Patron Saint

“Patron Saint”

Gary Reddin

Contributors

Shannon Truax resides in Oklahoma after spending her earlier years in Texas. After a number of years away, she’s recently reconnected with her passion for writing and art. Rooted in the southwest, she especially enjoys experimenting with all forms of media that reflect the scenes and colors of the region.

Ryan Scariano is the author of two poetry chapbooks: Smithereens, published by Imperfect Press, and Not Your Happy Dance, forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Some of his recent poetry has appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, Rock & Sling, Phantom Drift, basalt, and Bright Bones: Contemporary Montana Writing. He works at Eastern Oregon University, where he coordinates the tutoring program and teaches First Year Experience courses for underprepared students. ryanscariano.com.

Patience Williams graduated with an MFA from Rutgers University in 2020. She currently lives in the Midwest, the region where she is from, and enjoys practicing yoga and spending time with her mother. She is a Fulbright recipient to the Netherlands for 2020-2021 and is excited to represent her home there.

Inspired equally by her upbringing on the vast plains of Oklahoma and time teaching at an innovative agricultural school in western New Mexico, Kylee George uses her experience as a lens, exploring in her speculative fiction and environmental essays the intersection between the land and those who inhabit it. She is currently pursuing an MFA in the Red Earth program at Oklahoma City University.

Kathleen N. Listman, (M.Ed. University of Texas in Arlington) is an instructional designer, and currently serves as the V.P. of programming for Oklahoma City Writers, Inc. Her poetry has been featured in Speak Your Mind, the Anthology of Woody Guthrie Poets and in Riverbabble. Her poems have been acknowledged with an award in the 2020 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition, and the Creme de la Creme award from Oklahoma City Writers, Inc. Her short drama has been featured in the Stillwater Short Play Festival.

Michelle Hartman is the author of four poetry books, all available on Amazon & Barnes & Noble. Also, the author of 3 chapbooks, her work has been published in numerous journals as well as in various other countries. She is the former editor of Red River Review as well as the owner of, Hungry Buzzard Press. Hartman holds a BS in Political Science-Pre Law from Texas Wesleyan University, and a Cert. in Paralegal Studies from Tarrant County Community College; who recently named her a Distinguished Alumni. She won the 2019 Budd Powell Mahon Award.

Don Stinson is the author of the poetry collections Flatline Horizon (Mongrel Empire Press, 2018) and Hunger (Turning Plow Press, 2020). A graduate of the Oklahoma State University Graduate Creative Writing Program, where he earned a Ph.D. in poetry writing and contemporary literature, he lives with his wife Pam in Tonkawa, where he teaches writing, literature, and speech classes at Northern Oklahoma College and cosponsors the annual Chikaskia Literary Festival.

Sheila Robinson has received numerous awards for work during more than a decade in journalism – including commendations from two governors. Her writing has appeared in newspapers from Alaska to South America. Born in Oklahoma and raised in New Mexico, she’s lived from California to Florida and a handful of states in between. Sheila is retired, lives in a small town near Lawton and is currently working on two books.

Past Poet Laureate of Kansas (2017-2019) Kevin Rabas teaches at Emporia State University, where he leads the poetry and playwriting tracks. He has twelve books, including Lisa’s Flying Electric Piano, a Kansas Notable Book and Nelson Poetry Book Award winner.