Magnolia

Michael Lee Johnson is a poet and freelance writer from Itasca, Illinois. His brand new chapbook, From Which Place the Morning Rises, is now available. He also has two previous chapbooks available.Michael authored The Lost American: from Exile to Freedom, and he has been published in more than 280 different publications worldwide. Audio MP3 of poems are available on request.

Peter Schmitt is the author of four collections of poems, most recently Renewing the Vows (David Robert Books, 2007). He has received The "Discovery" Prize, The Academy of American Poets Lavan Award, and his work has been published in many leading literary journals and been widely anthologized. A native Miamian, he served in 2008 as a judge for The Florida Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships in Literature.

Born in New York City in 1939, Lynn Strongin's name comes up regularly in college classes as one of the most unique voices in American poetry. Strongin has lived in British Columbia for more than a quarter century, but considers herself a profoundly American writer. One of the great imagist poets of the 20th century, Strongin's poetry and prose have been published worldwide in over 70 print and online journals; she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize in poetry five times. In her four-decade career Strongin has received two PEN grants and an NEA award in creative writing.

Michael Hettich has published a number of books and chapbooks, most recently Many Loves, which won the 2007 Yellowjacket Press Chapbook prize. His most recent books are Swimmer Dreams and Flock and Shadow: New and Selected Poems, published in 2005. The poems featured in this issue of Magnolia are from a new book, Like Happiness, forthcoming in 2010 from Anhinga Press.

Chad Prevost is author of the collections A Walking Cliché Coins a Phrase: Prose Poems, Letters and Microfictions (Plain View 2008), and Snapshots of the Perishing World (Cherry Grove 2006), and the chapbook Chasing the Gods (Pudding House 2007). Chad's work has been included in the recent anthologies Bear Flag Republic: California Prose Poems and Poetics, Come Together: Poems of Peace and Protest, and Family Matters: Poems of our Families. Chad has co-edited two anthologies, most recently, Breathe: 101 Contemporary Odes, and has served in various editorial capacities for The Chattahoochee Review, Five Points, New South, The Pedestal Magazine and Terminus Magazine. Chad has taught creative writing, composition and literature at Georgia State University, Georgia Perimeter College, Lee University and Dalton State College. He is Editor of C&R Press.

Gale Acuff has had poetry published in Ascent, Florida Review, South Carolina Review, Mangrove, Maryland Poetry Review, Ohio Journal, Poem, Carolina Quarterly, and many other journals. He has authored two books of poetry: Buffalo Nickel (BrickHouse, 2004), and The Weight of the World (BrickHouse, 2006). His third collection, The Story of My Lives, is now at press. He has taught university English in the US, China, and the Palestinian West Bank.

Morris Kennedy was born in Florida and grew up in Leesburg. A lifelong journalist, he lives in Tampa with his wife Sara, and works as night city editor there for the St. Petersburg Times. His fiction and poetry have appeared in The Tampa Review, Blue Collar Review, Avatar Review, Muscadine Lines, Hidden Oak, Ruminate and elsewhere. Two poems were recently published in an anthology entitled Cadence of Hooves.

Africa Fine has published three novels, Looking for Lily (2008), Becoming Maren (2003) and Katrina (2001), along with short stories and essays in several print and online journals, including The Connecticut Review and Anthology. Her fourth novel, Save Me, will be published in July 2009. Africa is working on her fifth novel as well as a book of short stories. She graduated from Duke University with degrees in Public Policy Studies and African American Studies, and she earned an MA in English Literature from Florida Atlantic University. Africa currently is an Associate Professor of English at Palm Beach Community College.

Donal Mahoney has worked as an editor for The Chicago Sun-Times, Loyola University Press, McDonnell Douglas Corporation (now Boeing), and Washington University in St. Louis. He has had poems published in or accepted by The Wisconsin Review, Revival (Ireland), The Kansas Quarterly, The South Carolina Review, Commonweal, The Beloit Poetry Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, The Davidson Miscellany, The Goddard Journal, The Pembroke Magazine, The Chicago Sunday Tribune Magazine and other publications.

Daniel Ames is originally from Wisconsin, where he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with a degree in journalism. He is currently a creative director at a large advertising agency in Michigan. Daniel's poetry has recently appeared in The Centrifugal Eye and Isle of Myst Review. His short fiction has been featured in HandHeldCrime and Orchard Press Mysteries. Daniel is currently seeking a publisher for his book of poems entitled "Feasting at the Table of the Damned.

Nanette Rayman Rivera, two-time Pushcart Nominee for non-fiction and poetry, is the author of the poetry collection, Project: Butterflies by Foothills Publishing and the chapbook, alegrias, by Lopside Press. She is the first winner of the Glass Woman Prize for non-fiction and has poetry on Best of the Net 2007. Her story, Puhi Paka, was best of issue in Greensilk Journal. She is the current featured writer in Up the Staircase.

A 6-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Jéanpaul Ferro's work has appeared in Contemporary American Voices, Columbia Review, Connecticut Review, Boston Literary Magazine to name just a few. He is also a 2-time Best of the Net nominee. He currently lives in Providence, Rhode Island. E-mail at: jeanpaulferro@netzero.net

Christopher Woods: "I have published a prose collection, Under a Riverbed Sky, and a collection of stage monologues for actors, Heart Speak. Other photographs of mine can be seen in my online gallery, Moonbird Hill Arts, which I share with my wife, Linda. I live in Houston and in Chappell Hill, Texas."

John Martino: "Believing that photography is a means to transform the world, not reproduce it, I aim to create images that function as works of fiction that suggest and entertain rather than document or confirm. My photos have appeared in Photographer's Forum, The Advocate, New Orleans Review, and can be found at www.johnmartinophoto.com.

Stephanie Colaianni is a graduate of Palm Beach Community College, where she contributed photography and prose for their newspaper, The Beachcomber She currently attends Florida Atlantic University and works as photo editor of the University Press.

Sandy Scott is the assistant editor of Magnolia, continuing her fine work after several years at Artistry of Life. A recent graduate of St. Leo University, Sandy intends to pursue a graduate degree in creative writing. For several years, her humorous prose was a regular feature in the glossy periodical, Ocala Style Magazine. Sandy is the Coordinator of the Office of Professional Development at Central Florida Community College. She has had several of her photographs published including two in this issue.

Michele Wirt has been a part of the visual arts faculty at CFCC since 1990. Her Master in Fine Arts is from the University of Florida with a dual emphasis in Studio and Art History. She is a figure and portrait painter with influences from jazz, Asian art and American realists and is exploring the field of digital media.

Jack Ledbetter is Professor Emeritus at California Lutheran University, and holds a B.A. from California State University, and an M.A. / PhD from University of Nebraska. His poetry has been published in The Sewanee Review, Poetry, The Prairie Schooner, Laurel Review, New York Quarterly, Salamander, Tar River Poetry, Atlanta Review, Cimarron Review, Measure, The Formalist, and others.

Ramona RW Kirsch is a first generation American who, as a Bohemian, has lived all over the United States, in Europe and now travels the world for both business and pleasure. She has published poetry, prose, and academic articles.