Contributors

Poe Ballantine is on his way to reading every conspiracy-theory book on John F. Kennedy’s assassination; he’s convinced it was a coup d’état by the CIA. He lives in Chadron, Nebraska, and his books include Guidelines for Mountain Lion Safety, Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere, and The Decline of the Lawrence Welk Empire.

Frederick Buechner is a theologian who has written more than thirty books, including fiction, autobiography, and essays. His best-known works include the novels Godric and Lion Country, and a collection of essays titled Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale.

Sally Charette lives with her husband in the foothills between Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert. She sings and rhythmically bangs on things with her band, the Harmonistas.

Brian Doyle lives in Portland, Oregon. His newest novel is Chicago, whose star is a wise and discerning dog.

C.J. Gall spent last January breaking all her New Year’s resolutions. She is a visiting professor at DeVry University and lives in Jacksonville, Florida.

Randa Jarrar’s sister is a composer, her mother is a pianist, and her son is a musician. Jarrar, meanwhile, considers it an accomplishment that she sang “Material Girl” and “Push It” at karaoke and was not asked to leave the stage. Her second book, Him, Me, Muhammad Ali, will be out in October. She is a professor at Fresno State’s MFA program and lives in Fresno, California.

Jack Miles is the editor of The Norton Anthology of World Religions and a professor of English and religious studies at the University of California, Irvine. He lives in Orange County, California.

Sam Mowe’s writing regularly appears in Spirituality & Health and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. He splits his time between Brooklyn and Garrison, New York, where he lives and works in a former monastery on the Hudson River.

Debbie Urbanski reads classic fantasy books to her daughter and considers this a major benefit of being a mother. She lives with her family in Syracuse, New York.

Sharon Covert’s work has been featured in The Hand Magazine and LensCulture. She lives in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

Abishek Dasgupta is originally from India and now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His images have been shown at the Art Guild Gallery in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Rachel J. Elliott lives with her family in Carrboro, North Carolina. She is the photo editor at The Sun.

Michael Galinsky is a filmmaker, photographer, and musician living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Robert Graham champions estivation, hibernation, and other forms of torpor. He is the art director at The Sun and lives with his family in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

Frank Hamrick lives in Ruston, Louisiana, where he is an associate professor of photography and book arts at Louisiana Tech University’s School of Design. His work has been shown at the Georgia Museum of Art and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

Lisa Johnston’s work has appeared in Newsweek and Glamour. Happily retired, she lives in Marietta, Georgia.

Bill Koplitz used to collect T-shirts from everywhere he traveled and share photos of them on his website, until he realized it looked too much like a T-shirt store. He’s semi-retired and still on call as a photographer for the U.S. government.

Kunal Mehra grew up in India but likes pizza almost as much as Indian food. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Jan Phillips is a photographer, author, and workshop facilitator in San Diego, California. She is the co-founder of the Livingkindness Foundation, which improves educational opportunities for girls in Nigeria.

Mohammed Sattar was born and raised in Basra, Iraq. His work has been featured in Photography Masterclass Magazine and ArabPx Magazine.

Jennifer Spelman used to take photos for a Colorado district attorney’s office — sometimes from helicopters and, once, through the periscope of an unmarked van outside a restaurant. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.