Meet the contributors for upcoming issue Eighty-One…
Elaine Olund
A writer, artist and designer, Elaine Olund creates in a leafy urban neighborhood in Cincinnati. Currently, she is editing her first novel, or procrastinating from that by writing lots of short fiction, essays and poetry. Her stories have been published in (or will soon appear in) Bartleby Snopes, 38th Parallel Magazine, 5×5 literary magazine, Turk’s Head Review, freeflashfiction.com and everydayfiction.com. “A Double Life,” her literary, sci-fi story that examines the ethical fallout of human cloning, won Editor’s Choice award in a contest sponsored by Amazon.com, and is available at Amazon in Kindle format.
Catherine Arturi Parilla
Catherine Arturi Parilla’s poetry has appeared in The Alembic, Compass Rose, descant, Eclipse, Green Hills Literary Lantern, Knightscapes, Pisgah Review, Poem, and Wisconsin Review. She is the author of A Theory for Reading Dramatic Texts: Plays by Luigi Pirandello and Federico Garcia Lorca. A native of New Jersey, she teaches creative and expository writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Bruce Makous
Bruce Makous grew up in the Philadelphia area and studied English and Creative Writing at Oberlin College, where he was appointed student teacher and co-editor of a literary journal. An aspiring playwright, he went on to serve as producer at theatre institutions in New York and Detroit, and created many award-winning productions, including Back in the World (American Theatre Critics Association, Best New Play Outside of New York City, 1987) and The Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas (1988-89 Best in Theatre). His first novel, Riding the Brand, was released in September of 2004 (Hilliard & Harris, Inc.) and was covered in The Wall Street Journal (9/10/2004) for its controversial illustration of how the high-tech venture capital industry was operated like organized crime. The Charlotte Observer said Riding the Brand “provides that needed hook.” Richard Burgin, editor of Boulevard, the award-winning literary journal, said, “In Riding the Brand, his debut novel, Bruce Makous shows his masterful skill in bringing to life lovable but sinister characters in a fiercely competitive high-tech world.” He toured the United States with Riding the Brand and since its release has spoken at Bouchercon, Malice Domestic, Deadly Ink and other conferences over several years as both a panelist and a moderator. His second novel, Virtually Dead, was released by Hilliard & Harris in 2006. Bruce has active member status with Mystery Writers of America, and is a consulting editor with Boulevard. He is an accomplished journalist and co-authored the popular medical book, Time to Care: Personal Medicine in the Age of Technology. He also serves as a professional fundraiser for various charities, including the ACLU, and lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two daughters. Please visit Bruce at www.brucemakous.com or e-mail bruce@brucemakous.com.
Wendy Ashlee Coleman
Wendy Ashlee Coleman is a published author in both fiction and non fiction. Her work has appeared in the Evergreen Review, Houston Literary, 3 AM Magazine, Foundling Review, The Fringe, Full Of Crow, Used Furniture Review, and many more. She lives in the Midwest.
Matt Staley
Matt Staley is a graduate student at Western New Mexico University and an aspiring writer. He has published a few poems that are tucked away in various anthologies, and he is now working on a first novel. When not writing or working, Matt can often be found lost on some trail in the Appalachian Mountains or slinging a snake out of his kayak on some rancid river. Matt resides in Conway, South Carolina.
Gretchen Eberhart Cherington
Gretchen Eberhart Cherington grew up around the most celebrated writers of the twentieth century who visited her parents’ living rooms to see and be seen, to trade literary gossip and publishing tips, and to partake of her father’s liquor closet. Gretchen spent her childhood watching and listening. After thirty years consulting to companies throughout the U.S., in Europe and Asia, Gretchen turns her attention, now, to writing. She is peddling a full length memoir about her father, the poet Richard Eberhart, is at work on a novel, and is pondering a book on her view of executives in the corner suite. Gretchen’s essays have been published in Yankee, Stonefence Review, Women’s Concerns (Toronto), Valley News and Bloodroot Literary Magazine, from which “Maine Roustabout” was nominated for a 2012 Pushcart Prize. Her father once told her, “a writer’s only job is to tell the truth.” Gretchen credits The Writer’s Center, White River Jct., VT, for encouraging, critiquing and prodding her to tell hers and its Flash group for inspiring this piece.
Christine Catalano
Christine worked for a national business-to-business newspaper for many years as a designer, graphic artist, and art director. Her forward-thinking employer guided the company’s transition from typewriter to computer, from film to digital. Now retired, she hopes this background continues to inspire and inform her continuing passion for camera and post-production. Some of her work keeps showing up online, most notably in Mused and Crack the Spine.
Travis Sharp
Travis Sharp is from small town Alabama. He has a BA in English and Drama from Athens State University and is a student in the University of Washington’s MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics. He is the founding editor of athena’s web, an online arts and sciences journal dedicating to encouraging and publishing undergraduate writing.