LitHop 2024 Reader Bios

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Adela Najarro (she/her/ella) has published four poetry collections: Volcanic Interruptions, My Childrens, Twice Told Over, and Split Geography. The Letras Latinas/ Red Hen Collaborative selected Variations in Blue for publication in 2025. Her extended family left Nicaragua and arrived in San Francisco during the 1940s; after the fall of the Somoza regime, the last of the family settled in the Los Angeles area. The California Arts Council has recognized her as an established artist and appointed her an Individual Artist Fellow.

Aideed Medina (she/her) from Salinas, CA, is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, award-winning spoken word artist and a playwright. Her work has appeared in various publications and as part of a collection of original art songs composed for The Opera Remix, Fresno Grand Opera, and co-writer of the Eclectic Collective plays: Encounter Intuitive, and Artista Invisible. She is the author of 31 Hummingbird by Editorial Xingao and a forthcoming full-length poetry collection, Segmented Bodies, from Prickly Pear Press.

Alaina Schneider (she/her) Alaina Schneider is entering her senior year at Fresno State University and is pursuing a B.A. in English Literature. She has an interest in both creative writing and academic writing, and her papers were heard at the Fresno State UCMLA conference and the international Virginia Woolf conference.

Alberto Saldaña Uribe is a high school dropout, a college graduate, and holds an M.F.A. from Fresno State. His work can be found in hais: a literary journal, Flies, Cockroaches and Poets, The Roadrunner Review, and Variant Literature. Find him and his work on Instagram at @titioso98.

Alex Petunia (she/they) released their first poetry collection, Tending My Wild, in 2021 through World Stage Press. As an alum of Community Literature Initiative, Alex has performed throughout Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. She has performed with the Infinite Poets collective at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, New York Poetry Festival, and the LA County Fair. When not in nursing scrubs or on the mic, Alex offers free monthly writing sessions called Meditation Monday with the Los Angeles Poet Society. She enjoys writing with trees and typing poetry on demand for community wherever she roams.

Alie Jones (she/her) Alie Jones is a self-care advocate, writer, artist, and Creole mermaid. She is Co-founder and Director of Black Freighter Press, a revolutionary press committed to the exploration of liberation, using art to transform consciousness. Alie graduated with her M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Literature from Mills College. She is the host of the podcast called Chit Chat with Aliecat, a platform to explore self-care practices and journeys of self-love in community.

Alison Mandaville’s poems have appeared in two dozen journals including Fifth Wednesday, Superstition, and Terrain. Recipient of Open Society and UNESCO Cultural Heritage grants, her translations have appeared in World Literature Today and Two Lines, and she has edited four bilingual collections of literature by women from Azerbaijan. A Professor of English at Fresno State, she works in multi-ethnic literatures, comics, and writing pedagogies. She recently began a second M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction.

Andy Marin Contreras is a poet based in Fresno County. Andy likes to explore womanhood, religion, and depression through her poetry and nonfiction essays. In her free time, she loves to feed stray cats, watch movies, and weightlift. Her work has appeared in the Apricot Press, Flies, Cockroaches and Poets, and The San Joaquin Review.

Angela Chaidez Vincent (she/her) writes poetry and fiction and has a background of livelihoods in engineering, mathematics, and programming. Her debut poetry collection Arena Glow (June 2024, Tourane Press) features poems about women with a daredevil oblique: rodeo queens, female gladiators, romantic scientists, and board game assassins. Angela's work has appeared in Oxford Review of Books, North American Review, 32 Poems, Atticus Review, and Bellevue Literary Review, among others. She lives in Fresno, California and is online at angelachaidezvincent.com.

Angelina Leanos is a Ventura County Youth Poet Laureate Emeritus and a first-year MFA student at Fresno State. Outside of school, Angelina serves as a Poetry Out Loud coach and a Poet-Teacher, mentoring youth in poetry recitation and creative writing. A second-generation Mexican-American, she writes of her unique relationship to both aspects of her culture, as well as the intersectionality of ethnicity and sexuality.

Ariana Enriquez (she/her) started writing poetry as a hobby, finding a sense of relief when writing. Her poems consist of rhythmic structure as she ventures into the melancholy, subtly disturbed, and dark tone.

Armen Davoudian (he/him) is the author of the poetry collection The Palace of Forty Pillars (Tin House, US; Corsair, UK) and the translator, from Persian, of Hopscotch by Fatemeh Shams (Ugly Duckling Presse, US; Falscrhum, Germany). He grew up in Isfahan, Iran, and is a Ph.D. candidate in English at Stanford University.

Arthur Kayzakian (he/him) is the finalist for the 2024 Kate Tufts Award, and the winner of the 2021 inaugural Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series for his collection, The Book of Redacted Paintings (Black Lawrence Press 2023), which was also selected as a finalist for the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. He is the recipient of the 2023 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a founding member and serves as the Poetry Chair for the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). His work has appeared in several publications, including The Adroit Journal, Chicago Review, Cincinnati Review, The Southern Review, among other journals.

Aura Peredia (she/her) is a fourth year at CSU Fresno and a member of the Smittcamp Family Honors College. She is studying English with an emphasis on creative writing and has been published in Flies, Cockroaches and Poets. She is currently writing a novella.

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Benjamin Rigby (he/him) is a poet and short story author. His experiences of growing up with disabilities, social alienation, questioning identity, and mental illness have motivated him to pursue creative writing in an attempt to express things that he would otherwise not be able to say. He is currently a senior at Fresno State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Ben is passionate about social justice and tearing down outdated and destructive societal expectations for gender roles, masculinity, and disability. You may find him looking for abandoned places when he’s not staring at his cursor for 10 minutes straight. 

Bo Vang (she/her) is in her second year of the M.F.A. program at Fresno State, studying poetry. She enjoys writing poetry that captures the essence of loss and grief and the aftermath of learning how to live life when a tragic event takes place. Some of her poems were published in hais: a literary journal issue #4. You can find her writing fiction, reading, or doing a word search puzzle when she is not writing poetry.

Brandon Xiong (he/him) Brandon is in his senior year as a student at Fresno State, majoring in English – Creative Writing. In most of his poetry he likes to explore identity, love, and the mundane. It is something that he loves to do, and he has a lot of fun reading and writing. In his free time, you can find him hanging out with friends, family, or watching movies. He eventually wants to pursue his masters in the future.

Brenna Womer (she/they) is a queer, childfree, Latine prose writer and poet. She is the author of the full-length, mixed-genre collections Unbrained (FlowerSong Press, 2023) and honeypot (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019), as well as the chapbooks cost of living (Finishing Line Press, 2022) and Atypical Cells of Undetermined Significance (C&R Press, 2018). Her work has appeared in North American Review, Indiana Review, The Normal School, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. She is an Assistant Professor of English in the M.F.A. Program at Fresno State and lives with her three rescue dogs: Honey, Dot, and Pico.

Brianna Alvarez (she/they) earned a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing at Fresno State. Through her familiarity with the thoroughfares that surround the Central Valley, she takes inspiration to create pieces that are reflective of a life lived.

