Contributors

Deborah Golden Alecson is a retired professor of thanatology who lives in the Berkshires. She’s the author of four books of nonfiction and poetry.

Donald Barthelme was the author of four novels and more than one hundred short stories. He was a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and the cofounder of Fiction. He died in 1989.

Heather E. Goodman’s writing has been published in Fiction and Shenandoah. She teaches high school and lives in Pennsylvania along a creek where she sometimes catches trout but often has better luck nabbing crayfish.

Vivé Griffith’s work has appeared in Oxford American and River Teeth. She installed a poetry box at the curb of her home in Austin, Texas, and she puts a favorite poem into it every Sunday afternoon.

Debra Gwartney was born in Salmon, Idaho, and lived for many years on the McKenzie River in western Oregon with her husband and cat. Her newest book is the memoir I Am a Stranger Here Myself.

Andrew Johnson is the author of the essay collection On Earth as It Is. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kathryn Jordan is a retired music teacher from Berkeley, California. Her chapbook, Riding Waves, touches on life as a military kid during the Vietnam War.

Alison Luterman’s latest book of poetry is In the Time of Great Fires. She lives and teaches in Oakland, California, and is making her way through the pandemic by taking long walks and writing songs.

Michael Pearce’s first collection of poems, Santa Lucia by Starlight, is forthcoming. He lives in Oakland, California, and when there isn’t a pandemic going on, he plays saxophone in the Bay Area band Highwater Blues.

Jen Silverman is a writer and playwright who lives in New York. Her debut novel, We Play Ourselves, was published in February. She draws nihilistic pandas on Instagram: @this_panda_is_sad.

Josh Swiller’s debut young-adult novel, Bright Shining World, was published in 2020. He is also the author of The Unheard, a memoir about being deaf from a young age. He lives in a forest in Upstate New York.

Mary Ardery lives in West Lafayette, Indiana. She currently works at her local public library, but in the past she found employment painting dorm rooms, catering weddings, and leading therapeutic wilderness expeditions.

Nicholas Bell’s photography has been published in Black & White and Shutterbug. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Thomas Clark is a street photographer who has been creating photo essays since the 1970s. He lives in Brooklyn.

Susie Forrester cherishes quiet moments, music, and playing practical jokes on her family. She lives in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

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

Kari Herer’s work has been sold in stores such as Ikea and Restoration Hardware. She loves wearing bulky sweaters and surfing the white water at Higgins Beach in Maine.

Tom Hogeback is a photographer, gallery owner, and picture framer who lives near Oxford, Ohio.

Matt Roberts’s work has been shown in galleries in New York City and Rome, and for more than thirty-five years he worked as a magazine marketing executive.

Wendy Stone lives in Woodstock, Connecticut, where she decorates her house with an over-the-top display of Christmas lights.

Jamie Thrower is an Oregon-based photographer and death doula who loves the sounds of imperfection: out-of-tune pianos, record scratches, and creaky floors.