Nija Packer is a writer and communications professional in Washington, D.C. She holds a BA in Media, Journalism and Film from Howard University, where she studied screenwriting and directed a short film. In addition to writing short fiction, her artistic passions include film, fiber arts, and sketching. She’s also an avid lover of indie video games.

Nick Gardner is a writer, teacher, and recovering addict. He has published one book of poetry, So Marvelously Far (2019); a chapbook, Decomposed (2017); a novella, Hurricane Trinity (2023); and a collection of short stories, Delinquents (2024). His poetry and fiction have appeared in Epiphany, Reckon Review, The Atticus Review, Ocean State Review, Fictive Dream, Trampset and other journals. He has won awards in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry from The Ohio State University in Mansfield and received grants from PEN America and The Elizabeth George Foundation. He lives in Ohio and Washington, DC

Llalan Fowler is a writer, hiker, back-seat driver, trombone player, craft beer drinker, tree hugger, cat lover, heavy napper, and lifelong bookseller.

Andi Myles (she/her) is a Washington DC area science writer by day, poet in the in between times. Her favorite space is the fine line between essay and poetry. She is the author of the chapbook Fractured Symphony (Cathexis Northwest Press) and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Chestnut Review, Rattle, Fourth Genre, and Tahoma Literary Review, among others. You can find her at www.andimyles.com.

Martin Mitchell is a writer and musician living in Washington, DC. He works for the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress. Previously, he served as Managing Editor for Poetry Daily and Programs Manager for the Alan Cheuse International Writers Center. His writing has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Time Out New York, and elsewhere

María Fernanda (she/hers) is a poet whose work explores the intimacy of sisterhood, the anchor of intergenerational coexistence, and grief.
 She is the founder of a poetry garden, an independent series 
where Black poets and gardeners discuss their creative and historic connections to gardens.
 
A published contributor of the Library of Congress, 
her work appears in the Healing Verse Poetry Line, The Rumpus, The Breakbeat Poets, The Hill Rag, Cave Canem’s Dogbytes, Cheryl Clarke’s born in a bed of good lessons inspired by Lucille Clifton, and elsewhere. 
Awarded The Norma Elia Cantú Award in Creative Writing, María Fernanda has received literary appointments from The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), The Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the DC Commission on the Arts. She is a Callaloo fellow. Learn more at mariafernandapoet.com.

Andrew Gretes is the author of the forthcoming short story collection Please Don’t Feed the Philosophers (YesYes Books, 2025) and the novel How to Dispose of Dead Elephants (Sandstone Press, 2014). He teaches in D.C. and lives in Limbo.