Brynn Saito (she/her) Brynn Saito’s third book of poems, Under a Future Sky, was published in August 2023 by Red Hen Press. A 2023 California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellow, Brynn is the recipient of the Benjamin Saltman Award and a finalist for the Northern California Book Award. She is currently co-editing an anthology of poetry written by descendants of the Japanese American / Nikkei incarceration, forthcoming in 2025 from Haymarket Books.

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C.G. Hanzlicek (he/him) was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, in 1942. He is the author of nine books of poetry: Living in It, Stars (winner of the 1977 Devins Award for Poetry), Calling the Dead, A Dozen for Leah, When There Are No Secrets, Mahler: Poems and Etchings, Against Dreaming, The Cave: Selected and New Poems, and, most recently, The Lives of Birds.

Chai Tea (he/him) Sutichai (Chai) Savathasuk, also known as Mr. Chai Tea, is an autistic third-generation Thai American storyteller and wordsmith from Los Angeles. With a background in Mechanical Engineering, he fearlessly blends comedy and poetry, captivating audiences with laughter and inspiration. Chai promotes empathy through his unique experiences as a nerd and adventurer, reminding us to find joy in our passions and seek connection. Whether it be exploring hiking trails, collecting board games, or discovering the perfect milk tea, his enthusiasm for life shines through. You can find him at local boba shops and follow his artistic journey.

Cheyenne Jenvey (she/her) is the author of Dragonflies & Demons. Her book launched on Amazon in 2021. She has elaborated her life story from childhood to overcoming a drug addiction. Even in the face of the greatest of adversities, Jenvey never once felt shaken in her belief in God, which led to her life eventually getting better.  Discovering a spiritual relationship has given her life meaning & purpose. She is native born to Fresno. She has always desired to share her story with the masses. Surviving & overcoming what she has helps her help others gain their own strength to overcome their own trials!

Chloe Abella (she/her) is a first year M.F.A. student at Fresno State, with an emphasis in creative nonfiction and poetry. She writes pieces heavily centered around her family, spirituality, and love. She can be found spending time with her partner and their cat children when she's not trying to cater to her inner child with cartoons and candies.

Chou Xiong (he/him) is a Hmong American Refugee writer from Merced, California. He is currently an M.F.A. Creative Writing graduate student at CSU Fresno. His work has been published in hais: a literary journal.

Christina Charlene Quintana Olague is an artist-organizer born and raised in the Central Valley, Yokuts Land. They've competed in local, regional, and international poetry slams in community for 10 years. They have a Bachelor's degree in Evolutionary Biology and continue exploring themes of what it means to be human in ongoing crisis. They were a finalist in the 18th Street Arts Complex Creative Corps and are a current Arts Administration Fellow with CCAE Theatricals. They're mission is to empower people in advocating for themselves, their communities, and their non-human relatives.

Connie Owens Patton (she/her) is a poet living in California’s Central Valley. She is a recipient of the California Arts Council 2023 Individual Artist Fellowship, a program supported by the California Arts Council. Her work has been published in various magazines and anthologies.

Corrinne Clegg Hales (she/her) most recent book is, To Make it Right, winner of the Autumn House Poetry Prize. Her poems appear in many journals and anthologies, most recently Nimrod, Miramar and Packinghouse Review. Awards include two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Richard Snyder Memorial Publication Prize, the Devil's Millhopper Chapbook Prize and the River Styx Poetry Prize. She taught poetry at Fresno State for many years.

Cristina Sandoval (she/her) is a proud Chicana from Modesto, CA. She has her M.F.A. in poetry from Fresno State, and currently works as an educator in Modesto. Her work has been featured in Penumbra, Artifact Nouveau, Dystopian Dance Party, Exist(ir), and The Talon Review. You can find her two books of poetry, Moon Ride and We Need Bad Bitches, on Amazon. We Need Bad Bitches is also on sale at Bookish Modesto. In her free time, she is a proud auntie unable to resist spoiling her nieces and nephew. She is also an art enthusiast. Cristina is on Instagram at @poetchill.

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Dani Potter (she/her) is a 2019 graduate of Fresno State’s Creative Writing M.F.A. Program. Her work has been published in literary journals such as Free Spirit, Poets’ Choice, Meridian, Io Literary Journal, among others. Currently, she works as a high school English and creative writing teacher in the (sometimes not so tranquil) town of Tranquillity where she pursues her artistic endeavors, spends evenings cuddling with her cat Sushi, and enjoys whatever peace she can get.

Daniel Rivers (they/them) is an Associate Professor of American Studies & Literature at San José State University, where they teach courses in environmental humanities, U.S. literature, and American studies. Daniel’s writing has appeared in American Quarterly, Terrain.org, The San Francisco Chronicle, Apogee, and Women’s Studies. Daniel’s first book, Life Outside, is forthcoming from Duke University Press (2026). Daniel is also working on a second book, which uses memoir, science writing, archival research, and the lyric essay to think about queer, trans, and neurodivergent folks’ relationships with each other and the living world.

Dante Erlang (he/him) is a Hmong American poet whose works have been published in literary anthologies such as hais: a literary journal and Flies, Cockroaches and Poets. Having recently graduated from CSU Fresno's M.F.A. Creative Writing program, Dante currently seeks to find audiences and publications for his culminating thesis: Act I of his Hmong American epic poem, “Year of the Exodian.”

Daryl Gussin (he/him) Daryl Gussin is a writer and musician who has been awkwardly standing around at punk shows for the last twenty-something years. Thankfully. at some point in his late teens, he decided to become a little more productive and has been working on zines, setting up shows, and playing in bands consecutively since then. In 2006, he became integrally involved in Razorcake fanzine where he is currently the managing editor. His writing revolves around the honest, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant aspects of counterculture and its flavorful inhabitants. The heartbreaks, the implosions, and the defiant victories. Community over commercialism, create and destroy.

David Low (he/him) is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education at Fresno State. A former high school English teacher and cartoonist, his scholarly work examines the critical meaning-making practices of children and youth in diverse learning spaces. In particular, he studies how youth use comics and comedy as critical tools. David has published widely on this work. His recent book, Transgressive Humor in Classrooms (April 2024), was an exploration of young people’s transgressive humor as a form of social and political critique in three Fresno-area high schools.

David R. Carrasco-Gomez (he/him) is a Fresno-born writer and artist. An incoming poetry student in Fresno State’s M.F.A. Creative Writing Program, he uses expressive practices and exploration to delve into the mysteries of consciousness and its relationship to and within the greater world. Themes of darkness and light emerge in his writing: addiction, existential unease, religious trauma, ecstasy, reclaiming the divine, creation of meaning, reveling in mystery, remembering the sublimity of the ever churning now. David workshops poetry with neighborhood cats, mockingbirds, and black widows, throughout the week ’round about midnight. The poet advocates ontological moods and freeform beatitudes for all.

David Reyna grew up in Madera, completed his B.A. in Political Science from CSU Long Beach before getting his M.P.A. (Master’s in Public Administration) from Fresno State. He is working on a sci-fi novel with his writing partner Mitch, but that has been on hold since the birth of his son. David is excited to get back to writing and away from fathering.

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Eleanor Richards (she/her) is a social justice activist who writes about the human condition.  Her poems and narratives are both fantasy and strikingly true.  Her writing has been noted as compelling by many, (including an early notation from Phillip Levine).  The loss of her daughter Anna to domestic violence has made her a leader in the fight for mental health awareness, women's rights, and gun control. 

