maya Brym
art gallery
Maya is an artist and curator working in New York. She is a recent recipient of the NYFA Fellowship in Painting. She has recently exhibited at Gross McCleaf Gallery (Philadelphia PA) Michael Rosenthal Gallery(San Francisco CA) and Vaudeville Park in Brooklyn. Maya received her MFA in Painting from University of Pennsylvania and her undergraduate degree from Yale. To view more of her paintings visit: www.mayabrym.com.
Paula Marafino Bernett
poetry
Paula’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Anemone Sidecar, California Quarterly (CQ), The Chaffin Journal, Clackamas Literary Review, Eclectica Magazine, Eclipse, The Louisville Review, Margie, Rattle, Salamander, and Tar River Poetry, among others. A former member of the editorial board of Global City Review, her honors include the Resident Writer’s Award from the 2009 Taos Summer Writer’s Conference, first prize in WordHustler’s 2009 Summer Poetry Contest, and the 2011 St. John’s College Essay Prize. She holds an M.F.A. from Sarah Lawrence College.
Nina Camp
essays
Nina is a direct mail copywriter specializing in herbal remedies for incontinence, insomnia, and pain, and is also an opera singer, as yet unpaid, who favors high-flying Mozart and ornate, moody Handel. Originally from Baltimore, Camp currently lives in New York City, where she writes personal essays, transcribes her own dreams, and makes lists.
Alexander Cavaluzzo
poetry
Alexander is Curator in Chief of Vitrine: a printed museum (www.vitrineaprintedmuseum.com), and a freelance writer at Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine and the art blogazine Hyperallergic. He graduated with a BS in Art History (Minor in English) from the Fashion Institute of Technology and is an MA candidate in the Arts Politics program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His lifelong dream is to become the intelligent version of Camille Paglia.
Dillon Cronk
memoir
Dillon is an 18-year-old high school senior currently living in Northern Virginia. This is his first published work.
Adam Crothers
poetry
Adam was born in Belfast in 1984. In 2010 he received his PhD in English from Girton College, Cambridge. The recipient of the Quiller-Couch Prize and the Brewer Hall Prize, his poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Five Poetry Journal, Icarus, The Literateur, The Mays and Poetry Proper, among others.
Adrienne Friedberg
essays
Adrienne earned her MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Sarah Lawrence College. The mother of three girls. and the author of two children’s books, her essays, stories, and book reviews, have appeared in Lumina, PIF Magazine, and The Citroin Review, to name a few.
Dena Rash Guzman
fiction
Dena is a writer living on a farm near Portland, Oregon. A chapbook of her poetry, “Chairman Mao Praises Me Good At Chat,” will be published by Dog On A Chain press in 2012. She is a curator and producer of Portland’s Unchaste Readers Reading Series, and edits the literary journal Unshod Quills. She is also Managing Director for HAL Publishing, a Shanghai based independent publisher. Visit her at www.denarashguzman.com
Katrina Hamlin
fiction
Katrina Hamlin, journalist and writer, has recently returned to her native Hong Kong after spending several years in Shanghai. She has also lived in England and Chengdu. Katrina’s articles and stories appear in the Shanghai-based HAL publications’books (Party Like It’s 1984 and Middle Kingdom Underground) and website, the Chengdu-based MALA literary journal, the Curious Ant and Think Six web projects,and Shanghai Business Review magazine, which she edited while living in Shanghai.
Keerthana Jagadeesh
fiction
Keerthana comes from Bangalore, India, where the skies are expanding with the new metro rail. Her favorite writers are Colm Toibin and Nell Dunn. This is her first publication. She is currently a junior at NYU.
Thomas E. Kennedy
essays
Thomas is the author of 30 books, including, most recently, the four novels of the Copenhagen Quartet, published by Bloomsbury in the New York and London: In the Company of Angels (2010), Falling Sideways (2011), and the third and fourth due to appear in 2013 and thereafter. His newest collection, Getting Lucky: 20 New & Selected Stories, 1982-2012 will be published by New American Press this fall. Originally from Queens, NY, Kennedy lives in Denmark and teaches in the Fairleigh Dickinson University low residency MFA program.
Kirsten Kindler
art gallery
A New York native, Kirsten received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design/ The New School in New York City and her Master of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her education includes two undergraduate years studying painting at Syracuse University and a year in Paris, France. Kindler has twice been awarded a Professional Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia where she currently lives and works.
Jessi Klein
humor
Jessi 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.
Gerry LaFemina
poetry
Gerry is the author of a book of stories, two books of prose poems and six books of poems, most recently, Vanishing Horizon (2011, Anhinga). He directs the Frostburg Center for Creative Writing at Frostburg State University where he is an Associate Professor of English. He divides his time between Maryland and New York.
Christine Marshall
poetry
Christine has been published in The Best American Poetry 2009 and such journals as Agni, Beloit Poetry Journal, Crab Orchard Review, gutcult, The Journal, Nimrod, and Western Humanities Review. She is currently a professor of English at Davidson College.
