Authors, poets, and artists featured in this issue…
Art:
A Ghost Moon for Henri Rousseau
Bill Wolak has just published his eighteenth book of poetry entitled All the Wind’s Unfinished Kisses with Ekstasis Editions. His collages and photographs have appeared as cover art for such magazines as Phoebe, The Passionfruit Review, Inside Voice, and Barfly Poetry Magazine.
Poem:
Housewarming
Caryl Gobin Ulrich grew up a Hoosier with family in Kentucky. She has been fortunate to travel and has long lived on the beautiful and treacherous Mississippi Gulf Coast. Years ago, several of her works appeared in national magazines. Life put her into a career in education. She kept writing, but for years ceased trying to place her work anywhere apart from her own files. A serious electrical injury left her with permanent disabilities, including vision and brain issues. This has been painful in a number of ways. After years of healing and PT and prayer, she is again able to write more and to seek opportunities for sharing her work.
Poem:
Portrait of Herr Stefan George (1868-1933)
Claire Lawrence is a multi-genre storyteller and visual artist based in British Columbia. Her stories and artwork have appeared in numerous publications worldwide. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2023; and, her artwork, Best on the Net 2022. Her goal is to push the boundaries of writing and not inhale too many paint fumes.
Art:
Blue Mushroom
Donald Patten is an artist and cartoonist from Belfast, Maine. He creates oil paintings, illustrations, ceramics and graphic novels. His art has been exhibited in galleries throughout Maine.
- Online portfolio: donaldlpatten.newgrounds.com/art
Poem:
Three Works from Poems for Small Pages
Jack Borden is a writer and small farmer who lives in rural Texas. He enjoys spending time in nature, spending time with family, and trying to practice the presence of God. He is also the author of a children’s fantasy series.
- Website: www.Jack-Borden.com
Poem:
Ours
Jack Granath is a librarian in Kansas.
Art:
Powerlines
Jennifer Frederick is an artist, a writer, and a lawyer in Maryland. They have been writing since a young age and creating collages since 2016. On top of being the author of the Coffee Table Book of Pride Flags: Discovering the LGBT+ Community Through Art, their work has appeared in places like Coffee People Zine; Beyond Words Literary Magazine; and 1807: An Art and Literary Journal.
Poem:
The Owl and the Pussy Cat Revisited
Jennifer Weigel is a multi-disciplinary mixed-media conceptual artist. Weigel utilizes a wide range of media to convey her ideas, including assemblage, drawing, fibers, installation, jewelry, painting, performance, photography, sculpture, video, and writing. Much of her work explores themes of beauty, identity (especially gender identity), memory and forgetting, and institutional critique. Weigel is a regular contributor to Haunted MTL and Nat 1 Publishing.
- Website: jenniferweigelart.com
Flash Fiction:
I Rise
Joanna Foley is an Irish writer and home carer currently querying her debut novel Alderwood House. With many published flash pieces over the years in various publications, she has also recently published a collection of her short stories and poetry; Vagrant Whispers. Aside from writing, Joanna enjoys restoring and collecting vintage toys, cross stitching, and spending time with her husband and pets.
Poem:
Good Friday the 13th
John Peter Beck—Raised in a milltown on Lake Michigan in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, John is a recently retired professor in the labor education program at Michigan State University where he still co-directs a program that focuses on labor history and the culture of the workplace, Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives. His poetry has been published in a number of journals, including The Seattle Review, Another Chicago Magazine, The Louisville Review, and Passages North, among others
Art:
Barnshot
Hugh Findlay’s photography and writing have been published worldwide. Nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology in 2024 in photography, a Pushcart Prize in 2020 for poetry, and the Best Microfiction Anthology in 2024 for prose, he is in the third trimester of life and hopes y’all like his stuff.
