Biographies of our edition 6 Contributors

CONTRIBUTORS

Priscilla Atkins studied at Smith College, the University of Hawaii and Spalding University, where she received her MFA. She is the author of The Café of Our Departure (Sibling Rivalry Press) and her poems have appeared in Shenandoah, Poetry London and other journals. Originally from central Illinois, she currently lives in Holland, Michigan. As a child she spent several summers in northern Michigan and has visited many times since.

Elizabeth J. Bates resides in the UP “which provides ample opportunity for photography. As an amateur I find that my camera encourages me to explore unique perspectives. I am delighted to share my views of the Sand Point Marsh Trail boardwalk with you. My photos have graced the covers of two publications, Maiden Voyage and Stand Still in the Light Maiden Voyage is an anthology of the Marquette Poets Circle, 2017 by Gordon Publications. Stand Still in the Light by Milton J. Bates (yes, my husband) and published by Finishing Line Press, 2019. I have placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd in several different years of the UPEC Photo Contest as well as placing photos in several small local publications.

James J. Bogan, Jr., is a summer resident on Mackinac Island where his Irish ancestors landed in 1840. He is an emeritized Distinguished Teaching Professor of Art and Film at the Missouri University of Science & Technology.

Jim Bolone has been a bartender, a drummer, a dockporter, a bouncer, and, for the past twenty-four years, a junior high English teacher in Northwest Ohio. Jim grew up in Detroit, Michigan, attended the Detroit Public Schools, and ultimately graduated from Wayne State University with a B.A. in English. He and his wife, Lori, share their home with three great kids, a dog, a cat.

Yuan Changming started to learn the English alphabet at age nineteen and published monographs on translation before leaving China. With a Canadian PhD in English, Yuan currently edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan in Vancouver. Credits include ten Pushcart nominations, eight chapbooks and poetry awards as well as publications in Best of the Best Canadian Poetry (2008-17) and BestNewPoemsOnline, among 1,759 other literary outlets across 46 countries.

Thomas Ford Conlan When not listening to the simple symphony of wild birds in the morning, Tom Conlan lives, writes, and tends his modest grape vines in the highlands of Northern Michigan. He has captained a Coast Guard Cutter, sailed the world’s lakes and oceans, and now searches for the elusive brook trout in backwater streams. His lyrical memoir “My Journey Begins Where the Road Ends...” was released in June 2017, by Mission Point Press and is available through Amazon, Nook, and local bookstores. For a signed copy, visit: www.thomasfordconlan.com

Tom’s prose and poetry has appeared in print in several literary journals, including Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Tulip Tree Review, the anthology, “The Water Holds No Scars,” in QU Literary Review, The Avocet, Outlaw Poetry, and in Walloon Writers Review. His work was chosen as a finalist for the Annie Dillard Prize in the Bellingham Review. Tom attended the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte, and a Master of Science from the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, California.

Nancy Cook runs “The Witness Project,” a program of free community writing workshops in Minneapolis to enable creative work by underrepresented voices. In 2019 she was the Fermanagh & Omagh International Artist-in-Residence in Northern Ireland where she worked with people affected by the sectarian conflict known as “The Troubles.” Currently, under the auspices of the League of Minnesota Poets, she is coordinating the Pandemic PenPal Poets Project to reach out to those in congregate housing with little or no access to social interactions. Some of her newest work can be found in Humana Obscura, The London Reader, and the Michigan Quarterly Review.

Art Curtis had written thousands of words of advertising and commercial copy when he turned to poetry in 1991 after reading Jim Harrison’s, “Letters to Yesenin” during a major personal crisis. Perhaps it’s his years of writing for radio that influences his belief that poetry is an oral/aural art form in which poet and listener form a perfect feedback loop, a theory being profoundly tested by COVID. Art read for several years with the Central Michigan Poetry Quartet and up until March of 2020 read episodically at other venues. For many years, Art owned a small ad agency, but found time to teach enrichment classes at night. He did his undergraduate work at Johns Hopkins University, graduate work in mass communications at Miami University and in art at Central Michigan University, where he served as faculty in Journalism, English and Art. Art has taught photography and/or papermaking at Central Michigan University, University of Michigan-Flint, Alma College, Flint Institute of Art, Midland Center for the Arts, North Central Michigan College and the Martha’s Vineyard School of Photography.

Lisa Fosmo is a poet from Escanaba Michigan. She is a member of the Michigan Poetry Society, and a member of the Marquette poetry circle. Lisa was a featured poet in the Ziggies poetry festival Denver CO. She was a winner in the 2019 Heritage haiku contest through The Susan Lane foundation’s art through literature. Lisa has a great love of nature, and has been photographing the beautiful UP for years. In her spare time, she gives workshops on native pollinators and habitat preservation.

CJ Giroux is a lifelong resident of Michigan. He teaches at Saginaw Valley State University, where he also serves as assistant director of the school’s writing center. He is one of the founding editors of the community arts journal Still Life.

