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Sam Barbee’s poems have appeared Poetry South, The NC Literary Review, Crucible, Asheville Poetry Review, Main Street Rag, The Southern Poetry Anthology VII: North Carolina; plus on-line journals Vox Poetica, Pyrokinection, and The Blue Hour. His Second poetry collection, That Rain We Needed (2016, Press 53), was a nominee for the Roanoke-Chowan Award as one of North Carolina’s best poetry collections of 2016. He is the current President of the NC Poetry Society.

Frederick W. Bassett is a retired academic who turned to creative writing late in life. His poems have appeared widely in anthologies and journals, including Georgia Review, Illuminations, Mudfish, Negative Capability, Passager, Pembroke Magazine, Poem, Slant, The Cape Rock, Timberline Review, Yemassee, and Zone 3. His latest book of poems is The Old Stoic Faces the Mirror. He also has two novels South Wind Rising and Honey from a Lion. Bassett currently lives in Greenwood, SC.

Marcie Behm-Bultz is a population scientist and world traveler who often bases her poetry around human geography and exotic locations. Her written work has appeared in both scientific journals and poetry anthologies. Her family and its assorted pets live in S.C.

Staci Lynn Bell still believes peace, love, rock n roll, a good book shoved in your back pocket and a dog at your side are all you need. She moved many times throughout her life but calls the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico home. Staci has been published in Kakalak 2017, 2016, Old Mountain Press Anthologies, Wild Goose Poetry, Wolf Warriors Anthology. She currently lives in Hayesville, NC.

Joann. Bishop, submitted this because it had been very significant in her memories as she was growing up. She has finished two sets of poems  “Visit Through History” and  “Faith, Family and Friendship” which she had put together for her family members scattered throughout the United States. She will complete the rest of her groups of poems titled  “Nature and Her Elements”, “Family Critters and Wildlife” and “Family Picture Memories”.

Polly Brody’s publishing credits include The Midwest Quarterly, The Spoon River Poetry Review, Potomac Review, Cream City Review, Connecticut River Review, Northeast Magazine. She twice received the Connecticut Poetry Society’s Winchell Award; was nominated for a Pushcart Prize; awarded third place in Friends of Acadia’s national poetry competition. Polly’s work appears in multiple issues of Connecticut Muse. She’s authored: Other Nations, The Burning Bush, At the Flower’s Lip, Stirring Shadows, Lore. Polly inhabits Southbury, CT.

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Nancy Hall Cody has written a story published in Field Mules and Buttermilk Cornbread, and articles for Towns County Historical Society’s Newsletter and newspaper articles. She wrote several articles for Clay County Heritage II Her poetry has been published in eight other OMP anthologies. Nancy has two grown children, one granddaughter and four grandsons. She and her husband live in Hayesville, NC.

Vicki Collins lives in Graniteville, SC, and teaches English at USC Aiken, where she is the Director of The Writing Center. Her work has appeared in Kakalak, MoonShine Review, Windhover, and The Southern Poetry Anthology: North Carolina. Her book, The Silent Appalachian, was published in 2017 by McFarland.

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Tom Davis’s publishing credits include Poets Forum, The Carolina Runner, Triathlon Today, Georgia Athlete, The Fayetteville Observer’s Saturday Extra, A Loving Voice Vol. I and II, Special Warfare., and Winston-Salem Writers’ POETRY IN PLAIN SIGHT program. He’s authored: The Life and Times of Rip Jackson; A children’s coloring book, Pickaberry Pig’s First Day of School, The Patrol Order; and an action adventure novel, The R-complex. Tom has recently completed his memoir. He lives in Webster, NC.

Nancy Dillingham is a sixth-generation Dillingham from Big Ivy in WNC. She is the author of twelve books and chapbooks of short fiction and poetry and, with Celia Miles, co-editor of four anthologies of WNC women writers. Her 2010 collection HOME was nominated for a Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA). Nancy lives in Asheville, NC.

Beth Dragon is an interfaith minister, who earned some of her inconsequential fortune writing commercial non-fiction and light poetry.  Dr. Dragon has won a few small poetry contests and had poems in previous OMP anthologies.  She says she keeps coming back to South Carolina, so it must be home.

