CONTRIBUTOR BIOS

CAROL ALLEN taught nursing for a total of 30 years at WSU, University of Guam, and University of Malawi. She has written poetry off and on most of her life. She has always had dogs in her home, and they have inspired a number of her poems. She hopes the readers enjoy her work.

DEREK ANNIS is a poet from Spokane, Washington, who holds an MFA from Eastern Washington University. Their poems have appeared in The Account, Barrow Street, Colorado Review, Crab Creek Review, Fugue, The Gettysburg Review, The Missouri Review: Poem of the Week, and Spillway, among others.

LEANN BJERKEN LeAnn Bjerken is a poet, and journalist from rural Minnesota, who currently resides in Spokane, Washington. She graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2014 with a master's degree in creative writing, and now works as a reporter for the Spokane Journal of Business. Her poetry has appeared in Miracle Magazine, The Inlander, and several online magazines including; Devilfish Review, The Artistic Muse, The Lake, and Fox Adoption Magazine. When not out seeking inspiration, she can usually be found snuggling with her husband Steve or her cat Tikki.

KATE CLARK Kate Clark, an artisan who works in many mediums, especially enjoys illustrating for children. She is also a published book author, and has written several volumes of poetry as well. Recently she and her husband relocated to Spokane and the Pacific Northwest from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

CRYSTAL CONNOR is 15 and a freshman in high school. She likes to read, write, sing, and wants to be an actor when she grows up.

JENNIFER DELINE has had a love of writing most of her life, but never thought that people besides her mom and dad would want to read it. She enjoys spending time reading, writing, walking her dog and volunteering in the community. She is currently working on her BA in Humanities at Whitworth University. She lives in Spokane Valley with her husband of 25 years, her two youngest children and 6 rescue pets: a dog, an iguana and 4 cats.

CAROL ELLIS met Emily Dickinson's poetry at age 14. Since then she's been reading and writing poems, obtaining an MFA from EWU in 2004. Her poems have appeared online; her books include Catapult and Mortal. Will we follow Hair of the Dog with Fur of the Cat, Feathers of the Bird, or both?

Born in Mexico and raised in Puerto Rico, AMELIA DIAZ ETTINGER has written poems that reflect the struggle with identity often found in immigrants. She began writing poetry at age three, dictating poems out loud to the adults in her life who wrote them down for her. Amelia continued writing poems and short stores throughout her life, while working as a high school science teacher. In 2015, her first book of poetry, “Speaking at a Time”, was published by Redbat books. This bilingual book of poetry has been well received. Oregon poet laureate, Peter Sears, said, “… These recollections pulse with energy, and they echo the poetry of Lorca and Neruda,” A second book of poetry will be published by Airlie Press in 2020.

Her poems and short stories have appeared in Willawaw Journal, Windfall Journal, The Avocet, Speaking of Ourselves: Women of Color Anthology, Oregon East Magazine, and Accentos Review.

ANNA FRUCHTER is an eleven-year-old Spokanite who enjoys playing with her younger brother, Seabass. Her other hobbies include taking care of her crested gecko, drawing, reading, hanging out with friends, playing ukulele, and writing. She is currently creating a musical that she hopes will be as good as her favorite musicals: Hamilton, 21 Chump Street, and Dear Evan Hansen.

SUE HALLETT grew up in Yakima, Washington and has lived for the past 40 years in Colfax. She holds degrees from Gonzaga University and Washington State University. She has taught school and worked as a care manager for frail elderly people. All of her life she has been interested in writing and has been published over a hundred times in publications that you’ve never heard of and a few that you have. In recent years she has participated in a writing workshop taught by Lisa Conger through the ACT 2 program at the Community Colleges of Spokane. The piece selected for “Hair of the Dog” came from a writing exercise in that class.

NANCY KNOWLES teaches English and Writing at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, OR. Her ghazal “Be Still” earned an honorable mention in the Oregon Poetry Association’s 2019 Spring Contest. She has published poetry in Toyon; Eastern Oregon Anthology: A Sense of Place; Torches n' Pitchforks; War, Literature, & the Arts; Oregon East; and Willawaw Journal. Her poem "Sixth-Grade Homework" is available here, and “The Only Eternal” here.

YVONNE HIGGINS LEACH is the author of Another Autumn (WordTech Editions, 2014). Her poems have appeared in South Dakota Review, South Carolina Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Cimarron Review, and Wisconsin Review, among others. After earning her MFA from Eastern Washington University, she spent decades balancing a career in communications and public relations, raising a family, and pursuing her love of writing poetry. Now a full-time poet, she dedicates her time to gobbling up as many poetry books and anthologies as she can; participating in open mics, retreats, and workshops; and working diligently on her second volume. She splits her time living in Vashon Island and Spokane, Washington. For more information, visit yvonnehigginsleach.com.

LORIN RICHARD will be graduating with her MA in lit in a couple weeks. She's a mom to two little humans, Wyatt and Morgan, and to two doggos, Aida (an Anatolian Shepherd that her husband rescued from Turkey while on a deployment) and Oliver (the Boston Terrier who is the subject of her ode).

RYAN SCARIANO's chapbook, Smithereens, was published by Imperfect Press. Some of his recent poetry has appeared in Rock & Sling; Phantom Drift; Basalt; Shift: A Journal of Literary Oddities; and Bright Bones: Contemporary Montana Writing. He has an MFA from Eastern Washington University and teaches at Eastern Oregon University. You can find him at ryanscariano.com.

WESLEY SCHANTZ is a substitute teacher in Spokane. Love-biting the hand that feeds him, he writes Notes for a New School on Blogger. He also makes podcasts and creates online courses with friends at Night School and Signum University.

MEILIN SCOTT is a sophomore at North Central who enjoys writing, playing the clarinet and biology. She has a 7-year-old yellow lab who loves the water.

ELLEN WELCKER is the author of Ram Hands (Scablands Books, 2016), The Botanical Garden (2009 Astrophil Poetry Prize, Astrophil Press, 2010) and several chapbooks, including The Pink Tablet (Fact Simile Editions, 2018). She lives in Spokane, Washington with an adorable neurotic frisbee-catching machine.

We would like to thank SPOKANE ARTS for awarding Willow Springs Books the Spokane Arts Grant Award and supporting us during the process of publishing Hair of the Dog.