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New York-born Roberto Ascalon is a poet, writer, arts educator and performance artist. He is an instructor at Nova High School in Seattle and teaches teenagers at Artscorp. Ascalon has participated in Bumberslam at the Bumbershoot Festival, the Seattle All City Slam Poetry Finals and two Seattle National Poetry Slams. In 2004, he self-published his book The Words Are Not Enough. His poems have appeared in the anthologies Poetry on Buses 2004: Facts and Fictions and From the Page to the Stage: National Slam Anthology. Ascalon graduated from Evergreen College in Olympia, Wash., with a degree in Advanced Intercultural Communication. He makes his home in Seattle.

Elizabeth Austen spent her teens and twenties working as an actor and director in cities as diverse as London, England and Holland, Michigan. After six months of solo rambling in the Andes region of South America she recognized her true nature as an introvert, left the theatre and began writing poetry. For the past 10+ years, she’s been writing meditations – sometimes lyrical, sometimes humorous – on the nature and inter-relatedness of power, sexuality and mortality. Elizabeth served as the Washington “roadshow” poet for 2007, giving readings and workshops in rural areas around the state. She provides weekly commentary on Pacific Northwest poetry readings on KUOW, 94.9, public radio. She is the recipient of a grant from 4Culture, and is an alumna of Hedgebrook, the Jack Straw Writers Program, and Antioch University-Los Angeles. Her audio CD, skin prayers, is available at www.elizabethausten.org.

Rebecca Loudon lives and writes in Seattle. She is the author of Tarantella and Radish King from Ravenna Press, and Navigate, Amelia Earhart's Letters Home from No Tell Books. Her third collection of poetry, Cadaver Dogs, is forthcoming from No Tell Books this summer. She teaches violin to children.

Cody Walker teaches English at the University of Washington and poetry through Seattle Arts and Lectures' Writers in the Schools program. He also serves as a writer-in-residence at Richard Hugo House. His work appears in Best American Poetry, Parnassus, Slate, Shenandoah, and Subtropics. In 2007 he was elected Seattle Poet Populist. His first book, Shuffle and Breakdown, will be published by Waywiser Press in the fall of 2008.

Katinka Kraft is a German-American spoken word poet and multi-media performance artist. She has performed in national tours at theaters, festivals, and universities, including Western Washington University, University of Washington, Portland State University, University of California, Davis, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She has been an arts educator in private secondary institutions for the last 3 years and is currently employed at Richard Hugo House. Her most current artistic endeavor took her to Poland and Germany, where she directed and filmed a documentary short with the Descendants Project (www.descendantsproject.com).

Jennifer D. Munro's stories and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Best American Erotica; Best Women's Erotica; Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica; Zyzzyva; North American Review; Boulevard; Massachusetts Review; The Bigger the Better the Tighter the Sweater: 21 Funny Women on Beauty and Body Image; and Literary Mama. Her new short-story collection, The Erotica Writer's Husband, is available on lulu.com, or visit the author's website at www.munrojd.com.

Seth Rosenbloom is a writer and solo performer. Recently he has performed in Seattle at On The Boards 12 Minutes Max, the Seattle Solo Performance Festival and at Theatre Off Jackson. Seth is the co-founder of Unicyle Collective, the only company devoted to producing original solo theatre in the Northwest.

Maged Zaher was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. His poems appear in magazines such as Columbia Poetry Review, Exquisite Corpse, Jacket, Tinfish and many others. His second chapbook "the wholesale approach" was on the Seattle Times local bestseller's list in 2004.

Ryan Boudinot’s work has appeared in McSweeney’s, BlackBook, and The Best American Non-Required Reading 2003 and 2005. His collection of short stories, "The Littlest Hitler,” was named one of the best 100 books of 2006 by Publisher’s Weekly.

Rajnii Eddins is a poet, singer/songwriter, performance artist and teacher. He is the co-founder of an organization called the Poetry Experience, which he initiated with his mother, Randee Eddins, in August of 1998. Rajnii has performed at more than 300 venues including: festivals, theatres, poetry slams, colleges and universities, cafes, bookstores, and a wide variety of schools. Rajnii, as a teacher, works with many at-risk youth from primary grades through high school creating and implementing curriculums that teach non-violence through poetry and spoken word that serve to deconstruct media stereotypes reaffirm self-identity and improve self-esteem.

Chris Leasure publishes fiction under her porn star name, Leslie Anne Leasure, in such fabulous publications as Blood Sisters: Lesbian Vampire Tales, Blithe House Quarterly, and Best Lesbian Love Stories. She has an MFA from some university in the midwest and an excerpt of her experimental novel-in-progress, Solanaceae Gardens, can be found in the current issue of Del Sol Review. Chris works at Hugo House and mocks Brian's cubicle daily.

