Kathy B. Austin’s poetry appears in The Writing Path I (University of Iowa Press), Buddhist Poetry Review, Weber Journal, Northern Appalachia Review, and local anthologies. She has been featured on Conrad’s Corner and WYSO 91.3, and her work has received awards from the Dayton Metro Library, Iowa Poetry Day Association, and the Paul Laurence Dunbar Memorial Competitions.

John Burroughs, recently named Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate by the National Beat Poetry Foundation, is based in Cleveland. He has authored The Wrest of the Worthwhile, Rattle & Numb: Selected & New Poems, and about twenty chapbooks. A former Ohio and U.S. Beat Poet Laureate, he serves as Northeast Ohio Regional Ambassador for the Ohio Poetry Association and founded Crisis Chronicles Press.

Furaha Henry-Jones is a Dayton-area poet and English professor whose work celebrates language’s transformative power. She served as Sinclair College Poet Laureate from 2017 to 2021 and received the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for Poetry in 2018. She collaborates with Miami Valley schools, universities, and nonprofits to promote creative expression. Her recent work appears in Voices of the Soul of Black Folk.

Edward A. Julian Sr., Ohio Poet Laureate, is an author, speaker, advocate, and founder of The Begin Within Initiative, LLC. A Cleveland native, he explores hope, redemption, literacy, and personal growth through poetry and storytelling. He wrote From Inmate to Advocate: A Journey of Transformation and created the Begin • Believe • Become philosophy. As Poet Laureate, he works to make poetry accessible and connect communities through shared stories.

Dana Knott (she/her) is Director of Libraries at Columbus State Community College and lives in Delaware, Ohio. Her writing has appeared in One Art, Feral, right hand pointing, Ethel Zine, The Selkie, and other publications. Rinky Dink Press published her micro chapbook Funeral Flowers in 2024; Yellow Arrow published Girl, Drowning, about artist and poet Elizabeth Siddal, in 2026. She edits tiny wren lit.

Jonie McIntire, former Poet Laureate of Lucas County, Ohio (2022–2026), is the author of Semidomesticated, which won Red Flag Poetry’s 2020 chapbook contest, Beyond the Sidewalk, and Not All Who Are Lost Wander. Her books were published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, Nightballet Press, and Finishing Line Press. From Toledo, she hosts Uncloistered Poetry, a monthly reading series now in its eleventh year.

Marjory Wentworth, New York Times bestselling co-author of Out of Wonder, Poems Celebrating Poets, co-wrote We Are Charleston, Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel and Taking a Stand, The Evolution of Human Rights. She authored the prizewinning children’s story Shackles and five poetry collections. South Carolina Poet Laureate from 2003–2020, she received the Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2021. She teaches and directs Wittenberg University’s Writing Center and co-directs Ohio Authors Against Book Bans.

Wendy McVicker lives and writes in Athens, Ohio. She served as Athens Poet Laureate from 2020 to 2022 and is a longtime Ohio Arts Council teaching artist. She hosts River of Words: Poets & Poetry on WOUB Public Media. Her chapbook Alone in the Burning (2024) and first full-length collection, Meanderlines (2026), are published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions.

Adrian Lime is a poet and spray paint artist who teaches English at Toledo School for the Arts. He co-created Almeda Street Poets and helped launch ToledoPoet.com and the Toledo Poetry Museum page. For ten years, he coordinated and performed in “Back to Jack” [Kerouac] Readers’ Theater. Books include Feeding the Monster (2018, EMP Books), Every Broken Little Thing (2021, Luchador Press), and Cherries from a Pail (2026, Dark Heart Press), co-written with Victor Clevenger.