Grace Giroux is a lifelong Michigan resident. She is currently a freshman attending college in Grand Rapids. Grace loves spending time with her family, her two cats, visiting northern Michigan and of course, taking photos! Although Grace is undecided about what to major in, she would like to continue pursuing her passions for photography, Spanish, and Women’s studies.

Jon Jordan writes: My family has treasured time at the summer cottage in the Les Cheneaux Islands for well over one hundred years and counting. Family times at Cedar Haven are the main focus of my meanderings and photos. Our “Up North” family heritage is owed mostly in part to my great grandparents Dr. Rudolph and Martha Pfeiffer and grandparents Dr. Harold and Agatha Yochum. Many thanks to them and to the many loved ones with which we’ve shared woodsy paths and crossed ripply waters over the years. My wife Maren and I live near Indianapolis. We certainly enjoy vacationing in Michigan. Feel free to check out @jonjordanLCI and jottingsbyjon.wordpress.com (The Cedar Haven Reader).

Deda Kavanagh lives in Bay City near her sister, Rosemary, The Lady Who Paints. Her chapbook, Bicycle Through a Covered Bridge, was published by Finishing Line Press. She received an Honorable Mention in the 2009 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award competition and has had poems published in Patterson Literary Review, The Liberal Media Made Me Do It, Poets for Living Waters, and most recently, Still Life, and Walloon Writers Review.

Kelly Kazmierski is a multi-discipline artist who creates original and commissioned works through photography, pencil, ink, paint and collage. Kelly achieved her first degree in fine arts, followed by a degree in education. She taught elementary school for ten years, then pursued her passion of animals by devoting the following 12 years working in veterinary medicine as a licensed veterinary technician. Growing up in Ontario and now residing full-time in Harbor Springs her influences are rooted in the beautiful majesty of the Great Lakes and the timeless traditions that make this place so special. Currently Kelly works from her home studio on the shores of Little Traverse Bay where she is able to pursue her artistic spirit by combining her creativity and love of nature in a variety of mediums. Kelly’s most recent works include commissioned originals, reproduction and reinterpreted masterpieces using collage and pencil, photographic art, and the publishing of her children’s book The Girl with Spaghetti Hair. Kelly was also very fortunate to have her original photograph on the cover of the 2018 Walloon Writers Review.

A summer resident of Mackinac Island, James P. Lenfestey has published a collection of personal essays, seven collections of poems, edited two poetry anthologies and coedited Robert Bly in This World, University of Minnesota Press. His haibun memoir, Seeking the Cave: A Pilgrimage to Cold Mountain (Milkweed Editions), was a finalist for the 2014 Minnesota Book Award. His sixth poetry collection, A Marriage Book: 50 Years of Poems from a Marriage (Milkweed Editions), was a finalist for two 2017 Midwest book awards. In 2020 he received the Kay Sexton Award for significant contributions to the Minnesota literary community. For fifteen years he chaired the Literary Witnesses poetry program in Minneapolis and led a summer poetry class on Mackinac Island. He lives in Minneapolis and on Mackinac Island with his wife the political activist Susan Lenfestey. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

John Lennon is a resident of Petoskey, Michigan where he teaches High School English. As a lover of music, nature, and people, he draws inspiration from all of the small wonders in the world that make life more meaningful. His work has appeared in Walloon Writers Review, The Language Arts Journal of Michigan, and the Michigan English Teacher newsletter.

Ellen Lord is a Michigan native. Her writing has appeared in the 2019 Walloon Writers Review Chapbook, R.k.v.r.y Quarterly Literary Journal, Peninsula Poets chapbooks and TDAL Poets Night Out chapbooks. She won the Landmark Books Haiku Contest in 2017 & 2019. She is a behavioral health therapist and lives in Charlevoix County. She was raised in the Upper Peninsula and returns there often for soul renewal.

Chris Lucka has been a member of Mid Michigan Writers, Inc. group since the 1980’s, although its inception was 1977. “It’s wonderful to have a support group of dedicated writers in the northern Michigan area.” Chris writes: I have been published most recently in Still Life 2019, a publication of the Saginaw Valley State University Community Writing Center and earlier in Jack Pine Journal, a publication of Kirtland Community College and Mid Stream, Mid Michigan Community College›s Magazine of Writing and Art as well as anthologies published by Mid Michigan Writers to showcase area writers.

Raymond Luczak grew up in Ironwood and Houghton, Michigan. He is the author and editor of 25 books, including Flannelwood (Red Hen Press). A proud Yooper, he lives in Minneapolis, MN.

Kenneth Pobo has a new book out from Assure Press called Uneven Steven. He also has a new chapbook out from Moonstone Arts called The Book of Micah.

Kacey Riley received her English degree from Aquinas College where she discovered her love for poetry, Shakespeare, and the coast of Connemara, Ireland where she studied abroad. She currently teaches Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition at Petoskey High School and lives in Harbor Springs with her husband and two daughters. An aspiring writer, Kacey enjoys exploring the profundity of the natural world and the art of being human.

