THE EXHIBITION
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THE EXHIBITION •
CONTEST WINNER ‘Rotten Fruit’
Amanda Draznin (she/her) is studying English and Creative Writing at Elon University. Her work has been previously published in The Weight Journal, Beyond Words Magazine and Youth Be Heard. When she isn’t writing you could find her playing the tenor saxophone or reading through her collection of books.
‘THE LISTENER’
Georgia Prints is a fiction writer whose work explores the quiet dread beneath memory, myth, and the everyday. Her stories often blur the line between the natural and the uncanny, drawing on themes of history, grief, and transformation. She lives in California.
‘A West Texas Walkabout’
David Larsen is a writer who lives in El Paso, Texas. His stories have been published in numerous literary journals and magazines including Cholla Needles, The Heartland Review, Floyd County Moonshine, The Mantelpiece, Oakwood, The Words Faire, Canyon Voices, Change Seven, Literary Heist, Aethlon, Coneflower Café, The Raven Review, Voices, Dark Winter Literary Magazine, Mobius, The Griffel Literary Magazine, Bright Flash Literary Review, El Portal and October Hill Magazine.
‘Chiye-Tanka; or Big Brother’
Daniel Ruefman is a widely published poet and emerging author of speculative fiction. His poetry and prose has appeared in more than 100 periodicals to date, including THE BARELY SOUTH REVIEW, BURNINGWORD, CHAPTER HOUSE JOURNAL, HAMILTON STONE REVIEW, SHEEPSHEAD REVEIW, and THIN AIR MAGAZINE, just to name a few. When not writing, he teaches the craft at the University of Wisconsin--Stout.
‘JAR OF PICKLED HEART’, ‘LIZ, NOT LONG AFTER’ & ‘BIRDSONG FOR INSOMNIACS’
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.
‘THIRTY YEARS SINCE MARCH 1995’
Patricia Sas, a young Romanian artist based in Spain, is a psychology student who tries to put together long-lost pieces of her culture. She is interested in feminine intergenerational trauma and the effects of emigration on family dynamics. In her free time, she gives voice to her community through uncensored and raw poetry.
‘Charlotte’
J. C. Cole
‘Aphrodite in An Open Casket’, ‘Sins, Like Violets’ & ‘A Girl’s Sword; Her Princess’
Kenna DeValor (they/them/theirs) is a glittering mythical creature that lives right outside your peripherals. (Just kidding!) Kenna is a queer and nonbinary writer that hails from pothole-adorned paradise: Bethlehem, PA and has been published over 50+ times in 2024 alone (Including Word's Faire with "Mother Mirror"!) They recently came out with their third poetry collection entitled DISCOFRUIT. Kenna proudly holds a B.A in English/Creative Writing from Bloomsburg University. Kenna currently attends Wilkes University for their MFA program in Creative Writing (Poetry/Fiction/Publishing). When not writing, reading, or making fun DIY zines, Kenna is a professional tattoo artist and the EIC/Founder of the lit-arts magazine FlowerMouth Press.
‘And Also With You’, ‘I'm Not Well’, ‘Perimenopause?’’, ‘Some Things are About the Kids’ & ‘It's Not Jack's Fault’
Betsy Robertson was a finalist for the Rash Award in Poetry. She is a lecturer at San Diego State University and the mom of five children. Her focus is on women's health and menopause.
‘Being Obscured’
Laura Lambie has published in The Ginosko Literary Journal, The Writing Disorder Literary Journal, The Galway Review, EgoPHobia, The Bookends Review, The New English Review and The Why Vandalism? Literary & Arts Journal. She will be featured in The Meadow: Literary and Arts Journal.
‘Aquaphobia’
Kimberly Oyola Ferreira is a student writer that explores themes of fear and isolation through poetry.
‘In the Absence of Words’
Egale Tolbler is a college student studying journalism and a writer for his college’s newspaper.
‘Between Absence and Desire’
Bhupin Butaney is a poet and writer drawn to the quiet forces that shape human experience—emotion, memory, and elemental change. His work blends lyrical restraint with metaphysical inquiry, often turning to the natural world as a mirror for interior transformation. His poems have been featured in Lone Mountain Literary Society (Duality & Pradox), Antonym, Ariel’s Dream Literary Journal, In Parentheses, Black Works, ParABnormal Magazine, Tales of the Strange, and other literary publications.
‘Poèm Fantastique’
Dakota William Szaniszlo is a poet and prosist from Tucson, AZ. They are a committed practitioner of shower-singing, a volunteer life-coach for the dead, an unlicensed self-surgeon, and an avid collector of tossed-out ideologies. They enjoy contemplating ineffable abstraction, dreams constantly, and spends most of their free time on long drives through various mental landscapes. They have been previously featured in various journals including: The Antonym - A Bridge to Global Literature, Canyon Voices, Punt Volat, LatineLit, and The Ana.
‘A Bumblebee’s Dance’
Jake Wright is a published poet (on the Word’s Faire no less) who is pursuing a minor in creative writing at UBCO. When Jake isn’t writing, he’s usually crying over university, skiing, or gaming. He wrote this story for his girlfriend, who seemed to enjoy it, thank goodness! Jake can be found on his youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@WritingwithWright
‘Avenues’
Matthew Wood is a cum laude graduate of CSULB’s creative writing program. He has had fiction published in Heartwood Literary magazine, Chapter House, carte blanche, Washington Square Review LCC, and El Camino College’s Myriad, where he was awarded the Tom Lew Prize for Fiction