- Website: www.hughmanfindlay.com
- Instagram: @hughmanfindlay
Art:
Vista Two
KJ Hannah Greenberg uses her trusty point-and-shoot camera to capture the order of G-d’s universe, and Paint 3D to capture her personal chaos. Sometimes, it’s insufficient for her to sate herself by applying verbal whimsy to pastures where gelatinous wildebeests roam or fey hedgehogs play. Hannah’s self-illustrated poetry collections are: Miscellaneous Parlor Tricks (Seashell Books, 2024), Word Magpie (Audience Askew, 2024), Subrogation (Seashell Books, 2023), and One-Handed Pianist (Hekate Publishing, 2021). Her coffee table book is Real and Otherwise (Seashell Books, 2025).
Short Story:
Bigfoot Goes To Waffle House
Olivia Langston is a senior Creative Writing student at Georgia College and State University, with a passion for everything related to urban legends and horror. Her work explores the challenges that come with coming of age in the rural south, exploring identity and expression, and embracing the surreal and whimsical. When not writing, Olivia is likely performing on stage or spoiling her cats. This is her first time contributing to Nat 1 publishing, and she is thrilled to have this opportunity!
- Instagram: @nightofthelividead
Art:
Tasmanian Pasture
Rachel Turney is an educator and artist located in Denver. Her poems, research articles, drawings, and photography can be found in a few publications.
- Blog: turneytalks.wordpress.com
- Instagram: @turneytalks
- Bluesky: @rachelturney
Short Story:
To My Dad
Randall Madden was born and raised in rural Tennessee. From an early age, his writing interests have included fantasy, science fiction, and horror, with an occasional twist of humor. He also loves to explore the Appalachian coal mine culture where his family’s roots remain. He received his MFA in Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University.
Short Story:
Farmer in the Dell
Robert Martin, a native of Denver, Colorado, began writing as a form of therapy after retiring from his career in printing and publishing. Following his doctor’s advice to keep his cognitive abilities sharp, Robert turned his lifelong love for reading into a passion for writing. He now channels his creativity into crafting stories of different genres, facing and overcoming the challenges of procrastination and reader reception anxiety. In his free time, Robert and his wife enjoy traveling with their two dogs in their 5th-wheel trailer, exploring new places, and finding inspiration for new stories. Whether on the road or at home, Robert enjoys the written word, sharing his experiences and imagination with readers.
Cover Art:
Little Shed
Rollin Jewett is an award-winning actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer/songwriter, poet, photographer, and author. His feature film credits include Laws of Deception, American Vampire and the upcoming Daylight to Dark (2025). Mr. Jewett’s poetry has recently been seen in Coffin Bell, Night Picnic, and Door is a Jar Magazine. His short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies, including Aphotic Realm, Ghost Stories, Fell Beasts and Fair, and Bloodlet. Mr. Jewett’s plays have been produced off-Broadway and all over the world. His photography has graced the covers and pages of numerous magazines and journals.
Poem:
Lost Glory
Sandip Saha is from India and has won two awards from India and one from USA, has published six poetry collections, and 166 poems in 52 journals in 6 countries—India, USA, UK, Australia, Romania, and Mauritius—including: The Listening Eye, Pure Slush, Synchronized Chaos, The Gateway Review, 300 Days of Sun, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Brushfire Literature & Arts, Sheepshead Review, In Parentheses, Down in the Dirt, Juked, Origami, North Dakota Quarterly, Peregrine, Door is a Jar, Better Than Starbucks Poetry Magazine, Pif Magazine, The Cape Rock: Poetry, Las Positas Anthology-Havik, Pasadena City College Inscape Magazine, Shot Glass Journal, The Wayne Literary Review, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, and Oddball.
- Instagram: @sahas4188
- Facebook: @profile.php?id=100080809929235
Poem:
Squaw Point Cemetery
Travis Stephens is a tugboat captain who lives and works with his family in California. His book of poetry, skeeter bit & still drunk, was published by Finishing Line Press.
Art:
Farm Collage No. 5
Valerie Marshall is a Helsinki-based artist and architect. Her art practice uses architectural drafting techniques as a way of exploring contemporary issues relating to the built environment. Her recent focus has been on the sites and structures that contemporary societies rely on but often go unnoticed, such as sites of industrial and agricultural production and extraction industries. Valerie has worked at award-winning firms in North America and Europe on various scales of projects across the globe.