Contributer Biographies

Art & Photography

Erika Cyr lives in Madawaska, Maine surrounded by nature which is her main inspiration to her writings and photography.  Her main hobbies include photography, writing poetry and short stories as well as geometrical sketches.

Donald Eno contributed photography to this issue.

Katie Levesque was born and raised in Fort Kent, Maine.  She is 23 years old and is currently a Junior at the University of Maine in Fort Kent, majoring in English and minoring in Art.  Afterwards, she would like to continue her education and get a degree in photography.

Jesse Lindsay is a traveling, freelance artist, currently living in Portland, OR after hitch-hiking around the states for about 6 years, stopping in various cities and selling art to tattoo shops, galleries and any where else that worked at the time. Much of his work in the public sphere range from book illustrations, film projects and collaborations with various musicians and galleries around the world. He states that "most of my work is derived from dreams and studies into alchemical ritual, human psychology, mathematics, biology and various areas and aspects of the occult. To me everything seems to be a method of expressing reality, in one way or another, in terms that we can understand in the forms of energy and matter we take for granted in everyday life."

Derek McCrea is a US Army Infantry Combat Soldier with two tours in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division, and this is his stress relief. He has always loved to paint; it allows him to express emotions on paper and relax. Derek paints in a whimsical impressionistic style in plein air settings. He was born in Albany, Georgia on February 19, 1969. He presently resides with his wife, Sheila, of 20 years and his two sons. He first started painting with oils in the summer of 1984. From 1985 to 1986 he painted under the instruction of Jimmy Peterson, a well known artist from Georgia. In 1986 he won 1st place in the Georgia Arts Exhibition. Derek joined the United States Army in 1987 and continued self study and painting on landscape subjects in France, Holland, Germany, Italy and Hungary, painting in the plein air style. He won the artist of the week in August for Art Gallery Online while competing against 11 other artists. He has completed over 20 commissions in the past couple of years.His art was selected for the cover of The Eclipse. The Eclipse is a publication where poets write about the artwork of a selected artist once per quarter. 6 of Derek's works were selected for this publication. Derek's works can be found in Fayetteville, NC in PJ's Fine Art Gallery and the Graphic Design Firm. His works were most recently placed in B'zzzzz Expressions in Douglas, Georgia, in The Market Square Gallery in Varnville, SC, and in "Just What I Like" in Lawrenceville, GA.His last exhibition was in October 2002 at the Chateau Elan Vineyard in North Georgia.  Derek has donated several artworks to non-profit and charitable organizations in the past, the most previous being in February 2007 to Christian Mission Hospital in the ward for HIV children run by Joyce Meyer Ministries in India.

Lindsey Terrell is 18-years old and lives in Elyria, Ohio. She currently attends Lorain County Community College and will be transferring to a four-year art school in two years, majoring in photography. She has always been interested in various types of art and feels as though she has finally found her passion. Photography continues to challenge and satisfy her by making her ideas into a physical reality.

Ernest Williamson III is a 31-year old polymath who has published poetry and visual art in over 135 online and print journals within a time span of 8-years. His poem "The Jazz of Old Wine" has been nominated for a Best of the Net award by the editors of "Thick with Conviction". He holds the B.A. and the M.A. in English/Creative Writing/Literature from the University of Memphis. Ernest is now listed in the prestigious Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers.  Professor Williamson is also a private tutor,and a Ph.D. Candidate at Seton Hall University.

Fiction

William Ames was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He is currently a sophomore Philosophy major at Davidson College.  This winter, he played a lead role in the Davidson Theatre Department's production of The Ghost Sonata.

Amanda Lawrence Auverigne is a college student who writes works of fiction in her spare time.

Kay Hardy Campbell is a Boston-based writer with a specialty in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. Visit her website at http://www.kayhardycampbell.com/ for more information.

Vernard Kennedy is a New York City Public School Teacher. He holds degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing. He is published in such literary journals as The Ranfurly Review, Cerebral Catalyst and The Delinquent.

Barry Judson Lohnes was born in Lewiston, Maine. Except for three years service in the Marine Corps in the 1960’s, he has resided in Maine, working as an instructor of history and English, and holding positions in school administration. Writing has been published in the MARINER’S MIRROR (London), NORTHWOODS ANTHOLOGY, QUAY: A JOURNAL OF THE ARTS, LOCK HAVEN REVIEW, LARCOM REVIEW, STRANGEROAD, and NEW ENGLAND WRITERS’ NETWORK. Lohnes lives in Topsham with his wife, Susan Mulholland Lohnes.

Mariella Squire is a professor of anthropology, storyteller, and singer of traditional ballads.

Anna Sykora has placed 26 tales and over 50 poems in the small press and on the web.  She lives in Hanover, Germany with the world's most patient husband and three demanding cats.

Lewis Turco's most recent books are The Museum of Ordinary People and Other Stories, 2008, and Satan's Scourge: A Narrative of the Age of Witchcraft in England and New England 1580-1697, 2009,  both published by Star Cloud Press of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Adam Wohnoutka was born in Plymouth, Minnesota to John and Mary Wohnoutka.  He has two brothers, Joseph and Kyle.  Although Adam showed little interest in writing as a child, his fondness for the art blossomed during his time at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, where he majored in English.

