T. E. Ballard is a professional artist and writer who currently lives in the Midwest with her two young daughters. She has lived in the backwoods of Maine, in the cities of Europe and in the hills of Haiti. She hopes that her writing is as diverse as her life. You may find more of her work at IBPC January 2002; "The Butcher's Daughter," R&E Reader's Poll; Best Poem of The Year, The Poet's Canvas, Gumball Poetry, The Green Tricycle, Mentress Moon, The Writer's Hood, Amethyst Journey, The Chicago Literary Review, Southern Maine Quarterly, Southside Journal, and also in two anthologies of poetry. She is currently at work on her first solo book of poetry which is due to be out the first of next year.

Svea Barrett-Tarleton's work has appeared in Samsara Quarterly, Snakeskin, Mentress Moon and Comrades, as well as The Paterson Literary Review (finalist/honorable mention Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest -- 2000 and 2001) and LIPS. She's almost six feet tall, likes wild geese, and flips out when her neighbors want to chop down trees. She has three sons and teaches Creative Writing and Honors American Literature in a high school in Allendale, NJ. Svea plays the flute and sings. Writing poetry regularly saves her life.

Rebecca Clark has recently had work published in 4th Street, Manzanita Quarterly, and Snow Monkey; she has work forthcoming in Sqajet and Sweet Annie & Sweet Pea Review. She lives with her husband and daughter in Bow, WA, halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, BC. She works as an Attorney/Coordinator for a volunteer lawyer program.

Judy Clem was born and educated in Texas where she still lives with her husband of 30 years. She has at various times been a teacher, an interior decorator, and a stay-at-home mother. Today she earns her living as a photographer but spends every moment she can spare writing poetry, a passion she rediscovered through the wonder of the internet after many years of not writing. She has poems published and pending publication in Stirring and Small Spiral Notebook.

Susan Gorgioski: Aging scribbler enjoys words, reading, hiking and reading. Other work in Samsara Quarterly, Stirling, Snakeskin, Arena, Recursive Angel, Mentress Moon and Aileron Movement.

Beverly Jackson lives in rural Blue Lake, California among the redwoods, near the Mad River, after years in NYC and LA. She writes poetry and short fiction, and is working on a series of stories which hang together as a novel called "Scratching Toward the Light."© Her poetry has appeared in print and online literary journals, including: The Lucid Stone, Rattle, In Posse Review and Pinderdyboz, among many others. She's had stories published in Zoetrope's All-Story Extra, and Mindkites. The next issue of Recursive Angel will include "Spare Parts," her latest short story. She is the Editor-In-Chief of a literary online journal -- Literary Potpourri.

Rebecca Lu Kiernan is the editor of the print journal, Gecko. Her fiction has appeared in Ms. Magazine, Asimov's Science Fiction, Gaygoyle, North American Review and others. She lives on the Gulf Coast.

Mary Leary has been making various sorts of art since she gave voice to a story about Daisy, a cow who could fly. This artistic effort was followed by singing in the chorus of a production of The Tempest, modern dance lessons with a Martha Graham student, junior high school journalism, and reading, reading, reading: Shakespeare, Philip Roth, Richard Brautigan, Emily Dickinson, Alan Watts, Carl Sandburg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, William Carlos Williams... at about 15 more writing started to pop out regularly. A move to Spain, an introduction to hashish, and gypsy interactions kept her in the receptive mode for several years, and several more years were spent in radio programming and music journalism. She started to value and take more responsibiliity for her poetic nature in her mid-twenties. Sporadic writing submissions/publication have been interspersed with writing and playing music, mixing poetry with music, featuring at various locations, curating numerous readings and performance events, teaching, and Taoist studies. She currently hosts the No Borders reading in San Diego and is in training with California Poets in the Schools.

Danielle McShine recently completed an MA in French Linguistics at Indiana University, where she also studies Music, majoring in Cello Performance. Her poems have previously appeared online in Melic Review, Poems Niederngasse and New Works Review. Some of her poems will also appear in an upcoming issue of Thunder Sandwich.

Valerie Polichar writes poetry and fiction. She also writes and speaks on the subject of educational technology, and has contributed a chapter to a recently published book on the subject. She is a singer, specializing in Judao-Espagnol folk songs, and a songwriter. She was one of the first few women to post to the Internet, in 1982. She holds a Ph.D. in experimental psychology and works as a computer network manager at the University of California, San Diego, where she can be reached at valerie@ucsd.edu.

Lynn Schwartz is the daughter of an English teacher and anthropologist. As a result, she has lived in many places and has a penchant for good books, places by the water and exotic, good-tasting foods. She is a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater and Columbia University and writes a food column for the local Annapolis newspaper. Ms. Schwartz divides her time between Annapolis, Maryland and New York City. las1000@aol.com

Sandy Steinman writes poems, essays, one-act plays and short stories. After ten years as Adjunct Professor of Fine Art Photography at Fairfield University, Connecticut, she returned to Marin County, California, and has since self-published "Then and Now," a book of poems and prose along with poet Larry Drake. Recent work has appeared in The Writer’s Choice Literary Journal, Big Bridge, Pulse, The Adirondack Review, The Third Muse, and Mentress Moon. This spring her short play "Smell," will be presented at Dominican University's Short Play Festival in San Rafael, CA.

C. Stell, a teacher, lives in the midwest with her two children. She has been previously published in The Blue Rose Bouquet.

Lori Williams is a born and bred New Yorker, working as a legal assistant by day and chasing her muse by night. She has been writing since her early teens, is the mother of one teen-aged boy and one loveable feline, and thinks poetry has saved her thousands of dollars in therapy fees through the years. Her work has been published on-line in Neiderngasse, Mind Caviar and Dakota House Journal, among others, and in print in an eclectic mix of literary paper goods, including journals, newsletters and home-made birthday cards. She is working on her first chapbook, entitled "Woman on the Brink."

—COVER ART: Blue Nude; Pablo Picasso, 1902.—