Brian McGuigan, curator of "Cheap Wine and Poetry," works at Richard Hugo House and was selected as curator of the Seattle City Council’s Words’ Worth Poetry Series in 2007. Spankstra Press published his chapbook, "More Than I Left Behind" in 2006. Currently, McGuigan is working on a follow-up to his chapbook, a few short stories, and has hopes for developing a one-man show. You can read more about Brian and his work at www.brianwithani.com.

John Burgess grew up in upstate New York, worked on a survey crew in Montana, taught English in Japan and now lives and works in Seattle. He's a 2006 Jack Straw writer and co-founder of Washington Poets Association's Burning Word festival. His first book is Punk Poems from Ravenna Press (2005).

Mary Purdy is a transplant from NYC where she was a regular on the comedy scene. Her solo show "PURDY WOMAN" was produced at several Off-Broadway venues in NYC as well as featured in the Piccolo Spoleto Fest in Charleston, SC, and Bumbershoot Festival 2005. Her 2nd solo piece "Judy Blume Owes Me" was produced in both LA, NYC and Seattle as well as featured in a variety of comedy festivals. Mary was a regular comedy contributor to NPR's "The Next Big Thing" for 3 years. Her work has been seen here in Seattle at On the Boards Live Girls! Theatre, Spin the Bottle, The Stay Up Late Show, Macha Monkey Cabaret and Hugo House among other places. She is also co-artistic director and founder of UnicycleCollective.org dedicated to producing new & original solo theatrical works.

Trisha Ready is pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and beginning an internship at a local mental hospital. Prior careers have included working as Managing Director of Richard Hugo House, driving a truck, and running a bouquet manufacturing plant. Her essays and stories have appeared in various publications including Swivel, The Rendezvous Reader, The Stranger, Mother Jones and Exquisite Corpse.

Lyall Bush, Executive Director of Richard Hugo House, has written personal essays and reviews for over a decade in daily and weekly newspapers and monthly magazines, including The Iowa Review, Film Comment, MovieMaker, The Seattle Times, and Books in Canada. He has published on photography, style in American writing, Marlon Brando, documentary films, and he is currently at work on a novel and a screenplay.

Jennifer Jasper has been producing, directing and performing in original works for over 20 years. She was a co-founder of Kings' Elephant Theatre, which produced and performed original improvised plays for 10 years. She and Mia Levine began Vixen Productions in 1995 and have produced locally and nationally with the Pulp Vixen troupe through 2006. Her directorial credits in Seattle include "Anges De Castro" at the Annex, "On The Verge" at AHA! Theater, "The Holiday Survival Game Show" in 2000 and "Pirates Of Lesbos" a Vixen production at The Re-bar. She keeps busy performing as "Maggie" the scotch swilling emcee of the VonFoxies Burlesque Troupe and others as well as performing improvised stand up comedy around town. She is currently developing a full length one-woman show.

Jourdan Keith, Seattle's 2007 poet populist and storyteller, is a Jack Straw writer and Hedgebrook alum. A 2004 grant recipient from the Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs for the choreopoem, "The Uterine Files: Episode I, Voices Spitting Out Rainbows," her publication credits include ColorsNW, Seattle Woman, when it rains from the ground up, KUOW, the video "Silence...Broken" and the anthology, "Ma-Ka, Diasporic Juks." She is the founder of Urban Wilderness Project, which provides storytelling, restoration and adventure programs.

Resident of Slaughter Paul Nelson's a poet, father, teacher, and founder of the non-profit Global Voices Radio and co-founder of the Northwest SPokenword LAB (SPLAB!) Active in the Auburn community since moving there from Seattle in 1992, he's interviewed hundreds of authors and poets, such as Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Michael McClure, Jean Houston, Rupert Sheldrake, Wanda Coleman, Matthew Fox, Jerome Rothenberg and others for a syndicated public affairs radio program. Having worked in radio for 26 years, Paul recently completed his graduate work through Lesley University on Organic Poetry, teaches at the Muckleshoot Tribal College and writes at least one American Sentence every day.

JT Stewart— Curator of the 2006 Jack Straw Writers in Residence— uses her creative time as writer, poet, editor, playwright, educator, urban storyteller and vociferous foe of mean spirited evil doers. As a recipient of two invitational residencies to Hedgebrook - the private retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island - she has also had an award established there in her name. You can find a representative sample of JT's work as a collaborative public artist in the permanent installation - Raven Brings Light to This House of Stories - in the Allen Library at the University of Washington. And, if you listen to her carefully, you'll hear a faint Bronx accent.

