Widely published (Partisan Review, Another Chicago Magazine, New Rivers Press Anthologies) Helen Degen Cohen (Halina Degenfisz), is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, First Prize in British Stand Magazine's worldwide fiction competition for an excerpt from her novel, The Edge of the Field, two Illinois Arts Council Awards, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, an Indiana Writers Conference award in Poetry, and fellowships to the four major colonies in the United States -- among other awards.... A graduate of the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, after years as Artist-In-Education through the Illinois Arts Council, travelling to schools throughout the state, she recently returned to teaching (Humanities, Pro-Seminar) part time for Roosevelt University, and also to co-editing RHINO, having originally co-founded the magazine as well as its adjunct, the Poetry Forum, a monthly drop-in workshop.... Of possible interest: "This Dark Poland: Ethnicity in the Work of Helen Degen Cohen" by John Guzlowski -- in SOMETHING OF MY VERY OWN TO SAY: American Women Writers of Polish Descent, Columbia University Press, 1997.

Joshua Craze Joshua Craze is in his last year at College. Next year he will be studying for a Philosophy degree at Cambridge university. He has contributed articles to art journals and small newspapers for many years, but this is his first fictional publication.

Claudia K. Grinnell was born and raised in Germany. Since 1986, she makes her home in Monroe, Louisiana, where she teaches English at the University of Louisiana. Her poems have appeared in numerous print and online magazines. Her addictions are sushi, Campari, good chocolate, and a certain beach in Key West.

Duane Locke lives alone in an old, two-story, decaying house in the sunny Tampa slums. His is a very colorful neighborhood, for the police have decorated it by putting orange and yellow posters on each telephone pole and street sign advertising that the area is a high drug district. He lives deracinated, no roots, as he feels like a stranger and alien since he does not understand the customs, the costumes, or the language, which is some form of Postmodern English. He has had over 2,000 poems in 500 magazines, which include APR, Nation, Literary Review, Black Moon, Bitter Oleander. His latest book is WATCHING WISTERIA (to order call 1-800-869-7553)

Alex Pepple, Alex Pepple is an electrical & software engineer living in Cupertino, California. His poems and stories have been published online in Snakeskin, Savoy, Melic, Eclectica and Wired Hearts, and in print in Ballroom Magazine.

Frank Van Zant is a father of three, teacher of near dropouts, and coach. He's bebeen nominated twice for the Pushcart and made semi-finalist at "Discovery/The Nation", '99. Soon to celebrate his 150th credit, recent work is placed or published in Poetry Nottingham International, Flying Horse, & A Prose Poem Primer. His first book The Lives of the Two-Headed Baseball Siren is forthcoming in '‘99 from Kings Estate Press.

Anthony Fedanzo No bio.

Daniel A. Olivas, a native of Los Angeles, earned his BA in English Literature from Stanford University and his law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. He currently practices law with the California Department of Justice, specializing in land use and environmental law. His short fiction has appeared, or will appear, in various paper and web literary journals including THEMA, RiverSedge, SouthernCross Review, Sparks, The Writer's Quill and The Sidewalk's End.

Christina Conrad (artwork contributor) is a true eccentric: an obsessed poet, playwright, and "outsider" artist. While her poems have appeared in numerous books, magazines, journals and newspapers in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.K., her paintings and clay icons have been exhibited in major galleries in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.