The Avalon Literary Review
Contributors Winter 2022
Author Biographies:

Angela Bean is a semi-retired immigration lawyer specializing in deportation defense and complex family immigration cases. She has been published in Tiferet, Midway Journal, and upcoming in The MacGuffin. She writes about immigration, loss, and her early life in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley. She resides in Oakland, CA.

Scott Blackwell is a former resident of San Francisco and an MFA graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute. He is an award-winning poet, a Pushcart Prize nominee and has most recently had poetry published in Mudfish, Penumbra, Willard & Maple, Avalon and others. He lives with his wife Barbara in an old fixer-upper in Champaign, Illinois, always trying to get back to that poetry and novel thing.

Jason Boling is a member of the Writers’ League of Texas and dreams of a world where cowards are shamed, art is rewarded, and jobs are optional. He writes short fiction and poetry under the pen name Jon Fotch. He lives in Austin TX where he spends most of his time repurposing fireworks.

Charlie Brooks is the author of the Greystone Valley series, winner of the Chaffin Award for Fiction for his short story Fantasy As You Like It, and winner of the New Millennium Writings Fiction Award for his short story Eight-Bit Heaven. His newest novel, Meddling Heroes, is set to be released in 2022. More information about his work can be found at www.ChBrooks.com

Cassidy Cromwell is a poet based in Colorado. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Regis University.
Thomas Elson’s writing has been published in numerous venues, including Ellipsis, Better Than Starbucks, Cabinet of Heed, Flash Frontier, Short Édition, Sandy River Review, Bull, Litro, Journal of Expressive Writing, Dead Mule School, Selkie, New Ulster, Lampeter, and Adelaide. He divides his time between Northern California and Western Kansas. 
Carmelinda Escuder’s work has been published in The Penmen Review. She has an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Education. She taught at-risk students for over 20 years in Brooklyn, NY, the South Bronx, NY, and Pinellas County, FL. Now retired, she spends her days writing in the sunshine.

Frank Jamison was born in West Tennessee. He is a graduate of Union University and the University of Tennessee. His poetry, essays and children’s stories have won numerous prizes. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2006. He lives and writes beside the Tennessee River in Roane County Tennessee. You can see more about his writing at jfrankjamison.com.

Yvonne Leach has been published in literary magazines and anthologies in the United States. Her work has appeared in Buddhist Poetry Review, Cimarron Review, Clare Literary Magazine, decomP Magazine, The MacGuffin, Midwest Quarterly, Neologism Poetry Journal, Pink Panther Magazine, Plainsongs, South Carolina Review, South Dakota Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Suisun Valley Review, Two Cities Review, Virginia Normal, Wisconsin Review, and Whitefish Review, among others. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Poetry from Eastern Washington University.

Robin Lester is from South Carolina.

Justine McCabe lives and works with her husband on the West Aspetuck River in rural CT. A cultural anthropologist who has worked in the Middle East, and a practicing clinical psychologist/play therapist, Dr. McCabe has published in academic journals as well as many op-eds and letters to editors. Her poetry is inspired by  nature, family, and politics, particularly advocacy for Palestinian human rights.  

Rebecca Monroe lives in Montana in a log cabin by a river and has been writing for most of her life. She has over 100 published stories and a book of short stories Reaching Beyond published by Bellowing Ark Press. She loves to read, take long walks with Dodge, her yellow Labrador retriever, and volunteer at the local animal shelter.

Joseph Natalicchio received his Bachelors degree from Rutgers University and Masters degree from Columbia University.  He worked for 30 years for the U.S. Government Accountability Office. While working for the federal government, he obtained a second Masters degree in Counseling and worked for ten years as a high school guidance counselor.  He is currently retired. He has been writing for over 30 years.

Nicolas Ridley lives in London & Bath (United Kingdom) where he writes fiction, non-fiction, flash fiction, scripts and stage plays under different names. A prize-winner and three time Pushcart Prize nominee, his short stories have been widely published in anthologies, literary magazines and journals in the UK, Ireland, Canada and the USA. Find him on the web at http://www.nicolasridley.co.uk/news 

Andy Roberts is the author of three chapbooks from Pudding House Publications and five from NightBallet Press. Recent publications include American Life In Poetry, Atlanta Review, Mudfish, Pennsylvania English, and The Sow's Ear Poetry Review. He lives in Columbus, Ohio where he handles finances for disabled veterans.

Bekah Rossman grew up on Chicago’s North Shore. She has a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Illinois at Urbana. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in prose.online, The Chicago Writer's Association Write City Journal, Bright Flash Literary Magazine, and others. In June 2021, Bekah was chosen as a featured writer on the UCLA Writer's Extension website and social media. Bekah is a member of the Chicago Writer's Association and Creative Writers Workshops at both UCLA and Stanford. She is currently writing her first memoir. 

Terry Sanville lives in San Luis Obispo, California with his artist-poet wife (his in-house editor) and two plump cats (his in-house critics). He writes full time, producing short stories, essays, and novels. His short stories have been accepted more than 450 times by journals, magazines, and anthologies including The Potomac Review, The Bryant Literary Review, and Shenandoah. He was nominated twice for Pushcart Prizes and once for inclusion in Best of the Net anthology. Terry is a retired urban planner and an accomplished jazz and blues guitarist – who once played with a symphony orchestra backing up jazz legend George Shearing. 

Linda Schifino is a writer living in Pittsburgh. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Carlow University where she is also professor emerita of Communication.  Linda has recently completed a memoir in linked essays describing growing up in an Italian American enclave in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. She has had essays published in Adelaide Magazine,  Brevity Blog, DoveTales Literary Journal, Northern Appalachia Review, and elsewhere.

Francine Witte’s poetry and fiction have appeared in Smokelong Quarterly, Wigleaf, Mid-American Review, and Passages North. Her latest books are Dressed All Wrong for This (Blue Light Press,) The Way of the Wind (AdHoc fiction,) and The Theory of Flesh (Kelsay Books) She is flash fiction editor for Flash Boulevard and The South Florida Poetry Journal. Her chapbook, The Cake, The Smoke, The Moon (flash fiction) was published by ELJ Editions in September, 2021. She lives in NYC 

Peter W. Yaremko is author of three non-fiction books:  A Light from Within; Fat Guy in a Fat Boat; and Saints and Poets, Maybe. His Young Adult novel, Billy of the Tulips, was released in 2018 by TouchPoint Press. Published poetry includes: Adelaide Literary Magazine, Allegro Poetry Magazine, Ariel Chart International Literary Journal, Boston Literary Magazine, Dual Coast Magazine, Loch Raven Review, Poetry Quarterly, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Third Wednesday Literary and Arts Journal. He blogs at www.pametriverbooks.com.