ISSUE 21: The Creative Self (e-book)

Roxanne Bodsworth is a poet, celebrant and farmer from Bpangerang country, Victoria who achieved her PhD at Victoria University in 2021 with a feminist reconstruction of Irish mythology. She received a commendation in the the2022 Melbourne Poets’ Union Prize and her poetry has been published in several journals under the pen-name of ‘Therese’, including The Incompleteness Book II and Lockdown Poetry. Her second verse novel, Unforgiven, was released in February this year. Widely published in a range of genres, writing keeps her sane (almost).

Award-winning Sante Fe, New Mexico photographer Natalie Christensen’s focus is on ordinary settings, seeking the sublime. She deconstructs to color fields, geometry and shadow. With upcoming solo exhibitions, Christensen previously exhibited in U.S. and international venues; was a UAE Embassy culture tour delegate; recently was invited Artist-in-Residence Chateau d’Orquevaux, France; and Setanta Books, London published “007 — Natalie Christensen.” She has work in permanent collections and her photography has been featured in many noted fine art publications.

This past, crazy, Covid year Ann Cwiklinski worked to siphon her imagination away from anxious thoughts and towards creative work. The anxious young mother in her story is likewise discovering that fear and creativity are flip sides of the same coin. Her stories have won first prize at The Baltimore Review and Central PA Magazine and appeared in pacific REVIEW, Minerva Rising, The Flexible Persona, Belletrist Magazine (Pushcart nominated), Crack the Spine, and Blackwater Short Story Collection 2021. 

Santa Fe artist Kathleen Frank paints the landscape of the Southwest and West in vibrant hues, capturing light, pattern and a glint of logic in complex terrains. She revels in using oils. Frank has exhibited at, among others, High Desert Museum (Curator’s Choice Award), Museum of Western Art, Roux & Cyr, Jane Hamilton Fine Art and La Posada de Santa Fe. Publications include LandEscape Art Review, MVIBE, Art Hole Magazine, Magazine 43, and Southwest Art.

Lavinia Kumar’s poems dabble in multiple directions, from the sciences (her career) to early American women’s history and issues, myth, immigration, anything outdoors, and more. Recent poems are in River Heron’s Review, Hole in the Head Review, Decolonial Passage, Superpresent, and SurVision. Her poetry has appeared in US, Irish, & UK publications. laviniakumar.org

Mary Beth O’Connor recently retired from twenty years of teaching in Ithaca, New York. She is a writer, watercolor painter, and grandma. Her poetry and prose has appeared in The Healing Muse, Minerva Rising, Passager, Sliver of Stone, Blast Furnace, Painted Bride Quarterly, Blueline, Café Irreal, Prick of the Spindle, and other literary magazines. Her chapbook Smackdown! Poems about the Professor Business was the winner of the first Teachers’ Voice poetry chapbook competition.

Mary K O’Melveny, a retired labor rights lawyer, lives with her wife in Washington DC and Woodstock NY.  Mary’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won several awards.  Her poems have appeared in a wide range of print and on-line journals and blog sites such as The New Verse News and Writing in a Woman’s Voice.  She is the author of “A Woman of a Certain Age” and “MERGING STAR HYPOTHESES” (Finishing Line Press 2018, 2020) and co-author of “An Apple In Her Hand” (Codhill Press 2019), an anthology of work by The Hudson Valley Women’s Writing Group. Mary’s latest poetry collection “Dispatches From The Memory Care Museum” will be published in summer 2021 by Kelsay Books.  Mary’s website is www.marykomelveny.com.

Melissa Nunez is a writer and homeschooling mother of three. She lives in the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas. Her work has appeared in FOLIO, Yellow Arrow Journal, and others. As an introverted personality prone to people-pleasing and self-censoring, creative writing became her safe haven for self-expression. Her writing is inspired by observation of the natural world, the dynamics of relationships, and the question of belonging.

Jeanette Reid moved to Western North Carolina after a career of teaching high school English and began writing poetry and short prose.  In this inspiring mountain setting with its bountiful appreciation of creative expression, she has discovered the joy of writing.  The process of looking, listening, and reflecting leads me to see the outer world more keenly and to discover deeper meaning in my own life.

Award-winning poet, Pushcart Prize nominee and best-selling author, Heidi Sander’s poems have appeared in literary journals, anthologies, and multiple artistic collaborations. Her latest poetry collection focuses on grief and loss, hope and renewal. She is the founder of “PathwaysTo Poetry”, a multimedia online program that helps emerging and established poets develop their writing, publish their poetry, and promote their work. www.heidisander.com

Catherine Eaton Skinner (Seattle/Santa Fe) illuminates the balance of opposites, reflecting mankind’s attempts at connection. Publications include Magazine 43, Art Hole, MVIBE, LandEscape Art Review, Art Magazineium and her monograph 108 (Radius Books). Upcoming exhibitions: Hockaday Museum and Las Cruces Museum. Previous include Wilding Museum, Cape Cod Museum, Yellowstone Art Museum and the High Desert Museum. Awards: U.S. Art in Embassies, Papua New Guinea and Tokyo, and Acclaimed Artists, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. 

Carol Tyx lives in Iowa City where she raises her voice in the community-sing movement and supports community-based agriculture. Her recent book, Remaking Achilles: Slicing into Angola’s History, gives poetic voice to a 1951 prison protest. Currently, Tyx is artist-in-residence at Prairiewoods eco-spirituality center. She also makes a phenomenal strawberry-rhubarb pie.

Judith Yarnall is the mother of three daughters, and also a teacher, writer, and scholar of myth (Transformations of Circe, Univ. of Illinois). She lives in northern Vermont by Lake Champlain. Her favorite Greek goddess is Artemis, who watched over women in childbirth.