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Dena M. Ferrari is regular contributor to OMP. Dena’s poetry is featured in Westchester Community College of NY Phoenix (1975), Writers Alliance Poets World-Wide and many other anthologies. Dena’s own books, Poems From the Hearth (2010), Come Closer My Dearies (2013), and Charmed Times Three (2015), shows diversified writing styles, leaving a Living Legacy for her grandchildren. She and her husband, Peter live in Vass, NC.

Garrett Flagg: Subsequent to his father’s deathbed request, Ed Garrett reclaimed his family’s ancestral name, and was renamed Garrett Flagg. He has published poetry in McGuffin, Third Wind, Quijote Quarterly, Horizons, Greensboro Review, and others. A retired educator, he lives in North Carolina with his wife, Andrea, and daughter Miriam. Grown sons, Seth and Quinn, reside in Chicago and are developing their verbal and musical talents.

Joanne Kennedy Frazer is a retired peace and justice director and educator for faith-based organizations at state, diocesan and national levels. Penning life’s passions into poetry is the delight of her silvering years. Her work has appeared in several Old Mountain Press’ anthologies, Poetic Portions 2015 anthology, Soul-lit Journal of Spiritual Poetry, Postcard Poems and Prose Magazine, Panoply Literary Zine, Snapdragon Journal, Whirlwind Magazine and Kakalak 2017. She lives in Durham. NC.

Lynda Fredsell is a newcomer to the writing world. She has recently found her voice in writing personal essays, thanks to a learning-in-retirement class at OLLI/Furman. When not writing essays, she enjoys hiking, bird watching, playing Chess, teaching, and spending quality time with family and friends. Lynda lives in Greenville, SC, with her cat Sage and a yard full of birds.

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James N. Gibson. After a thirty-three year career in the automobile industry, James Gibson returned to his love of the mythical American West, publishing Anasazi Princess in 2001 and subsequent books, for a total of five with the conclusion of the epic series, Anasazi Triumph in 2005. Later novels include The Last Ride and Searching with Pei for the Meaning of Life. His mystery novel, To Live or Die in Taiwan, is at press. Jim and his wife make their home in Northville, Michigan. He welcomes reader contact through his website at www.pentaclespress.com.

Marian Gowan is author of Notes from the Trunk, published by Old Mountain Press. Her work has appeared in several Old Mountain Press anthologies and southern regional publications. She retired to the NC mountains from western NY in 2001, but recently returned to NY to be near family. (mariangowan1@bellsouth.net)

Farley Granger thinks more than he writes, and he writes more than he sees other people. He grew up in a depressed country town and understands the struggles of poor, heartland folks. But he has a lot of hope. Farley lives in La Grange, NC.

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Kerri Mai Habben is a writer in Raleigh, NC. She is a graduate of Peace College and North Carolina State University. Her work has been included in the News and Observer and regularly appears in publications throughout the United States and Canada. She enjoys writing fiction and creative nonfiction in addition to her love of poetry.

Karen Hammond lives in Falls Church, Virginia. She is a regular contributor to OMP and appreciates the opportunity to hone her stories down to 325 words. She’s been writing for her kids and grandkids for years, and has finally embarked on a larger writing project. This story is from her yet to be published book, Birdie Told Me.

Cordelia Hanemann is currently a writer and artist in Raleigh, NC. Her work has appeared in Southwest Review, Mainstreet Rag, and Laurel Review; anthologies, The Well-Versed Reader, Heron Clan IV and Kakalak 2017 and in her own chapbook, Through a Glass Darkly. She has been featured poet for Negative Capability Press and The Alexandria Quarterly. A native of Southwest Louisiana, she is now working on a first novel about her roots in Cajun Louisiana.

MaXine Carey Harker has a dual set of families – one in Idaho and one in NC. She married a sailor she met on a bus in 1953. The happy result was the excuse to travel cross country camping in every state of the union both with and without their 5 children interspersed with many trips abroad. She has taught Writing For Publication for many years MaXine, and her husband Berkley, are now 89 living in a one-stop-light town of Grifton, NC.