Emily Peacock (she/her) is a poet from Fresno, CA. While attending Fresno State, she served as co-editor and designer of the literary journal Flies, Cockroaches and Poets in which her work has been featured. A 2024 Larry Levis Poetry Prize winner and a finalist for the Mireyda Barraza Martinez Prize for Social Justice Writing, Emily's work has also been published by the American Academy of Poets and Zeniada Magazine.

Erica Castro (her/she) is a veteran English high school teacher. She dedicates her work to teach students to always work towards healing. She is a poet that feels that poetry can be a steppingstone for healing. She is currently in the book production of publishing both My Silent Voice Unleashed, and How to Find Peace through the Grieving Process and Finding Peace through the Grieving process. She participated in suicide attempt survival collaboration called Alive to Thrive. She is a collaborating author for Badass Within, Healing and Growth Book, and Graceful Growth.

Esmeralda Gamez (she/her) is a poet from Fresno, California, who can often be found at work or at the movie theater. She earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, Poetry, with an emphasis on Publishing and Editing from Fresno State. Her work often revolves around relationships and the discomfort felt and needed to break generational cycles, finding ways to bring self-care to a life full of capitalist grinding, and the hopes of a kinder, more accepting future.

Ethan Chatagnier (he/him) is the author of the novel Singer Distance and the story collection Warnings from the Future. His short stories have appeared in the Kenyon Review Online, Georgia Review, New England Review, and other journals, and have been awarded a Pushcart Prize and listed as notable in the Best American Short Stories. He lives in Fresno, California, with his family.

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Farnaz Fatemi (she/her) is an Iranian American writer and editor in Santa Cruz, California. Her debut book, Sister Tongue زبان خواهر , was published in September 2022. It won the 2021 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize, selected by Tracy K. Smith, from Kent State University Press, and received a Starred Review from Publisher’s Weekly and an Honorable Mention from the Foreword Indies. Farnaz is Santa Cruz County’s Poet Laureate for 2023 and 2024.

Fili Casillas is a poet and creative writer. He writes poems, short stories, screen plays, and plans on working on his first novel. Fili started and ran the Fresno Writers Alliance for years before taking a sabbatical to focus on writing.

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Gavin Garza (he/him/él) is a poet and memoirist from Fresno, California. Raised in the Institute of Basic Life Principles, a non-denominational Christian cult, he is of Anglo-Chicano descent. Today, Garza is reclaiming his Chicanismo and studying English at UC Berkeley. He was a Spring 2024 editor for the Kings River Review and winner of a Dean’s Medallion at Fresno City College. His work has been featured by MudRoom, Eucalyptus Lit, Bullshit, Flies, Cockroaches and Poets, Five Minutes, and elsewhere. He loves shawarma. Garza can be found sharing his Spotify rotation on Instagram and Twitter at @anoldsoulsong.

Gillian Wegener (she/her) is the author of two books of poetry: The Opposite of Clairvoyance (2008) and This Sweet Haphazard (2017), both from Sixteen Rivers Press; and the author of a chapbook, Lifting One Foot, Lifting the Other from In the Grove Press in 2001. She is a founding member of the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center, a nonprofit promoting poetry throughout Stanislaus County, and co-editor of the anthology, More Than Soil, More Than Sky: The Modesto Poets (Quercus Review Press, 2011).

Grisanti Avendaño is the proud daughter of a Zapotec matriarch (Belen) from Ayoquezco de Aldama, Oaxaca. Grisanti began her journey at the frontlines of immigrant youth organizing and expanded her wings from there. Her poetry is a reminder that the personal is political — she writes for her undocumented siblings, her path to healing her inner niña and dreams a world of abolition and opens portals of healing, joy, and possibilities. Grisanti brings a dynamic blend of holistic healing, a sharp analysis of the intersections between oppression, healing, and justice, and a commitment to the power of young people, especially from the Central Valley.

Guadalupe Salgado Partida (she/her/they/them) is a bright-eyed 31-year-old who loves reading poetry and sauntering. She is an incoming poetry student in Fresno State’s M.F.A. Creative Writing Program, and she has received support from VONA/Voices. When she is not working on writing, she meditates and enjoys the world around her.

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H Bryan (they/he) is currently an M.F.A. Creative Writing Student at Fresno State. Their writing primarily focuses on fantasy and queerness, exploring identity, family and friendship alongside dragons and magic.

Halimah Smith (she/her) is a Fresno-born writer who earned a bachelor’s degree in English education, but reignited her love for writing in the earlier years of her degree. Growing up in the foothills of the valley, her greatest joys were climbing a tree and a trip to the library. Her love of stories, literature, and human culture has made her the writer she is; taking inspiration from her weekly drives through nature, every new experience she has, and the undeniable beauty of existence.

Heather Parish (she/her) is a recovering thespian and cheery misanthrope returning to her first love of scribbling after decades of cheating with theater. She co-wrote and performed Tea Liturgy at the 2019 Rogue Festival, where she is a former producer. Her writing has appeared most recently in The Munro Review and, previously, in Lifestyle Magazine, The Pacific Northwest Inlander, The Fresno Flyer, and Readerville Magazine. Heather also published Tower to the People Collaborative Zine and writes zines combining DIY information with creative nonfiction.

Hermelinda Hernandez (she/her) was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, and raised in Fresno, California. She is both a Zapoteca and undocumented poet. She recently graduated from Fresno State with her M.F.A. She is a graduate artist at Juan Felipe Herrera’s Laureate Lab Visual Wordist Studio and has received a fellowship from Community of Writers. Her poetry has appeared in Small Press Traffic, The Acentos Review, Zone 3, Honey Literary, The Ana, Voicemail Poems and elsewhere.

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Ingrid M. Calderón (she/her) is a poet and tarot reader. She is the author of 28 poetry books and the editor in chief of resurrection magazine/press. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the painter John Collins.

Iris De Anda (she/her) is a Guanaca Tapatia poet, speaker & musician who has been featured on KPFK & KPFA Pacifica Radio, organized with the Academy of American Poets, performed at the Los Angeles Latino Book Festival, CECUT in Tijuana,Mexico, Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba, and is named one of Today's Revolutionary Women of Color. Author of Codeswitch: Fires from Mi Corazon (Los Writers Underground Press 2014), Roots of Redemption: You have No Right to Remain Silent (Flowersong Press 2022), and Loose Poems a collection of B-side poems & songs (Multimedia Militia 2022).

Iván Salinas (he/him) is an undocumented Mexican poet and co-editor of Drifter Zine residing in the San Fernando Valley. His work has been published in The Acentos Review, Mobile Data Mag, La Raíz Magazine, Community Bridges: A Reflection on Civil Rights by DSTL Arts, and elsewhere. He is Programs Manager at Beyond Baroque Literary / Arts Center in Venice, California. He is currently working on his first chapbook, Dealer: prosa carcacha. He lives in Panorama City with Madi and their dog, Rocket.

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Jack Chavoor (he/him), a retired high school English teacher, is a 2020 Fresno State M.F.A. graduate, and has been telling stories since 1959 when he walked home from kindergarten, got lost, and arrived home two and a half hours late. Also, he likes egrets but hasn't seen any lately.

