J. Lena Evans received both her B.A and her M.A. in English from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she has been an instructor of Composition and World Literature for the past five years. She has recently published in the Red River Review.

Melanie Faith graduated in 1999 with a BA from Wilson College, where she majored in English, with a concentration in professional writing. She currently works as an English, French, and American History tutor at The Mercersburg Academy, a college preparatory high school in Pennsylvania. During the summer of 2001, she taught an American History course for international students. Her short stories and poems have appeared in Facets Magazine, Ken*Again, The Pedestal Magazine and (forthcoming) in Thought Magazine, Spring/Summer 2002 issue. She may be contacted at writer@pa.net.

Hooman Shahkar:
Date of birth: 27 August 1968 Tehran, Iran
Nationality: Persian
Religion: I believe all good things in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism & Islam.
Education: medical doctor, graduated in 1999 from University of Szeged, Hungary.
My favorite poets: Rumi, Omar Khayyam & Hafez (3 Persian poets)
I started to write poetry seriously since 2001. A few of my works have been published on various poetry web sites.
My URL: http://poem.iscute.com
My e-mail: hooman13@hotmail.com

James R. Whitley: Although originally from New York, I currently live in Boston, Massachusetts. My work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has been published in several journals including Coal City Review, Coe Review, Icon, Peregrine and Xavier Review. My book-length manuscript Immersion was selected by Lucille Clifton as the winner of the 2001 Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award and will be published by Lotus Press.

Tim W. Younce, formerly a federal police officer, now writes full-time. He began his foray into tanka in late 2001. His tanka has appeared in Lynx, and in upcoming issues of American Tanka, Tangled Hair, Still, and Bottle Rockets. A freestyle poem has appeared in Erased, Sigh, Sigh. He lives in Luray, Virginia (USA) with his wife Penny.