Bios

WRITERS

Denise Beck-Clark is a creative: she writes poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and loves to draw and take pictures. Now retired, she earned her living as a social worker and psychotherapist. She still spends time as a mother to her adult son who has a cognitive disability.

Alice Benson lives in Wisconsin with her wife and their dog. She recently retired from a job in a human services field. Her shorter published works have appeared in a variety of publications. Alice’s novels, Her Life is Showing and A Year in Her Life, tackle many difficult social issues.

Writer, poet, and teacher Annis Cassells published her second full-length poetry collection, What the Country Wrought, in 2023. She greatly missed traveling in the US and abroad during the pandemic years. To compensate, she was often over-scheduled for writing workshops and poetry readings in far-away places over Zoom. 

Sheree Stewart Combs is a photographer and writer who resides on a farm in central Kentucky with her husband. She enjoys growing dahlias, the Argentine Tango, and trips ‘home’ to southeastern Kentucky. Sheree's photographs have been published in Beyond Words International Literary Magazine and Minnow Literary Review.

With degrees in Asian history, Lynn B. Connor planned to be an academic. That was short-lived. She realized that sharing stories that explore other times and places is what she enjoyed. Her stories and poems have appeared in many literary journals over the last fifty years. A few years ago she remembered the title of a book, Painting with Light, which she’d read as a teenager. The title was all she remembered, but that made her see differently when taking a photo.

Since 2012, Carla Manene Cooke has facilitated writing groups in and from her home in Northampton, Massachusetts.  Her poetry has appeared in the literary journals Silkworm, Persimmon Tree, Meat for Tea, Naugatuck River Review, Starry Starry Kite, and Wordpeace.  She is a copy editor, wordsmith, and 2022 Pushcart nominee.

Marie Daniely is an active retiree who, when not traveling, spends her time cooking, reading, writing, submitting to magazines, entering contests, and attending writing forums. She has transitioned from corporate to creative writing and gravitates towards short and flash essays to tell her stories.

Inspired by Julia Cameron and Anaïs Nin, Lynne Davis has been writing three pages in a journal every morning with very few exceptions since 1994, when she turned fifty.  Although she has published articles in print and online, and a few poems, she really wishes she could write fiction.

Rosanne Ehrlich's work has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Vine Leaves Press, Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast, Fiftywordstories, Quillkeeper's Press' "Rearing in the Rearview", Ballantine Books, Glitter Literary Journal, Panoplazine, True Grit Anthology,and Antirrhinum among others.

Irene Fick of Lewes (DE) is the author of The Wild Side of the Window (Main Street Rag) and The Stories We Tell (Broadkill Press), each awarded first place honors from the National Federation of Press Women.  Irene’s poetry has been published in such journals as Poet Lore, The Broadkill Review, Gargoyle, Willawaw Journal and Blue Mountain Review.

Anne Gruner is a Pushcart-nominated writer whose poems are in a dozen print and on-line publications, and whose fiction and creative non-fiction are found in Persimmon Tree, Third Flatiron Review, Hippocampus Magazine, Silver Blade Magazine, and others. She lives in McLean, Virginia with her husband and two golden retrievers. https://www.annegruner.com/

Penny Hackett-Evans is in her late seventies and has lots of distinct preferences! She writes daily in order have a conversation with herself and to engage in a conversation with life.  

Melinda Halpert writes creative nonfiction and personal essays in Washington, DC. Her recent work has appeared in Months to Years, NBC.com’s Know Your Value, and L’Chaim Magazine. She is a founding member of the Luscious Literati, a group of opinionated women who are determined to publish before they perish.

Elyse Hilton is a retired lawyer who writes poetry, flash fiction and short stories. After retiring, she received an MFA from Pacific University's low residency writing program. She was longlisted for the Reflex flash fiction competition.

Beth Kanell lives in northeastern Vermont and writes profiles, novels, and poetry. Her novels include This Ardent Flame and The Long Shadow (SPUR Award); her short fiction shows up in Lilith and elsewhere. Find her memoirs on Medium, reviews at New York Journal of Books, poems in small well-lit places.