Jacob Anthony Reina (he/him/his) graduated from Fresno State in December 2023 and earned a B.A. in English Studies. He is the author of Purity of the Sky, a memoir set in Istanbul that was released in June 2024 by Atmosphere Press. Some of his poems and short stories have been featured in New York Quarterly, Twisted Vine, Free Spirit, Rougarou, Watershed Review, and Allegory Ridge. A sequel to Purity of the Sky is currently in the works and will be set mostly in Yerevan, Armenia.

Jacob Simmons (he/him) is a graduate student pursuing an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction at Fresno State. He writes about the duality of sociopolitical humanity, drawing much from his experience loving beautiful people and places with ugly ideas and history. He is the winner of the 2024 Fresno State Graduate Prize for Creative Nonfiction, and his work can be read in Under the Sun magazine and in the New Limestone Review.

James Morrison (he/him) is a writer and editor based in California's Central Valley whose work has appeared in Slate and Fugue. James writes about a variety of topics but tends to circle experiences related to various mental health disorders and the institutions charged with diagnosing and policing people in crisis.

Jer Xiong (she/her) is a Hmong writer and editor who was raised in northern California and currently lives in Los Angeles. She received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Fresno State. Her works have been published in the Los Angeles Times, The Cincinnati Review, and elsewhere. Her essay “Flaws'' won the Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction for Lunch Ticket’s 25th issue. 

Jessica Ruth Turney-Lua, a native of California's Central Valley, has ventured to distant places only to find herself drawn back to her roots time and again. She is grateful for this, as it’s where she cultivated her love for writing and poetry, where she met her husband, and where she welcomed her son into the world.  Jessica is the interim director for two programs at Fresno State that serve resilient students from underprivileged backgrounds. She enjoys the company of her two cats, singing and playing ukulele, and above all, she loves her family.

Jim Schmidt (he/him) Music, literature and technical pursuits have always been Jim's main interests. After studying philosophy at UC Berkeley, he got involved racing motorcycles, then pursued a career as a jazz musician and builder of saxophones. Presently, he is stretching his ideas to the limit in the form of science fiction novels.

John Hales (he/him) is the author of Shooting Polaris: A Personal Survey in the American West (University of Missouri Press), and his essays have appeared in the Georgia Review, Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre, Southern Review, Ascent, and Hudson Review. Awards include the Missouri Review Editors Prize in Nonfiction, and a Pushcart Prize. John taught at Fresno State for a really long time, most recently in the M.F.A. program.

Joseph LeForge is a current graduate student at Fresno State, earning his master's in English literature. He was born and raised in the Central Valley and hopes to teach future generations the power of writing and reading. He focuses on themes of environmentalism, humanism, queerness, and writing within his creative works.

Josiah Luis Alderete (cheese/queso) is a full blooded Spanglish speaking Pocho y left handed callejero de Aztlán who has been part of La Area Bahia’s spoken word scene for over twenty years. He is the curator and host of the long running Latinx reading series Speaking Axolotl and  is the author of two books of poetry “Baby Axolotls & Old Pochos(Black Freighter Press 2021) and the chapbook “Fuchi Faces de los Estados Jodidos”(For The Pueblo 2023). In 2023 he was the Poetry Center’s Mazza Writer in Residence at San Francisco State.  Along with his bookstore sister Tân Khanh Cao,Josiah  tends the portal known as Medicina Para Pesadillas Bookstore y Galeria on 24th street in La Mission.

Juleen Eun Sun Johnson is an interdisciplinary BIPOC artist and writer. Johnson was born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted when she was three. She was taken to Valdez, Alaska, where she grew up. Johnson is a MacDowell Fellow and the recipient of the Isabella Gardner Fellowship. Her writing is part of a collaboration in the Artists’ Biennial at the Oregon Contemporary in Portland.  Johnson earned an M.F.A. in Visual Studies from PNCA and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from UMass Amherst. Her chapbook is Topography of Materials.  She is the founder of Trestle Ties: A Landscape of Emergence. 

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Karo Ska (she/they) is a South Asian and Eastern European gender-fluid writer living on unceded Tongva land. Their writing focuses on identity, mental health, survivorship, and the intersections of trauma and politics. They are a teaching artist for Community Literature Initiative’s Poetry Publishing class, author of Loving My Salt-drenched Bones (World Stage Press, 2022) and are currently working on a memoir. They believe that writing is a craft and a restorative tool for well-being. Their classes focus on utilizing poetry to rejuvenate ourselves while improving our practice of language through the use of lyrical and literary elements.

Katie Quigley (she/her) is a senior at Fresno State University and will be receiving her bachelor's in English creative writing. She has found that her interest lies in poetry and academic papers surrounding recent and older literature, dissecting themes and form. In terms of her poetry, her themes revolve around identity, sexuality, mental health, relationships, childhood, and early adulthood. After graduation, her next step is to pursue her Master’s in English. Her work can be found published in Flies, Cockroaches and Poets journal, and hais: a literary journal.

Kirk Alvaro Lua is from Madera, the Heart of California. When he isn’t hoarding books, worshiping his cat, or taking long walks with his wife through Fresno’s Tower District, he is obsessing about his newly born son Henry. On occasion, Kirk writes poetry at work as a lab manager, and annually translate poetry for Toyon Literary Magazine for Humboldt State University.

Kirk Stone (him/he) grew up on the California coast near strawberry fields and the ocean. Except for a brief stint teaching English in Poland, he has lived in Fresno for the past two decades. He has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Fresno State and is currently the Assistant Director of California State University Fresno's Writing Center, where he focuses on facilitating small writing groups.

Kristin Lyn Crase (she/her) is a local actor, stage manager, writer, and director last seen on stage as Lotty Wilton in Enchanted April at Good Company Players. Her short play “Farmer’s Market” was featured in Identity, produced by The Fools Collaborative. She also wrote and performed “Vacations With Dad” for the Rogue Festival in 2015.

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LadiRevolutionary (LadiRev) [she/her] is an educator/spoken word artist from Bayview Hunters Point. Her poetry is a reflection of personal growth along with values learned from family and community. LadiRev is passionate about community, education, and healing. She is the host of Talkn Owt Da Side of Da Necc Podcast, which focuses on individual healing practices.

Laura Sermeño (she/her), born in Montebello, CA, raised and educated in Sur El Monte —UCLA matriculated. In 2012, she began to unfold her art of poetry. In 2015, she participated in the Voices of our Nation's (VONA) Southern California Regional Workshop. In 2017, with Las Lunas Locas, her poetry was published in an anthology. She never traditionally captured the art of poetry-making, instead relying on her inner beat and the rawest inspiration with which to write. She claims celestial goddess power, speaks truth and hopes to give mexicana princesas a good name. She now teaches and resides in Pasadena, CA. 

Lee Herrick is the California State Poet Laureate. He is the author of four books, most recently, In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems (Gunpowder Press, 2024). He was born in Daejeon, Korea, and adopted at ten months. He served as Fresno Poet Laureate (2015-2017), and lives and teaches in Fresno.