Joey Nicoletti
essays
Joey is the author of the poetry collections Borrowed Dust (2011), Earthquake Weather (NightBallet Press, forthcoming 2012), and Cannoli Gangster (Turning Point, forthcoming 2012), which was selected as a finalist for the Steel Toe Books Poetry Prize by Denise Duhamel. He currently teaches creative writing and English literature at Niagara University.
June O’Hara
humor
June lives in New Jersey, where she is a practicing psychotherapist. Her stories have been published in “The Battered Suitcase,” “Mused Magazine,” “Tryst,” and “The Connotation Press.” She is currently seeking a publisher for her humorous memoir as a whole. Her blog, “The Neurosis Files,” can be found at http://www.juneohara.com/
Charles Sanchez
memoir
Charles is an openly gay writer/performer living in New York City. His performing career took him from Lincoln Center and Off Broadway to children’s shows and dinner theatre in Little Rock, AR. He has recently been performing his own works at such venues as the PIT, Le Poisson Rouge and the Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre. He can currently be seen on youtube in the original comic series, “Manhattan Man-Travels,” which he created in collaboration with director Tyne Firmin and composer Joel B. New.
Julia Scully
essays
Julia is the author of Outside Passage, a memoir of an Alaskan childhood. As Editor of Modern Photography magazine for 20 years, she has written countless articles about the medium. She is also the author and editor of Disfarmer: The Heber Springs Portraits
Sue William Silverman
essays
Sue’s memoir, Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction (W.W. Norton), is also a Lifetime television movie. Her first memoir, Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You, won the AWP award in creative nonfiction, while her craft book, Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir, was awarded Honorable Mention in ForeWord Review’s book-of-the-year award in the category of writing
M.P. Snell
fiction
M.P. Snell’s short stories have been published in various literary magazines. (Ducts, Nerve Cowboy, Poor) As an actress she can be heard on the Philips Classics recording of “The Manson Family Opera,” by John Moran, with Iggy Pop. She worked with Ridge Theater and her films have been shown at The Millennium and the Exit Art Super 8 Film Festival. For more information go to: www.mpsnell.com.
Emily Weiner
art gallery
Emily is a New York based painter and writer. Recent and upcoming exhibitions of her work include: Visual Arts Gallery (New York,) Fleisher/Ollman Gallery(Philadelphia PA) Camac Centre d’Art (France), and Concrete Utopia (New York.) Her writing on art has appeared in Art Forum and Time Out New York. She is a member of the Art Book Club. More about her work can be found at: www.emilyweiner.net
Jack Willis
memoir
Now retired, Jack was President of the Willis Group, a television and documentary film Production Company and Co-Founder and Sr. Vice President of Programming for Link TV, a non-profit Direct Broadcast Satellite channel currently in over 45 million American homes via DIRECTV and the DISH Network. He has been a producer and executive in commercial, cable and public television. Before LinkTV he was a Senior Fellow at George Soros’s Open Society Institute and before that President and CEO of Twin Cities Public Television. He was Vice-President of Programming and Production for CBS Cable where he developed the critically acclaimed performing arts channel, Director of Statue of Liberty Programming for MetroMedia Producer’s Corp. and head of programming and production of WNET/13, in New York City. He created two EMMY winning nightly news shows for public television., THE 51st STATE, which he also Executive Produced, and NEWS NIGHT MINNESOTA. His series, CITY WITHIN A CITY, won an EMMY and was widely credited with helping achieve passage of Milwaukee’s Open Housing law. In addition he created and co-executive produced public television’s, EMMY winning, THE GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE, and the EDITH WHARTON SERIES He has produced and directed documentaries for CBS News as well as THE HUMAN ANIMAL series, with Phil Donahue, for NBC. His independent documentary, PAUL JACOBS AND THE NUCLEAR GANG, about the government cover up of the fatal effects of the Nevada nuclear bomb tests on military personnel and civilians living down wind from the tests won an EMMY, and the GEORGE POLK award for investigative journalism. He and his programs have won 7 Emmys. Two of his films, LAY MY BURDEN DOWN, about the plight of black sharecroppers in the rural south, AND EVERY SEVENTH CHILD, about Catholic education, produced for public television were shown at the New York Film Festival. 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.
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.
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, 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 ofABBA: 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 recent shows include ‘Toward Futility’ a solo project at Artspace Liberti (Philadelphia) and ‘An Island Now Peopled,’ a two-person exhibition at Chashama Chelsea Project Space (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,) Public Fiction (Los Angeles, CA,) and The Museum of Science and Industry (Tampa, FL.) Her writing on art has appeared in ArtNews, NYArts Magazine, The New York Sun, in addition to university and gallery publications. Cindy is currently a member of the curatorial team at Grizzly Grizzly. You can find out more about her work at www.cindystocktonmoore.com
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. 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