contributors

J.D. Nelson lives, writes and wrangles in Colorful Colorado. His bizarre poems have appeared in many online and print publications, including 'The best of the Dream People Poets' chapbook. J.D.'s experimental novella 'kHz' was a finalist in the 2003 Eraserhead Press First Book Contest. For more information, visit his website: http://MadVerse.com.

Jae Ming Jue has been writing in compulsive since he was a small boy growing up in Chicago's south side. His writing process is not unlike having children - painful with a long duration between births. Currently he's germinating poems about experiences living in various cities before making too long a stay in Californian spaces. One of his poems, I Dream of Blue, has been published first at The Banyan Review and subsequently at Verse Libre Quarterly followed by Circle Magazine. You may find several of his other poems published at various poetry websites including Real 8 View and Deep Cleveland.

Michael Paul Ladanyi is a two-time 2004 Pushcart Prize Nominee. His poetry, reviews and interviews have appeared in hundreds of print and online journals in the US and abroad. He has served as an editor, creator and publisher of his own magazine and on the staff of others. He is the published author of two full poetry collections and eight poetry chapbooks, and has just completed work on his poetry collection Raindogs in the Sun. Additional information about Michael Paul Ladanyi can be found in his personal website, http://www.geocities.com/michael_paul_ladanyi/

Joe London lives in London (England).

Weird Gears (aka Jason) lives Manassas, Virginia, somewhere near a Civil War battlefield and a hundred stripmalls. He works as a teacher of young students and as a college instructor of courses in English composition and literature. Photography is a relatively new realm for him.

Scott DeKatch studied at Bowling Green (OH) creative writing program in the early '90's. Singer/guitarist in many a short-lived rock band from '93-'01. Slaved as a political organizer for a few years. Resigned from that in '03 to pursue more artistic pipe dreams. Frequent performer on Chicago's spoken-word 'scene' and also have forthcoming pubs in 'Creative Soup Zine (Warminster, PA USA)' and 'Monday Night (SF Bay area, CA USA)'. Author of 2 chapbooks, "Oceans and Landmass' and "talking around reason". Finished first novel, "Windy City Skint".

Corey Mesler is the owner of Burke's Book Store, in Memphis, Tennessee, one of the country's oldest (1875) and best independent bookstores. He has published poetry and fiction in numerous journals including Rattle, Pindeldyboz, Quick Fiction, Cranky, Thema, Mars Hill Review, Poet Lore and others. He has also been a book reviewer for the Memphis Commercial Appeal. A short story of his was chosen for the 2002 edition of New Stories from the South: The Year's Best, published by Algonquin Books. Talk, his first novel, appeared in 2002. Nice blurbs from Lee Smith, John Grisham, Robert Olen Butler, Frederick Barthelme, and others. He has a new novel, We Are Billion-Year-Old Carbon, due out in 2005 from Livingston. His latest three poetry chapbooks are Chin-Chin in Eden (2003) and Dark on Purpose (2004) and The Heart is Open (2005). He also claims to have written "It's my Party". Most importantly, he is Toby and Chloe's dad and Cheryl's husband. He can be found at www.burkesbooks.com

Born and raised in Philadelphia, JANE is now a Chicago based spoken word poet whose work has been critically acclaimed by listeners and readers as "provocative", "altering", "intense" and "sexy". She has graced the microphones of such famous venues as The Green Mill (Chicago) and Nuyorican Poet's Cafe (New York) and will be featured this year at the Estrojam Festival in Chicago. She is proud to have shared her ideas with both the underground artist community as well as the above ground mainstream punks. She maintains a repertoire of material that covers all aspects of life as influenced by her own diverse personal experience. Her goal is to force the reader/listener to criticially evaluate rituals and habits, to examine life from more than one angle and to challenge current themes.

JANE is currently appearingly monthly at Trace (Chicago) with the Polyrhthmics group and is also hosting her own open mic at LEILA JANE's. To learn where and when JANE will be performing next and to stay abreast of upcoming projects, please visit her website at www.xanga.com/bookjane