Lena Mubsutina is the author of Amreekiya, an Arab American Book Award winner, a finalist for the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize, and one of Foreword’s “Four Phenomenal Debut Novels.” Her work has appeared in Sukoon, A Gathering Together, and The Offing, among others, and she has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes.

Leslie Kay Quintana (she/her) is a Mexican-American queer poet from Fresno, California. She is now a Fresno State alum with a B.A. in Creative Writing. While she attended Fresno State, she served as vice-president for the Chicanx Writers & Artists Association as well as co-editor for the club’s literary journal, Flies, Cockroaches and Poets. Her work is centered around family, nature, and her relationships to the world and those around her. You can find her work in the last three issues of Flies, Cockroaches, & Poets as well as hais: a literary journal.

Linda Scheller (she/her) is the author of two poetry books, Fierce Light (FutureCycle Press) and Wind & Children (Main Street Rag Publishing Company). Her poetry, plays, and book reviews are published in Slipstream, Hawai'i Pacific Review, Dissent, Colorado Review, and Poem, among numerous other publications. Ms. Scheller is a retired educator who volunteers as a programmer for KCBP Community Radio and serves as vice president of Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center. Her website is lindascheller.com. 

Linnea Alexander (she/her) entered Fresno State’s M.F.A. program after retiring as a professor of English at California State University, Fresno. She is currently sending her memoir, The River of Mercy, out for publication. She is a member of Hearts on Fire Rock and Roll Choir and The Tower District Preservation Association.

Luivette Resto is an award-winning poet, a mother of three revolutionary humans, and a middle school English teacher. She was born in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, but proudly raised in the Bronx. She is a CantoMundo and Macondo Fellow, and a Pushcart Prize nominee. She has three books of poetry: Unfinished Portrait, Ascension, and Living on Islands Not Found on Maps. Her work has been mentioned in the LA Times, Ms. Magazine, and North American Review. She is the associate editor of Tía Chucha Press, and she sits on the boards for Women Who Submit and Beyond Baroque. 

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Maiyang Dove (she/her) drifted from Wisconsin to Florida before arriving in California. She is an alumna of Fresno State, obtaining her B.A. in English Education (Literature Emphasis) in 2020. She enjoys writing narratives with female leads, the supernatural, and magical realism. Today, Mai is an educator in Fresno, with her beloved, and some adorable cats.

Maria Esquinca (she/her) is a writer and producer. Her poetry has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Waxwing, The Florida Review, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Cream City Review, and others. Her book reviews and interviews have appeared in Adroit Journal and ANMLY. A fronteriza, she was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México and grew up in El Paso, Texas. She’s currently based in Oakland, CA. Find her on Twitter and on her website. Maria won the Andres Montoya Poetry Prize in 2024, the first year the prize was re-established at the University of California, Davis in collaboration with the New Oeste Series at the University of Nevada Press.

Mariah Bosch (she/they) is a queer Chicana poet and educator from Fresno, CA. She received her M.F.A. in Poetry from CSU Fresno. Her poems have been published by the Academy of American Poets, Small Press Traffic, and others.

Marie Butcher (she/her) is Assistant Professor & Program Head for English for Academic and Professional Purposes at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, co-leader of the annual MIIS Poetry Week and monthly poetry gatherings. She has read at Curated Words, Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium, Bridging the Bay, Peña Cultural, Lit Crawl, and Wednesday Night Poetry.  Marie has published in the Porter Gulch Review, Monterey Poetry Review, Solo Novo, and others. Marie is the Editor for Peace, Poetry & Policy: a multilingual anthology of poems dedicated to peace and author of Becoming River: from headwaters to sea (slated for publication 2024). 

Marisol Baca (she/her) is the author of a book of poems, Tremor, she served as the fourth Fresno Poet Laureate in 2019-2021. She teaches for Resources for American Indian Needs, which is a community within Fresno City College giving support to Native and Indigenous students. She holds workshops for Poets & Writers and the California Center for the Book: Rural Libraries Tour, and she has established a community for women writers of color that seeks to support and uplift their writing endeavors.

Martin Bantilan Dabon (he/him) is a post-baccalaureate student at Fresno State pursuing a teaching credential in English as well as a graduate certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). He works as a substitute teacher in both Clovis Unified and Fresno Unified school districts. Writing has always been his leading passion, and he enjoys a variety of genres—even those that others might find downright bizarre.

Mateo Perez Lara (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, Latinx poet from California. They have a pamphlet of poems, Glitter Gods, showcased with Thirty West Publishing House. They have an M.F.A. in Poetry from Randolph College. Their poems have been published in EOAGH, The Maine Review, The Acentos Review, Hooligan Mag, and elsewhere.

Matt Robles is a founding organizer of No Filter, a monthly pay-what-you-can Open Mic Night in Fresno. He has work published in the Collective Consciousness Zine. His work explores the punk, anti-establishment roots at the heart of the Central Valley spoken word movement.

Matthew Driscoll grew up in the Central Valley. He is a Navy veteran and college graduate. Matt's been a cook, a teacher, a father, and a world traveler. He has his master's in Linguistics and is working on his Ph.D.

Megan Anderson Bohigian (she/her) is author of two poetry collections, Sightlines (Tourane Poetry Press) and Vanishing Point (The Orchard Street Press). Her poems have been anthologized in Shadowed: Unheard Voices, and published in many journals, including Salt, The Atticus Review, and The Comstock Review. She lives and writes in Fresno, California, where she served as the City of Fresno Poet Laureate from 2021-2023.

Megan Espinor is a native Tejana with a Cultural Anthropology degree from Texas State University. In 2021, she began working at Huston-Tillotson University, the central Texas HBCU, after the passing of her mother. Utilizing her poetry as an outlet for grief, she published her first poem, “ilnamiqui (remember)”, found in the 2022 issue five of Trestle Ties. Megan uses natural imagery inspired by her upbringing on a ranch in South Texas, cultural experiences from the Texas-Mexican border, and historical texts to bring emotion to her writings. You can find many of her creative expressions, including Mexican ballet flokorico, on her Instagram at @Xochitl.Lindo.

Megan Mendes (they/them) Queer artist/poet/DJ born and raised in the 559.  Co-host of No Filter Open mic. They recently released their 2nd zine of  personal poetry and art titled "Reflection" it is the follow up to "Redirection" their first poetry release. They also put together a zine called Collective Consciousness, highlighting local artists and writers from around the central valley with 4 volumes currently available. They are also part of Loud Mouth Poetry Jam, the competitive slam poetry community in Visalia. Find them at Broadway Studios during arthop in studio 10 sharing art, music, and poetry

Michael Dominquez has been a poetry lover and spoken-word enthusiast for the better part of 18 years. Recently published, and still excited AF about it, Michael works to champion vulnerability and is a welcome embrace to unspoken truths. His writings are an invitation into human connection and wonder.

Michael Meyerhofer is the author of five books of poetry – including What To Do If You’re Buried Alive (free from Doubleback Books). His work has appeared in The Sun, Missouri Review, Southern Review, Brevity, Rattle and other journals. He’s also the author of a fantasy series and Poetry Editor of Atticus Review. For more info and an embarrassing childhood photo, visit troublewithhammers.com.