Elizabeth Austen's commentaries on Pacific Northwest poetry readings can be heard every Monday at 2 p.m. on "The Beat" on KUOW, 94.9, public radio. She is the 2006 Poetry Roadshow poet and teaches regularly at Richard Hugo House. Her poems have appeared in journals including the Bellingham Review, Swivel, the Seattle Review and Switched-on Gutenberg. Her audio CD, skin prayers, is available at elizabethausten.org.

Brian Cordell writes and lives in Irving, TX. In addition to writing, he is the editor of the online journal, iddie.net. Brian also teaches at North Lake Community College and writes a student advice column in the Beijing newspaper, English Weekly. His poems have most recently appeared in "when it rains from the ground up." Brian can be reached at becordell@hotmail.com.

Keri Healey is a playwright, director, and actor living in Seattle. Her most recent work includes several plays. She is also the author of a collection of short stories entitled Jealous of Boys. In 2002 and 2006 she was a writer-in-residence at the Espy Foundation. In 2004, she was chosen by Seattle Dramatists as one of its five inaugural Principal Playwrights. In 2005, she was selected by The Stranger as "One to Watch" in their annual Genius Awards issue.

David Schmader is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he's performed in Seattle and across the U.S. He's also an associate editor of The Stranger, the Seattle newsweekly for which he's written the pop culture-and-politics column "Last Days" since 1998. In his spare time, he's the world's foremost authority on the brilliant horribleness of the 1995 film "Showgirls,” touring his live, annotated screening "Showgirls with David Schmader" to film fests across the country and providing the commentary track to MGM's special editon "Showgirls” DVD in 2003.

Eben Eldridge is a poet, musician, and painter, who has lived in Seattle for ten odd, disturbing years. He’s been a singer and songwriter for the bands Hungarian Music Lesson, Tractor Sex Fatality, and Pluto Boy, and his solo CDs include "You Thought You Knew Me” and "Now You Know.” For more Eben Eldridge: www.allthingseben.com.

Stacey Levine is a Seattle-based author whose novel Frances Johnson, a finalist for the Washington State Book Award, was published last year by Clear Cut Press. Her books My Horse and Other Stories and Dra—, a novel, were published by Sun & Moon Press. She has written for Fence, Bookforum, The Stranger, and far more frightening venues. She also wrote a libretto for a puppet opera about the Quileute tribes of Washington State. Formerly a creative writing instructor, Stacey is now at work on other books.

Shira Richman is delighted to have poems published in Crab Creek Review, Promethean, Snow Monkey, and Real Change. She is the 2006 winner of the Richard Hugo House New Works Competition. These days she finds herself in Spokane, where she is working on her MFA in Creative Writing at Eastern Washington University, and trying to locate her inner prairie.

Mary Purdy

John Burgess

Harvey Goldner lives in Seattle. His poems have appeared in The Adirondack Review, Amarillo Bay, Chelsea, Curious Rooms, Exhibition, Exquisite Corpse, 4th Street, Iota, Pinstripe Fedora, Poetry Midwest, Puerto del Sol, Pulsar, Rattle, Shampoo Poetry, The Sun, Wicked Alice, Willard & Maple, and elsewhere. His chapbook, Her Bright Bottom, was recently released by Spankstra Press (Seattle).

Brendan Regan was born in Iowa and grew up in Northwest Ohio and Denver. His work has appeared in Chronogram (Philip Levine, Editor), Syntax, and Thunder Sandwich, and is forthcoming in Letter X.He has self-published three chapbooks, and recently received Honorable Mention in the New Millennium Writings Poetry Contest.You can sometimes find him at www.myspace.com/poetryiscoolagain.

Willie Smith is deeply ashamed of being human. His work celebrates this horror. The Seattle tabloid THE STRANGER once branded him a "Giant Asshole" and threatened to "cut off his oxygen supply." His work is unintentionally disturbing and deliberately honest. At his public readings fistfights and shouting matches are not uncommon. On a good day his work just might provoke a few calories of warmth in that cold slimy bundle of fear and grasping known as the human soul.

Deborah Woodard’s poetry and translations have appeared in Artful Dodge, the Bellingham Review, Chelsea, Harness, Monkey Puzzle, and the Threepenny Review. She has published two chapbooks of poetry: The Orphan Conducts the Dovehouse Orchestra (Bear Star Press, 1999) and The Book of Riddles (Boxcar Press, 1998). A full-length collection, Plato’s Bad Horse, is forthcoming from Bear Star Press.

Jourdan Keith

Larry Crist leads a quiet life of desperation in Seattle. He has also lived in Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, London, and numerous locals in California, where life was just as desperate but not all that quiet. His fiction and poetry have most recently appeared in Rainbow Curve, Metal Scratches, Alimentum, Red Rock Review, Karamu, & Rogue.