Indra Kapur is a speechwriter, prize-winning poet, and short story author whose works appear in the anthologies Ink Spots and One Universe to The Left. Her debut book, In Any Given Room, was published in 2022. Her newest book, A Year Without Men, is available on Amazon.

Tricia Knoll is a Vermont poet whose work appears widely in journals, anthologies, and seven collections. Her part feminist, autobiographical, fantasy fiction poetry collection The Unknown Daughter is available now on discounted pre-sale from Kelsay Books at https://triciaknoll.com/the-unknown-daughter/ . Publication date: March 1, 2024.

Susan Knox’s stories and essays have appeared in Barely South Review, CALYX, Cleaver, The MacGuffin, Matador Review, Sequestrum, Still Point Arts, Zone 3, and elsewhere. She and her husband live in Seattle, near Pike Place Market where she shops most days for the evening meal.

Margaret Koger is from Idaho, lives in Boise, and writes full-time after retiring from teaching English. She is grateful to many editors for curating her work, especially Karen Kelsy for What These Hands Remember (Kelsay Books, 2022) and Eric Muhr for If Seasons Were Kingdoms (Fernwood Press, forthcoming in 2024).

Jacqueline Lapidus, poet, essayist and reviewer, co-edited The Widows’ Handbook: Poetic Reflections on Grief and Survival (KSUP). Retired from editing, teaching, translating. Details about her early years in New York, teaching in Greece, resistance and international feminist activity in France, and various romantic involvements will remain archived until well after her death.

Originally from the north of England, Jane Manaster is now a longtime Texan. In addition to creating short stories, she wrote newspaper columns for children and later for grandparents. Also a geographer, she has published three short natural history books. At present, she reviews nonfiction books.

Blissfully retired in Clackamas, Oregon, Carolyn Martin is a lover of gardening and snorkeling, feral cats and backyard birds, writing and photography. Her poems have appeared in more than 175 journals throughout North America, Australia, and the UK. For more: www.carolynmartinpoet.com.

Charlene Neely lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her recent books include The Lights of Lincoln and The Corn Fairy’s Wigs & Other Poems. She co-edited The Guide to More Nebraska Authors with Gerry Cox.  Three microchaps—Soup Dreams, Lessons Learned, and My Life in a Zip--are available for download at https://www.origamipoems.com/poets/200-charlene-neely

Hope Nisly is a retired librarian living in Reedley, California. Her writing has appeared in Fredericksburg Literary and Arts Review, Persimmon Tree, and Dead Housekeeping, among others. She had a flash essay published in a Woodhall Press anthology, Flash Nonfiction: Food. You can find her on Instagram @hopefulnicely.

Margaret C. Pearson decided in 5th grade that she wanted to be a writer, but she became a U.S. diplomat instead.  During those 27 years, she had to write in a specific State Department style. Now — retired after assignments in Asia and Europe — she is enjoying the freedom to write it her way. She notes that, among her many accomplishments, she at one time spoke Mandarin pretty well. 

Roberta Peets discovered the joy of writing memoir stories during Covid, following her career in adult education in the high-tech field. Her stories have been published in StoryQuilt and The Scribblers Anthology: Memories and Musings. She lives in the beautiful heritage town of Perth, Ontario, Canada.

Melanie Perish’s work appeared in Sequestrum, Sinister Wisdom, The Meadow, Third Street Review, and Calyx. Her books include Passions & Gratitudes (Black Rock Press, 2011); The Fishing Poems (Chapbook, Meridian Press, 2017) and Foreign Voices, Native Tongues (Blurb, 2021).  Her poems are better because of generous editors and other poets. 

Crystal Pillifant is a retired Bilingual teacher with a master’s degree in education. Since retiring she’s begun writing memoirs and working on an autobiographical novel about experiences in her bilingual classroom.  She lives with her husband in Port Townsend, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula.