Michael S. Cantu, from Reedley California, is a recipient of an M.F.A. from CSU Fresno in the heart of California’s Central Valley.  His writing explores the difficulty of life and the understanding of one’s self. His work has appeared in: hais: a literary journal, Flies, Cockroaches and Poets, Kaleidoscope Literary Magazine, and Rising Phoenix Review. He is a winner of the Andres Montoya Poetry Prize.  When not creating, he works as an English teacher helping underserved youth find their voices.  He is supported in art by his loving wife, daughter, and extended family, all long-time inhabitants of the California Central Valley.

Michael Steiner (he/him) grew up in Fresno and studied Creative Writing at Fresno State. He is particularly interested in the participation of written and spoken word in mystic traditions and the potential for art to access universal human experience. His poems have been published in hais: a literary journal and the San Joaquin Review.

Dr. Michele McConnell (she/her/mom) is an Assistant Professor of English at CSU Fresno. She has nearly two decades of teaching experience across the fields of academic writing, ESOL, high school English, K-12 pre-and in-service teacher education, and research methodologies. With degrees in creative writing, reading, and leadership, she has published in peer reviewed journals and presented on issues related to teaching pre-service English educators, critical literacies, multilingual writing practices, collaborative writing practices, as well as on intercultural communication and global education. This will be her first public sharing of creative work.

miguel ángel ángeles (he/him) is a xicano poet who writes poems about trauma, family, and dragons. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from the University of California, Riverside. He is a second-year grad student studying Poetry in the Creative Writing M.F.A. program at Fresno State. He lives in Lindsay, California.

Mylo Lam (he/him) was born in Vietnam and currently lives in Los Angeles where he grew up. He and his family are refugees from Cambodia. Mylo’s work has been published or is forthcoming in The Margins, Guesthouse, Beloit Poetry Journal, Nightboat Books, and elsewhere. His multimedia work won Palette Poetry’s Brush & Lyre Prize, his poetry won Blood Orange Review's Emerging Writers Contest. His chapbook AND NOT/AND YET was published by Quarterly West. He is currently pursuing his M.F.A. in Poetry at Randolph College.

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Nikolai Garcia (he/him) grew up in South Central Los Angeles, currently works with homeless youth in East Hollywood, and has been sleeping in Compton for the last 15 years. His poems have been published in various journals and anthologies, and his first chapbook, Nuclear Shadows of Palm Trees, was released by DSTL Arts. He’s co-host for Trenches Full of Poets, a reading series in Long Beach.

Norla Henderson (she/her) has worked in fabric, knitting and needlework stores most of her life, selling, designing and teaching. When sent home to duck the virus she set the knitting needles down as there was no place to wear new sweaters and picked up paint brushes. She also joined an online storytelling group, Stories to Tell with Dr. Bertice Berry, because it turned out she needed a lot of attention. With the storytelling she also learned to stop hiding from the camera.

Nou Her (she/her) graduated from Fresno State’s M.F.A. graduate program in Fiction, focusing her graduate years using the written form to dive into mother-daughter relationships and womanhood situated in the context of a patriarchal culture. While fiction is her heart, she dabbles in a variety of genres. Currently, she works in marketing at WestCare and uses her writing to empower change in the communities WestCare impacts.

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Peter Garza (he/him) is a graduate from Fresno State with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. He has had a love for writing since he was a scrawny twig from Porterville. Residing in Fresno the last twelve years, he finds inspiration in the orange groves that border his hometown and the battered Highway 99 he traveled often.

Phoua Lee (she/her) is a Hmong American writer from California. She is an M.F.A. Creative Writing student at California State University, Fresno. Her work has been published in Asian American Writers’ Workshop, ctrl + v, diaCRITICS, and Poets.org, among others.

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Ramón García (he/him) is the author of two books of poetry, The Chronicles (Red Hen Press, 2015) and Other Countries (What Books Press, 2010), a monograph on the artist Ricardo Valverde (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), and a chapbook Strays (Foundlings Press, 2021).  The Chronicles was a finalist for the International Latino Book Award, in the category of Poetry Book in English.  His poetry has appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies, including circulo de poesía, the Best American Poetry anthology, and Ambit. He teaches at California State University, Northridge, and lives in Eagle Rock. Website: https://ramongarciaphd.com

René Miguel Rodríguez-Astacio (he/él/they) was born and raised in Humacao, Puerto Rico. A professor of secondary English Education at Fresno State and storyteller, his work, writing, and interests are fueled by his experiences and identity as a bilingual queer Puerto Rican. He is an avid reader, amateur cuentista, and die-hard fanatic of young adult and children’s literature. He also writes in his spare time about fantastic worlds, Puerto Rican queer teens, cuentos, and the occasional spur-of-the-moment poem. A nerd at heart, you can always find him hanging out at bookstores, record shops, and theme parks.

Roda Avelar (she/her) is a poet, writer, and educator from Fresno, California. Her work imagines queer people and people of color into science fiction, mythology, and queer liberation. She earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from UC Riverside, where she taught creative writing and English composition, and a B.A. in English literature from Fresno State. She is the winner of a 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship, and in 2022, she was a Community of Writers fellow. Her poetry can be found in The Acentos Review, SPORAZINE, ANMLY, Poetry magazine, Pleiades, and Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.

Rolando André López Torres (he/him) is an educator, writer, translator, bookseller, and poli-psycho-devil cartoonist from San Juan, Puerto Rico. He has published work in Passages North, ORCA Literary Journal, Off Assignment, Konch Magazine, and others. In 2021, his essay “A Name is an Unquiet City” was labeled a notable essay of 2020 by Best American Essays. He is a 2023 Puerto Rican Artist Fellow for MASSMOCA’s Assets4Artists program. His writing ranges from journalism and reportage to hybrid fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from California College of the Arts. He lives in San Francisco, California.

Romeo Guzmán (he/him) is an academic, public historian, and cultural worker born in Goleta and raised in Pomona. He is the co-director of the South El Monte Arts Posse (SEMAP) and C.A.S.A. Zamora, and an assistant professor at Claremont Graduate University. From 2016-2020, he founded and directed Fresno State’s Valley Public History Initiative. The co-editor of East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte, he has been published in various academic and public-facing outlets. He edited Boom California from 2019–2022 and is the author of the chapbook Pocho Blues (Sybill Press).

Rooja Mohassessy (she/her) is an Iranian-born poet and educator. She is a MacDowell Fellow and an M.F.A. graduate of Pacific University, Oregon. Her ekphrastic debut collection When Your Sky Runs Into Mine (2023) was the winner of the 22nd Annual Elixir Poetry Award. Rooja has been featured on NPR, The Hive Poetry Collective, and other poetry podcasts and radio stations. Her poems and reviews have appeared in Narrative Magazine, Poet Lore, RHINO Poetry, Southern Humanities Review, CALYX Journal, Ninth Letter, Cream City Review, The Adroit Journal, New Letters, The Florida Review, Poetry Northwest, The Pinch, The Rumpus, The Journal, and elsewhere. Her work is also anthologized in California Fire & Water: A Climate Crisis Anthology, and Colossus: Body, a compilation of writings by Californians writing on the themes of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights. Rooja is an editorial assistant at the journal Prairie Schooner.