Dana Elkun's poems have appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Bellingham Review, Puerto del Sol and Pontoon 8. She's been facilitating writing workshops for adults since 2001. She also teaches poetry to high school students and to homeless youth. Dana was recently nominated for Best New American Poets for 2006. For inspiration in her work, she draws from dictionaries, glossaries, and the entire alphabet.

Paul Hunter has been poet, teacher, performer, playwright, musician, instrument-maker, artist, editor, publisher, grassroots arts activist, shade-tree mechanic, and worker on the land. Recipient of the 1998 Pym Cup and the 1999 Nelson Bentley Award, he lives and works in Seattle. His full-length collection of farming poems, Breaking Ground, from Silverfish Review Press, is a recipient of the 2004 Washington State Book Award.

Leanne Laux-Bachand can be found transforming magnetic doors into magnetic poetry doors, with the help of children..."Will you eat upchuck worms?" the children want to know. LeAnne wants to know how you are and what your writing doors open onto.

Brian McGuigan works at Richard Hugo House, is co-editor of when it rains from the ground up, and producer of "A Night of Cheap Wine and Poetry" series. His poems have appeared in Letter X, The Wandering Hermit, Slipstream, and others. Spankstra Press recently published his first collection of poetry, More Than I Left Behind. www.write2die.com

Toni Bajado is the daughter of Filipino immigrants, a self-proclaimed "Navy brat," originally from Bremerton, WA. She graduated from Seattle University with a degree in English, works for North Seattle Community College, and studies acting as a Diversity Scholar at Freehold Studio on Capitol Hill.

Bret Fetzer writes plays and short stories. His fairy tale "The Devil Factory" will appear in an upcoming issue of Cabinet des Fees. A play for young audiences, "Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like" (adapted from the picture book by Jay Williams), will be produced by Seattle Children's Theater in February of 2007. Bret's books of fairy tales, "Petals & Thorns" and "Tooth & Tongue," are available from www.pistilbooks.com.

Richard Loranger is a writer of poetry and prose, as well as a spoken word, performance and visual artist for over two decades. In addition to "Poems for Teeth," Richard has authored "The Orange Book" (International Review Press, 1990) and eight chapbooks, including "Hello Poems" and "The Day Was Warm and Blue," and has had work included in over sixty magazines and journals and thirteen anthologies. Richard teaches English and Creative Writing and is the director of Writing Across the Curriculum at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Rebecca Loudon lives and writes in Seattle. She is the author of two collections of poetry, "Tarantella," and "Radish King" (both from Ravenna Press). She teaches violin to children and is the founder of The Wallingford Irregulars workshop, which is in its eighth year. She is the librettist for composer Roupen Shakarian and is currently writing the libretto to "Red Queen," an opera based on the relationship between Alice Liddell and Charles Dodgson.

Steve Potter has had work appear in recent issues of Arson, Blue Collar Review, Dirt, Freefall, Knock, Pontoon and other magazines. After two decades of job hopping as custodian, handy man, trade show carpenter, office temp, etc., he's recently gone into business for himself designing and silk screening T-shirts for sale. He is the publisher and editor of The Wandering Hermit Review.

Mary Purdy

Steve Barker lives and writes in Seattle. He's a member of the write2die poets (write2die.com), an editor of when it rains from the ground up and Letter X (LetterXmag.com), and a regular contributor to Zygote in My Coffee.

Jaime Curl teaches writing for Western Washington University and the Seattle Community College District. He is a 2005 Jack Straw Writing Fellow and has recent publications in Midwest Quarterly, Sycamore Review, and Redivider.

Chris Dusterhoff is the founder and editor of Spankstra Press. He has published books by Todd Moore, Harvey Goldner, Maged Zaher, David LaTerre, Ira Parnes and Eli Richardson. He is rumored to be living in the last roach-infested roominghouse in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle.

Poet, musician, and bon vivant, David Fewster was the recipient of a 2003-2004 AIP Grant from the Tacoma Arts Commission for his book Diary of a Homeless Alcoholic Suicidal Maniac & Other Picture Postcards. His work has also appeared in the anthologies Revival: Spoken Word from Lollapalooza 94 and Thus Spake the Corpse: An Exquisite Corpse Reader Vol. 2.

Amanda Laughtland lives in the suburbs of Seattle, works part-time in a public library, and teaches part-time at a community college. Her poems have appeared recently in Letter X, Knock, and Shampoo.

Brian McGuigan

Arne Pihl has officially spent most of his life in the trades. Time does funny things to us. He tries to work words with the same ease he works a hammer. It's an ever on-going process with no retirement plan. Everything--lumber, lines--everything has knots.

Harvey Goldner