Katherine Roth lives and works as a physician in Traverse City, Michigan. Her poetry has been published in the Wild Root Journal, Open Palm Print and the Peninsula Poets of the Poetry Society of Michigan. She is the co-author of the memoir The Good Fight: A Story of Love, Cancer and Triumph, which was featured as part of the National Writers Series. Her first poetry collection, UNFORGOTTEN, was recently published by Mission Point Press. It is available from Horizon Book Store in Traverse City and through Amazon.

Melissa Seitz is a writer and photographer who lives with her husband in Higgins Lake, Michigan. Her work has appeared in After: Stories About Loss & What Comes Next, The Bear River Review, The Dunes Review, The Lake, the Walloon Writers Review, and other journals. As of 11/01/2020, she has photographed the sunrise 1,037 days in a row.

Shelley B. Smithson writes: I live and work in East Lansing, MI where I maintain a full time psychotherapy practice. During the pandemic, I have hunkered down much of the time in the hestled town of Elk Rapids, where I love to savor time to read and feel the presence of the water and the waves and Old Mission Peninsula lurking in the distance. I write as an avocation and also love to spend time with my family, friends, and do political volunteer work.

Bev Steckert was born in West Virginia, spent her working life in Central Ohio, and am now retired in Northern Michigan. “After spending many years visiting, we decided that this was where we wanted to retire. This is my first published work since high school.”

Phillip Sterling’s books include two full-length collections of poetry (And Then Snow, Mutual Shores), and five chapbook-length series of poems, the most recent of which, Short on Days, was released from Main Street Rag in June 2020. He is also the author of two collections of short fiction: In Which Brief Stories Are Told (Wayne State U Press 2011) and Amateur Husbandry, a series of micro-fictions narrated by the domestic partner of a yellow horse (Mayapple 2019).

Edd Tury descended from Hungarian Gypsies. He is a Michigan native and lives in Charlevoix County. He is an electrical engineer and UM alumni. Edd is an avid transcendentalist and enjoys forest bathing in unpeopled spaces . His writing has appeared in Dunes Review, Open Palm Print, TADL/PNO chapbooks, Detroit Metro Times, Michigan Out of Doors, Michigan Woods n Waters and the Ann Arbor News. He is a founding member of Charlevoices Writers Group.

Karen Walker was born and raised in Northern Lower Michigan, and has been pursuing art and photography since childhood. In 1992, Karen opened a photography studio in East Jordan specializing in portraits and weddings. She has since escaped the confines of a brick and mortar studio to explore a wide variety of interests including fine art and writing. A Master Photographer and Photoshop Certified Expert, Karen has collected numerous awards for her outstanding photographic work. She has served on several volunteer boards and is past president of Professional Photographers of Michigan, Jordan River Arts Council, and the East Jordan Chamber of Commerce. More of Karen’s work can be found on her website, www.KarenWalkerStudio.com.

Michael Walker is a writer living in Newark, Ohio. He is the author of two novels: 7-22 and The Vampire Henry. He has also seen his stories and poems published in numerous magazines including Adelaide Literary Magazine, Fiction Southeast and PIF.

Allen M. Weber A native of Michigan, Allen currently lives in Hampton, Virginia with his wife and two of their three sons. The winner of the 2011 Edgar Allan Poe Memorial Prize, his poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies— including The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Fourth River, Naugatuck River Review, The Quotable, Terrain, Unlikely Stories, Up the Staircase Quarterly, the anthology, Changing Harm to Harmony: Bullies and Bystanders Project, and twice in A Prairie Home Companion’s First Person Series.

Buff Whitman-Bradley’s poems have appeared in many print and online journals. His book At the Driveway Guitar Sale will be published next year by Main Street Rag Publishers. He podcasts poems on aging, memory, and mortality at thirdactpoems. podbean.com and lives with his wife, Cynthia, in northern California.

Glen Young is a writer, teacher, and kayak guide. His poetry has appeared in the Walloon Writers Review, Beneath the Lilac Canopy, and Thoreau at Mackinac. His literary reviews appear in the Petoskey News Review and Split Rock Review. He is a fellow with the National Writing Project, as well as co-director of The Tip of the Mitt Writing Project, dividing his time between Petoskey and Mackinac Island.

Walloon Writers Review is an independent collection of original creative writing and nature photography inspired by Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. “edition 6” is titled this way as it is the first digital publication of the magazine.

Founded in Petoskey, Michigan in 2013, Walloon Writers Review features professional to first time in print contributors. Previous print editions can be obtained from Michigan independent bookstores as available. Information about Walloon Writers Review, how to share your Northern Michigan/UP story, poetry or nature photography and updates on the achievements of our creative community can be found on our website at www.walloonwritersreview.com.

Individual contributors retain the North American Rights to their original work and the collection is copyrighted to Walloon Writers Review. Unauthorized copy, transfer, duplication, distribution or reprinting/reposting without permission of the original writer/photographer is in violation of copyright.