Ruben Elias Mejia (he/him/his) is a Chicano poet born in Boyle Heights and raised in California's Central Valley. Alongside his brother, Eddie the Okay, Ruben curates an online zine that showcases their collaborative work. This zine is a multimedia platform where all of Ruben's published poetry and creative endeavors can be found. Passionate about storytelling, Ruben is dedicated to sharing his own narratives and amplifying the voices of others through his work. Committed to the craft, he continues to build a vibrant and inclusive literary community. Ruben's artistic journey is a testament to his enduring presence and influence in the world of poetry.

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sam h. tripp (they/m) is privileged to be learning, creating, and communing with Yokuts land. their poetry will be found in Bramble, Blue Heron Review, Saints and Sinners: 2023 Poetry Anthology, and Huizache. A hyphenate constantly in awe of the ways science and magic braid together, they are writing towards reconnection with ancestors past and present.

Samantha Martinez Palomares (she/her) is a recent graduate of Fresno State, with a bachelor's degree in English. Her work has been published in Flies, Cockroaches and Poets and San Joaquin Review.

Samina Najmi (she/her) teaches multiethnic U.S. literatures at California State University, Fresno. A scholar of race, gender, and war in U.S. literature, she has edited or coedited four volumes and authored critical essays on works by Naomi Shihab Nye, Brian Turner, Mohsin Hamid, and other writers. Samina’s creative nonfiction, which often melds the personal with political critique, may be found in a number of literary magazines. Her memoir One Summer in Gaza was reprinted recently in Doubleback Review, and her essay on Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation is forthcoming in The Markaz Review. Writing is her way of arriving home.

Sara Borjas is a Chicana, a pocha, and a Fresno poet. She earned a B.A. in English Literature from Fresno State and an M.F.A. from UC Riverside. She holds fellowships from CantoMundo, the Postgraduate Writers' Conference at Vermont College of Fine Arts and Community of Writers at Squaw Valley. Borjas is the recipient of the 2014 Blue Mesa Poetry Prize and is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. Her poetry can be found in The Rumpus, The Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day Series, Ploughshares and The Offing, amongst others. She lives in the Bay Area but stays rooted in Fresno.

Sean Andersen (he/him) graduated from Fresno State with a bachelor’s degree in English - Creative Writing. Since graduating, he splits his time between writing, music, and education. He finds joy in the arts and seeing others passionate about craft and the process of making.

Shadab Zeest Hashmi’s (she/her) books include award-winning poetry collections Baker of Tarifa and Kohl and Chalk, and a volume of essays and poetry titled Ghazal Cosmopolitan. Comb, her latest book, is a lyric memoir selected by Julia Bouwsma as the Best Hybrid Book 2019. Winner of the San Diego Book Award, the Nazim Hikmet Poetry Prize, and nominated for the Pushcart multiple times, Zeest Hashmi's poetry has been featured in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (UK), translated into Spanish, Turkish, Bosnian and Urdu, and has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals such as World Literature Today, Thrush, Wasafiri, Poem, The Cortland Review, Prairie Schooner, Vallum, McSweeney's In the Shape of a Human Body I am Visiting the Earth and Best Asian Poetry 2021. Zeest Hashmi’s essays, which engage with world history, cultures of encounter, aesthetics, the craft of poetry and the life of the spirit, appear in publications worldwide, including Best Spiritual Literature 2024 (forthcoming from Orison Books).

Shannon Matalone (she/her) is a fiction writer from Modesto, CA. She is currently studying at California State University, Fresno as a Creative Writing Major with an emphasis in Publishing and Editing at California State University, Fresno. She enjoys reading, playing video games and writing. She plans to graduate from the program with a position in publishing or screenwriting and as an author.

Sharon K. McClain (she/her) finds impetus to write from her unconventional childhood growing up in the beach cities of Southern California, alchemizing trauma into healing and beauty. An M.F.A. student in Creative Writing at Fresno State, her work has been published by the San Joaquin Review and The Academy of American Poets. She currently works as a yoga therapist and medical librarian in the Great Central Valley.

Shelby Pinkham (they/them) is a Chicanx, bipolar, and queer poet. Their writing has appeared in ANMLY, ctrl + v, Huizache, and Honey Lit. They received an M.F.A. at Fresno State, and they are a Lambda Lit fellow. In 2022, their book, Rx / suppressor, was named a semifinalist in Noemi’s Poetry Prize.

Shelley Kay Mast (she/her) is a mom to two adult offspring and a temporary stand-in for many others through her work with Free Mom Hugs©, a steadfast partner, and a willing servant to a persnickety terrier, Olive Juniper. She is also a participant and student of the Arts, and a lover of the Natural World. She has a deep curiosity about human behavior, what makes us tick and why we click. She has recently discovered the power of, and therapy through, storytelling.

Soreath Hok (she/her) is an award-winning journalist with experience in radio, TV and digital production. Her public radio reports have been featured on KVPR, KQED and NPR. She’s currently in her second year of Fresno State's Creative Writing M.F.A. program with an emphasis in Creative Nonfiction. She writes about Cambodian American identity and what it’s like to grow up with her family-run donut shop, which she’s now returned to operating full-time while in school.

Stefan Leiva (he/him) is a queer fiction writer and digital illustrator. Born and raised in Fresno, he studies in Fresno State’s M.F.A. Creative Writing Program, focusing on queer stories, primarily queer young-adult fiction. He enjoys writing, drawing, reading, playing video games, and spending game nights and collaborative writing sessions with friends. Stefan is working toward becoming a creative writing instructor at the university level as well as a fiction novelist, since he cannot stop writing.

Stella Beratlis (she/her) is a second-generation Greek/American who grew up in the SF Bay Area and the Central Valley. She is the author of Dust Bowl Venus and Alkali Sink, both published by Sixteen Rivers Press. Her poems have appeared in places such as the anthologies The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems from the San Francisco Bay Watershed (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2010), California Fire and Water: A Climate Crisis Anthology (Story Streets, 2020), and Center of Attention: Poems on Stockton and San Joaquin (Tuleburg Press) as well as in journals and magazines. She writes a column on used records for the music magazine Record Time.

Stella Luna Velez (she/her) is a writer from Auberry. While at Fresno State, she served as the student representative for the Fresno State Creative Writing Alumni association and as a member of the Chicanx Writers and Artists Association. Her writing examines family, the self, nature, and the strangeness of the body. On rainy days she can be found in the garden trying to find mushrooms.

Steve Hay (he/him) lives in Fresno. He writes Near-Future SciFi Adventure, ‘cause that’s where the action is. Big challenges to individuals as they live their lives. A world where the past isn’t yet past, but it sure as heck isn’t exactly pertinent, either. His background: World-wise and also world-dumb ‘cause there’s so dang much of it. He has had several careers: AF Navigator, Civil Engineering Designer/GIS technician, and Science teacher. He is now retired to writing, despite writing most his life, small stuff: critiques, some humorous essays, some absurdities. He promises never to lecture his readers; he’s done enough of that.

Steven Church (he/him) is the author of six books of creative nonfiction, most recently the collection of essays, I'm Just Getting to the Disturbing Part: on Work, Fear, and Fatherhood and the book-length essay, One With the Tiger. He also edited the anthology The Spirit of Disruption: Selections from The Normal School. His essays have been published and anthologized widely, including in the Best American Essays, the Best of Brevity, the Best of River Teeth, and the Best of Fourth Genre. He is a founding editor of the literary magazine, The Normal School, and teaches in the M.F.A. program at Fresno State. He lives in Fresno with his two dogs, Neko and Gus.

