KEITH ALTHAUS is the author of two books of poetry, Rival Heavens and Ladder of Hours. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where they run an art gallery.

MICHELLE CACHO-NEGRETE lives in Wells, Maine, and her essays appear in The Sun’s new book The Mysterious Life of the Heart and in Thoreau’s Legacy, an anthology from the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists. She teaches writing both in person and online and is recovering well from surgery, thanks to Dr. Jeff Thurlow.

SANDY CARTER is coauthor of the book of photographs Women in Medicine: A Celebration of Their Work (Firefly Books). She lives in Anacortes, Washington.

RADEK CERMAK lives in Prague, Czech Republic.

MORGAN FRITH bought her first camera in the tenth grade and took photographs of children playing Little League baseball, which she then sold to their parents. She lives in Rayville, Louisiana.

TONY HOAGLAND’s newest book of poetry is Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty. He recently taught at the 2011 Conference on the Great Mother and New Father, where he was overstimulated by the company of talented artists and musicians and found serious cultural debate of the kind he’d once hoped to find within the walls of American universities. He lives in Houston, Texas.

DAVID KUPFER is an environmental activist, biker, artist, Frisbee tosser, and culinary risk taker whose writing has appeared in Bay Nature, The Progressive, and Adbusters. He lives in Northern California, where he is working on three books, two screenplays, and one big garden.

LEE MARTIN is the author of four novels, including The Bright Forever, a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. His third memoir, Such a Life, is due out this year. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, and teaches in the creative-writing program at Ohio State, where he forces students to listen to his corny jokes and admire his collection of windup toys.

GARY MATSON once appeared on television in New Orleans, Louisiana, dancing under the stars, wearing one orange and one yellow sneaker. He lives in Sunnyside, New York.

R.A. McBRIDE is the author of Left in the Dark: Portraits of San Francisco Movie Theatres, for which she received a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission. She is a founding member of Point Blank, an experimental photography group in San Francisco.

DOUG McMAINS is a photographer and cinematographer who lives in Herman, Nebraska. His work is represented by Getty Images.

LOGAN MOCK-BUNTING’s photographs have been published in the New York Times and Outside. He lives in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

GERALD PARKER lives in Manomet, Massachusetts.

JERRY PORTELLI photographs people and architecture for a living, but his passion is taking pictures of fine art. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

CARLY REITSMA lives in Canaan, New Hampshire, where she works as a gardener and fishes for brown bullheads.

DOUG RHINEHART’s first book of photographs is Desert Adagio (People’s Press). He is a retired community-college administrator and photography instructor who lives in Woody Creek, Colorado.

MATTOX ROESCH and his wife sold their house in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and moved to a 340-square-foot home in Unalakleet, Alaska, in an attempt to simplify their lives. They have since learned that simplification is not for the lazy: “It’s a lot of work to catch and process enough fish for a year,” he explains. In addition to being a stay-at-home dad to his one-year-old daughter, Ayuu, he passes the long winters by skijoring (cross-country skiing while harnessed to dogs) and dog sledding.

DAVID ROMTVEDT lives in Buffalo, Wyoming, where he has spent much of the past year building his house — digging the foundation, framing, insulating, hanging drywall, and now, finally, painting. His most recent book of poems is titled Some Church (Milkweed Editions).

JENNIFER SPELMAN began her photography career at a district attorney’s office, taking pictures of crime scenes. Now she teaches photography in the U.S., Mexico, and India. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

COLE THOMPSON is a fine-art photographer living in northern Colorado. The subjects of his photographs range from the beaches of Oregon to the Nazi concentration camps of Poland. 

DAVE WESTOVER is a freelance photographer and graphic designer who lives in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

JOE WILKINS is the author of a memoir, The Mountain and the Fathers, and two collections of poems, Notes from the Journey Westward and Killing the Murnion Dogs. He lives with his wife and children in north Iowa. His most recent opponent on the basketball court was his two-year-old son; the contest involved no thrown elbows and lots of tickling.