THE EXHIBITION
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THE EXHIBITION •
‘Monday Evening’
Paul Potts is a poet from Oklahoma. He was awarded the Jim Spurr Poetry Prize, won the 2026 The Howl Poetry Contest, and was a finalist for the inaugural Rowayat Poetry Prize. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing jazz on both the drums and vibraphone.
‘When We Were Still A Family’
Naomi Dennis is a 15‑year‑old African American high school student beginning their writing career as a poet. Their work mostly pertains to emotionally driven concepts like familial trauma, the dark side of growing up, and the complexities of being a young woman in today’s world. They hope to attend Howard University in the future to earn a bachelor’s degree in English Literature.
‘Original Thought’
Marie Anne Arreola (Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net nominee) is a bilingual interdisciplinary artist and journalist whose work engages speculative lyric, digital culture, and diaspora memory. She is the founding editor of VOCES, a bilingual platform amplifying global writers and artists, and a Rotten Tomatoes–certified critic. Her writing appears in over sixty literary journals across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America.
‘Shell Bowl from Whistler’
Sabrina Shabana Vellani is an Indo-Canadian actress and poet from Vancouver, BC, Canada. Her photography and poetry can be found at @sabrinavellanipoetry on Instagram. Her work has appeared in The New York Quarterly, The Literary Review of Canada, Dark Winter Literary and more. She has just finished her debut poetry manuscript with the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive. Her latest poem, Identity, was released recently in Blue Moon Publishers' Canada Is Our Poem Anthology as well as her three poems in Tidewater Press' Emerge 25 collection.
‘Mountains with Fingerprint Stains’
Jada Johnson is a recent graduate of Auburn University at Montgomery where she won the 2025 Outstanding Capstone Project for her poetry chapbook. She plans to publish this chapbook, cementing her unique abilities within their literary world. Her favorite hobbies include baking Trader Joe’s blueberry muffins and collecting Studio Ghibli journals.
‘The Constellation Keeper’
David Anson Lee is a poet, philosopher, and former academic ophthalmologist whose work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Right Hand Pointing, Braided Way, Ink Sweat & Tears, Eunoia Review, Silver Birch Press, The Scarred Tree, The Orchards, Journal of Undiscovered Poets, and Mouthful of Salt. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, he often explores themes of memory, identity, landscape, medicine, environmental stewardship, and the enduring relationship between human beings and the natural world. His poetry combines lyrical imagery with philosophical reflection and is informed by a lifelong interest in literature, science, and Indigenous traditions. He lives in Texas and is currently assembling a collection of poems exploring ecological responsibility, cultural memory, and hope. Substack: https://davidalee.substack.com/
‘Roseshell’
Lydia Pejovic is a writer and alum of the English MA/MFA program at Chapman University. She received her BA in English from the University of San Diego. She writes both fiction and poetry and has been published in Tab Journal, Bluepepper, the Maine Review, and more. Check her out at https://www.lydiapejovic.com/.
‘Hamish: A Real Thing’
Cassell Presnell is a senior Creative Writing and Psychology double major with a minor in Rhetoric & Writing at Miami University, Ohio. She is the Co-Editor-In-Chief for part of Happy Captive Magazine, Secretary of the Honors Student Advisory Board, and an active Assistant Stage Manager in Stage Left. She also frequently volunteers as a judge and editor for non-profit, The Writer's Workout, and its various publications. Mostly, Cassell writes long-form fantasy and is a wannabe poet. Originally, she is from Charleston, South Carolina, and is returning for law school in the Fall.
‘Ditto’
Sahalie Angell Martin grew up on a sheep farm in Oregon. She has an MFA from the Ohio State University and teaches writing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. Her work has been featured in Hobart After Dark, The Superstition Review, and Writer's Digest.
‘Playing Pretend’
Shaira Sultana is a Canadian writer from Scarborough who was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her writing typically explores topics of heartbreak, love, family, and belonging. She has one published poem within Tint Journal’s Fall ‘25 Issue, titled “I’m from Elsewhere.” Aside from writing, her hobbies include befriending cats, crocheting, and escaping into the vast and wonderful world of books whenever she can.
‘You Stand In A Long Hallway’
Riley Danvers is a bisexual, nonbinary, and disabled poet living in Portland, Oregon. Their poetry has been published in Z Publishing House, Silkworm, Clackamas Literary Review, Other Worldly Women Press, Chasing Shadows, Wingless Dreamer Publication, Poets Choice, Fox Paw Literary Blog, The Endeavor: Maiden Voyage, Wingless Dreamer Publications, and the anthology MOSAIC. Riley graduated with their M.F.A. in Poetry from Willamette University in 2021, and completed their M.A. in Literature from Mercy College in 2023. They are currently pursuing an M.S. in Professional Writing from NYU. Their debut book of poetry, Even the Air, Too Heavy, was published by First Matter Press in 2022.
‘Teachers’
Keith A. Dodson’s poems appeared in zines such as: Abbey, Asylum, Bogg, Catalyst, Chiron Review, Impetus, Lactuca, Pearl, Poetry Motel, Quick Brown Fox, Slipstream, and Wormwood Review. Recent poems have appeared in Beatnik Cowboy, Ink Nest, Jackdaw Review, Molecule, Myra’s Micros, Sheepshead Review, The Blotter, and The Argyle Lit Mag. Keith fondly remembers when typewriters ruled the world and "cut and paste" involved blue-lined graph paper, Xacto knives, and rubber cement. Like a submarine operating in The Small Press Sea for forty years, Keith spends much of his time submerged but does occasionally rise to periscope depth, search for a suitable target, fire a spread of torpedoes, and hope for a hit.
‘Bird Math’
Ryan O'Toole is a writer living in Chicago. He earned an M.A. in Writing from the University of Galway. His work appears in HeartWood Literary Journal, storySouth, Two Thirds North, and elsewhere. He can be found online at realtowersrealbridges.substack.com
‘To Fish or Cut Bait’
Jason Telese is a writer and MFA candidate in Creative Writing at The University of Alabama, where he is an assistant fiction editor at Black Warrior Review. His stories often explore varying portraits of masculinity, addiction, and existential discomfort. His work can be found under large rocks or sometimes—if you don’t floss daily—between your teeth, causing serious decay.
‘Fair Is Fair’
Alexa Levitt is a 14 year old writer based in New York hoping to one day become an author. Her poems have appeared in The Fib Review, "Beautiful Truth- Echoes of The Mind," and "A Celebration of Poets." She has not (at the time of writing) published a work of fiction.
‘Tatters’
Ruth Zwald When an astrologer told her she had no “earth” in her birth sign, Ruth set about finding ways to ground. On her farm in West Michigan, Ruth starts every day with good coffee, tends large gardens, and lives close to the earth through her lifestyle and spiritual practices. Upon retirement, she also started to unearth words. In 2024, Ruth was named winner of the Michigan Writers Cooperative Press Chapbook Contest for her collection entitled, “Bones And Breath.” She has also been published in several periodicals, most recently in Farmer-ish Journal, Poetry For Mental Health, The Guilded Weathervane, The Bluebird Word, and Tangled Locks.