Susan Ito co-edited the literary anthology A Ghost At Heart’s Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption. Her work has appeared in The Writer, Growing Up Asian American, Choice, Hip Mama, Literary Mama, Catapult, Hyphen,The Bellevue Literary Review, and elsewhere. She is a MacDowell Fellow, and has also been awarded residencies at The Mesa Refuge, Hedgebrook and the Blue Mountain Center.  She is a member of the Writers’ Grotto, and teaches at Northeastern University and Bay Path University. She was one of the co-organizers of Rooted and Written, a no-fee writing workshop for writers of color. She lives in Northern California.

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Talia Lakshmi Kolluri (she/her) is a mixed South Asian American writer from California. Her debut collection, What We Fed To The Manticore (Tin House 2022) was a finalist for the 2023 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, and was longlisted for the 2023 Aspen Prize and the 2023 Carnegie Medal for Fiction.

Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta (they/them/ellx) is a cuír anarquistx virgo Jewish Latinx artist, poet, café worker, and sexual health educator from unceded Tongva lands, now living in unceded Yelamu Ramaytush Ohlone lands. Their first book, The Easy Body, was published by Timeless, Infinite Light in 2017; their second book, La Movida, is forthcoming from Nightboat Books in spring of 2022.

Taylor Seals (she/her) is a second-year M.F.A. Poetry student emphasized in literary editing and publishing. Her writing centralizes external and internal human relationships. Many of the themes excavated in her work navigate Black-American generational trauma and healing, matrilineage through blood and song, and her queer experiences. Taylor’s work has been featured in literary journals such as ZAUM, Flies, Cockroaches and Poets, and elsewhere.

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Vanessa Gonzalez (she/they) is a graduate student currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction at Fresno State. Leaning into self-discovery, neurodivergent diagnoses, and a lot of therapy, Vanessa writes from constantly unfolding perspectives and navigates experiences of the past through a present, less self-loathing lens.

Venita Blackburn (she/her) is the author of the story collections Black Jesus and Other Superheroes and How to Wrestle a Girl, a finalist for a Lambda Literary Prize and a NYTimes editor’s choice. Her debut novel, Dead in Long Beach, California, published January of 2024 is about the mania of grief, all of human history and a lesbian assassin at the end of the world. She is the founder and president of Live, Write, an organization devoted to offering free creative writing workshops for communities of color: livewriteworkshop.com. Her hometown is Compton, California, and she is an Associate Professor of creative writing at California State University, Fresno, where she lives with her dog, Butterbean.

Victor Trejo (him/he) was born and raised in California's Central Valley. He spent a moderately idyllic childhood growing up in Fresno, where he was exposed at an early age to music, theater, and the beauty of poetry. He holds a B.A. from University of California, Santa Barbara, and works as a teacher and photographer of the events and people in his corner of the city.

Victoria Monsivaiz (she/her) is a second-generation Mexican American born in Denver, Colorado, raised in the Central Valley. She studies poetry in Fresno State’s M.F.A. Creative Writing Program, with an emphasis in publishing and editing. She has served as president of the Chicanx Writers and Artists Association (CWAA) and the student-run Latinx newspaper La Voz de Aztlán. She teaches poetry for the English Department as a teaching assistant. Her writing focuses on experiences growing up in a single-parent and multigenerational Mexican household, dissecting current and former familial bonds through a critical lens that navigates culture, identity, queerness, “second-parenting,” and traditional gender roles.

Viviana Melgoza (she/her) is a poet, musician, student and tutor from Fresno, California. She is currently attending Fresno City College where she is employed as an English tutor while working towards her associate's degree in English. She hopes to transfer to a UC to study English Creative Writing. In her independently published poetry zine, Strung by Recollections, Viviana deconstructs melancholic memories of childhood, while piecing together a vivid portrait of the Central Valley as she knew it.

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Will Freeney (he/him) is a creative nonfiction writer with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Fresno State University (2022) and a poetry reader for Passengers Journal (passengersjournal.com). Born in Turlock, raised in San Jose by parents who met in Stockton, gainfully employed in Sacramento for a quarter century, and finally settled in Fresno, he is a Cali guy from cradle to grave. He is also a proud father/grandfather/greatgrandfather and a Buddhist for over half his life.

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Xai Lee is a poetic voice molded by the echoes of his family's journey, holds an M.F.A. in Poetry from Fresno State. Born to Hmong war refugees who fled Laos and Thailand post-Vietnam War, his roots delve deep into the upheaval of conflict and migration. Descended from guerrilla fighters enlisted by the CIA in the Secret War in Laos, Lee's verse resonates with the untold tales of resilience and adaptation. His poetry paints a vivid tapestry of the Hmong American experience, woven with survival and hope amidst the shadows of war's aftermath.

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo (she/her) is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and author of Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites (Mouthfeel Press) and Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications). A former Steinbeck Fellow and Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, Bermejo's poetry and essays can be found at Acentos Review, Huizache, LA Review of Books, The Offing, [Pank], Santa Fe Writers Project, and other journals. She teaches poetry and creative writing with Antioch University, MFA and UCLA Extension and is the director of Women Who Submit. 

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Yamil Sárraga-López (he/him) Raised in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, Yamil Sárraga-López is a pursuer of words and creative endeavors. More than a hobby, writing plays a significant role in his upbringing as an instrument of growth and expression, especially due to his experiences as a fat, queer, Latino man. He enjoys most creative mediums and hobbies, strongly leaning towards fantasy worlds. His journey allows him to share his experiences with others, often as a teacher. Currently, he serves as a lecturer at Fresno State where he shares his passion for writing (and literature) with his students.

Yennefer Chouda-Erlang (she/her) is a Hmong American poet whose works grapple and articulate with her identity of being an orphan and an outcast in 21st century Hmong American diaspora communities. Her works have appeared in hais: a literary journal and Flies, Cockroaches and Poets.

Yia Lee (she/her) is a 2021 graduate of the Fresno State M.F.A. Creative Writing program and writes fiction that explores memory, voice, trauma, the spiritual and supernatural, family bonds, as well as weirder things like the neighborhood feral cat gossip. Her short story “Broken Chords'' was published in the anthology How Do I Begin: A Hmong American Literary Anthology.

Yvonne Freve (she/her) After many years writing grants and reports as an evaluator for educational and social service programs, Yvonne Freve stretches her creative spirit to write poems, memoirs and character studies drawn from the rich landscape of her life. From the four corners of the U.S.; the Outer Banks to the Central Valley, she has gathered stories to touch the heart and warm the spirit. Fresno and The Central Valley is home base for the last 50 years. Her personal stories and poems are published in The Sun Magazine, A Writer's Anthology: Keene, N.H., and appear on her blog:  This Life and Others:  Memoirs, anecdotes and fantasies about my life and a little about the lives of others I knew, know or may have known. (https://yvocathings.blogspot.com/). Currently, Yvonne is facilitating the UUCF Writing Group using the Amherst Artists and Writers Method to encourage others to find their voice through the written word.