Rosetta Radtke loves living in Savannah, Georgia with her two big sweet kittens, Henry and Beezus.  Besides writing poetry, her interests include design of any kind, mosaics, plants, and feeding and watching the birds in their yard.

Ellen K. Reichman, M.Ed., is a former teacher and counselor with a focus on high profile youth. A native New Yorker, she and her polar opposite love of her life husband of 54 years, live with their standard poodle in Kirkland.  Reichman is a children’s book writer, a lover of children, nature, exercise, and connecting with others, and is the proud parent and grandparent of two children and two grandchildren. She is a former contributing columnist for her local newspaper and Cure magazine. Her essays have been featured in Passager, Cure/Heal Persimmon Tree, Cirque and Common Ground Review.  Follow her on www.ellenreichman.com.

A resident of New York City, Kerfe Roig enjoys transforming words and images into something new. Follow her explorations on her blogs, https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/ (which she does with her friend Nina), and https://kblog.blog/.

S. Rose was a translator in marketing and academics before retiring two years ago. She has had pieces published in Creative Nonfiction, Geneva Writers Group Offshoots, the Bern Writers anthologies, Sparks blog, and The Sitting Room Anthology with hopefully more to come.

Jane Seskin is a social worker and author of poems and essays. For 20 years she worked with survivors of violent crimes.  Her work was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2022. Her latest book is the poetry collection OLDER, WISER, SHORTER: An Emotional Road Trip to Membership in the Senior Class, soon to be published by a California press. 

Ursula Shepherd now lives in Ashland, Oregon, after moving from the Southwest four years ago. She spent her professional life as a professor of ecology and biogeography at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of a book, Nature Notes: A Notebook Companion for the Seasons (Fulcrum Press), as well as essays and non-fiction pieces and has recently returned to writing poetry. Her poetry has appeared in, among others, Unbroken, Minnow, Grim and Gilded, Ekphrastic Review, Passionfruit, and The Orchards.

Marcella Peralta Simon is a retired Latinx grandmother, splitting her time between Cambridge, UK, and Kissimmee, Florida. She has been a diplomat, university professor, and instructional designer. She writes poetry and short fiction. Her artwork has been featured in Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Tofu Ink Arts Press, Persimmon Tree, and The Acentos Review.

Vicki Vogt is a librarian at the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library in Watertown, MA. She won First Place in the 2021 Rockport, MA, Haiku contest, and in 2018 self-published a book of haiku titled glimpses: a glance into haiku. Her hobbies include reading, musicals, and loving her roommate’s seeing-eye dog.

Sabine Vorkoeper-Orchard is a German-American naturalist who can often be seen walking around and literally stopping to smell the flowers. When she’s not calling on the natural world, she calls on her inner world for poetic inspiration. Her lifelong love of words and language has only recently found its expression through poetry.

Kresha Richman Warnock lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she retired with her husband right before the pandemic struck.   She is currently writing a memoir. She looks at themes of belonging and aging. A complete list of her writings can be found at her website: https://kresharwarnock.com/

Margie Wildblood is a first-generation college graduate raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. After a career in counseling and higher education, she writes poetry, personal essays, short fiction, and nonfiction.

windflower lives with her wife on the Mendocino Coast in Northern California, on unceded ancestral land of the Pomo people. Her poetry has been published in numerous journals and anthologies, including international publications.  Her chapbook, Age Brings Them Home to Me, will be published in 2024 by Finishing Line Press. windflower is also a photographer celebrating the poetry in nature.

ILLUSTRATOR

Susan Pollet is a visual artist whose works have appeared in multiple art shows. She studied at the New York Art Student’s League and lives in New York City. She has also published author in multiple genres (11 books and 70 articles) including three children’s books which she both wrote and illustrated. She creates all of her book covers as well. A former public interest lawyer who worked primarily in family court, and a past and current leader in bar associations, she brings that background to her artwork and writing. She writes, “I've seen the darker sides of humanity, but always search for the light.”