Nonfiction

Stephen Dinsmore grew up on Friendship Long Island, off the Maine coast. His poems, reviews, and essays have appeared in publications including Trois (in French translation), The Raven Chronicles, The Village Voice, The Singapore American, and The Naropa Almanack. He is a citizen of both Canada and the U.S., and teaches English at Vanier College in Montreal.

Justine Beaulieu is a student attending the University of Maine at Fort Kent, studying Elementary Education.  Her plans are to further her education after receiving her B.S. and certify herself in Secondary Education as well as Family and Consumer Sciences Education.

Poetry

Kate Bernadette Benedict is the author of the full-length poetry collection Here from Away and the editor of Umbrella: A Journal of Poetry and Kindred Prose. 

David Crews's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in the Rattlesnake Review, Insanity’s Horse, Exit 13, Edison Literary Review and the anthology Voices from Here. He is currently working on an MFA in Poetry and Translation from Drew University.  He teaches in New Jersey where he lives with his wife, Anita, and his dog, Murphy.

Donal Mahoney, a native of Chicago, now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. He has worked as an editor for The Chicago Sun-Times, Loyola University Press and Washington University in St. Louis. He has had poems published in or accepted by The Wisconsin Review, The Kansas Quarterly, The South Carolina Review, Commonweal, Snakeskin (U.K.), Revival (Ireland), The Christian Science Monitor, The National Catholic Reporter, The Istanbul Literary Review (Turkey), Haggard and Halloo, Word Salad, Poetry Super Highway, Public Republic (Bulgaria) and other publications.

Dolores DeLuise holds a Ph.D. and a certificate in Women’s Studies from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is an assistant professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY, teaching writing and literature. Her main fields of research and publication are pedagogy, women’s literature, and cultural studies/women’s spirituality.

John Grey is an Australian born poet and US resident since late seventies. He works as financial systems analyst. He has recently published in Slant, Briar Cliff Review and Albatross with work upcoming in Poetry East, Cape Rock and REAL. 

Susan Martell Huebner lives in the hard-to-pronounce town of Mukwonago, WI. Her poems have appeared in the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Calendars, Free Verse, and the WFOP Museletter. She has won awards for her essays and has had fiction published in Quality Women's Fiction.  She is a member of a creatively exciting group of people who write out of AllWriters' Workplace and Workshop in Waukesha, WI.

Michael Lee Johnson is a poet and freelance writer from Itasca, Illinois.  His brand new chapbook, From Which Place the Morning Rises is now available. He also has two previous chapbooks. He is also the author of The Lost American:  from Exile to Freedom .  He has been published in USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, Turkey, Fiji, Nigeria, Algeria, Africa, India, United Kingdom, Republic of Sierra Leone, Israel, Nepal, Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Finland, and Poland internet radio.  Michael Lee Johnson has been published in more than 280 different publications worldwide.  Audio MP3 of poems are available on request.

Naomi Kaye grew up in California and has also lived in New York, Maine, Prague and Jerusalem. She graduates Sarah Lawrence College in 2009 and knows a lot about Hawaii, Disneyland, graphic novels and Communism. Her favorite ice cream flavor is white chocolate ginger.

Christi Krug contributed poetry to this issue.

J. Alan Nelson is  a writer and a lawyer.  He published previously in Fulcrum, Wisconsin Review, South Carolina Review, Illya's Honey, Red River Review, Adirondack Review, Red Cedar Review, Identity Theory, Hawai'i Review, Kennesaw Review, Driftwood Review, Ken*Again, Haggard and Halloo, Review Americana and has forthcoming work to be published in the Connecticut River Review, Blue Fifth Review, Houston Literary Review and Ship of Fools.

Nicolette Westfall wrote poetry while living on an isolated northern Canadian First Nation reservation.  She currently teaches ESL in Ontario, Canada

Ernest Williamson III is a 31-year old polymath who has published poetry and visual art in over 135 online and print journals within a time span of 8-years. His poem "The Jazz of Old Wine" has been nominated for a Best of the Net award by the editors of "Thick with Conviction". He holds the B.A. and the M.A. in English/Creative Writing/Literature from the University of Memphis. Ernest is now listed in the prestigious Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers.  Professor Williamson is also a private tutor,and a Ph.D. Candidate at Seton Hall University.

Changming Yuan grew up in rural China and authored three books before moving to Canada. Currently Yuan teaches writing in Vancouver and has had poetry published or forthcoming in Adbusters, Descant, Exquisite Corpse, Grain, Iodine, London Magazine, Sentence, Vallum and more than 80 other literary journals.

Writers in the Schools (WITS)

Jessica Becker attends Fort Kent Community High School, was born in South Carolina, and has also lived in Arkansas and Virginia. She studies Ouechi Ryu Karate and also likes reading and writing.

Jake Lavoie is a current resident in Frenchville, ME. He believes self expression via any art form is one of the most sacred practices of the modern world.

Angel Roman is from Washburn, Maine – Angel is currently attending middle school in Madawaska.

Thanks to all the students, teachers, and facilitators who participated in the WITS program in 2009.