Joseph Haymore met “Hawk” at a Writers’ Ink meeting more than 20 years ago. They formed an instant bond, and spent many happy hours sitting together trading “War Stories.” The bio of Joseph Haymore pales by that of Charlie “Hawk” Weyant.

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Arnie Johanson is a retired philosophy professor from Minnesota who moved to Durham, NC in 1999 and has been writing poetry ever since. His work has appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies and he has published three chapbooks of poetry, most recently A Trunkload of Ephemera.

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K. D. Kennedy Jr. has published four (4) books of poetry, short stories, and essays: Our Place In Time, Waiting Out In The Yard, For Rhyme Of Reason, and Progenitors: A Kennedy Genealogy. He has also published works in over twenty anthologies and periodicals. He has served as Chairman of the following: The Board of Trustees of Barton College, the North Carolina Board of Ethics, the North Carolina Theater, and the Building Committee of the Duke Power Performing Arts Center.

Nita Hallford Killebrew cherishes the musty smell of books and sharing the love of writing with her poetry pals, Rachel and Mary Louise. OMP has been a much-appreciated outlet for publishing several of Nita’s poems. From her home in Lilburn, GA, she often reflects on her thirty years of teaching high school students and smiles because she is retired.

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Patsy Kennedy Lain resides in Hubert, North Carolina, and relies on past memories, family stories and travels to inspire her work. Patsy expresses her passions through writing and painting. She has works published in anthologies, magazines, a local paper, etc. and she receives awards for her works.

Blanche L. Ledford resides in Hayesville, NC. Her work has appeared in many Old Mountain Press anthologies and many journals. She received the Paul Green Award from NC Society of Historians for her book, Planting by the Signs. She enjoys gardening, sewing, and writing about her mountain heritage.

Brenda Kay Ledford is a seventh-generational native of Clay County, NC. Her work has appeared in 35 Old Mountain Press anthologies, Good Old Days Magazine, and many other journals. She's received the Paul Green Award 10 times for her books, blogs, and collecting oral history of Southern Appalachia.

K. A. Lewis graduated from the Corcoran School of Art in 1986 with little idea of how to make a living. Her work experience includes cake decoration, jewelry sales, hypnosis certification, being robbed at gunpoint, and 29 years as a custom picture framer. Since 2014, her poetry and genre fiction have been published in several anthologies. Katy and her husband live with three demanding cats in a small book-stuffed house in Falls Church, VA.

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Halle Meyer, a Cleveland native, is a writer who lives in North Raleigh with her husband, three children, and awesome furry friends.

Celia Hooper Miles, a Jackson County native, lives, edits, writes, and travels from Asheville. Her passions are old grist mills and neolithic sites, and her short stories and novels reflect both. Her work is available in regional bookstores, online, on Kindle, and (Mattie’s Girl and Sarranda)on Audible Books. Grist mills mysteries set in western NC are The Body at Wrapp’s Mill and The Body at StarShine Mill. A third novel in the Sarranda “trilogy” will be out this year.

Peter Molberg has retired from the practice of medicine and is now practicing writing. He hopes that he can write enough in quality and quantity that his grandchildren will get a feel for who he was and what he did. He lives in Falls Church, VA with Nazeema Karim, his spouse of 46 years.

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Beverly Ohler is a teacher /designer/writer. Working in the arts for most of her life, she spent most of it at Warren Wilson College. Bev has written five books/designed or edited others. Her work has appeared in 15 Old Mountain Press issues/ included in several anthologies and a number of magazines, She grew up in the Northeast, now calls Black Mountain home.

Karen O’Leary is a writer and editor from West Fargo, ND. She has published poetry, short stories, and articles in a variety of venues including, Frogpond, A Hundred Gourds, bear creek haiku, Shemom, Creative Inspirations and NeverEnding Story. She edits an online journal called Whispers http://whispersinthewind333.blogspot.com/ She enjoys sharing the gift of words.

Martha O’Quinn lives in Hendersonville, NC. Her non-fiction prose and poetry reflect a true southern heritage, having lived in five different states in the southeast. Her work has appeared in numerous OMP anthologies; four anthologies edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham; WNC Woman; the E-zine Long Story Short as well as other WNC publications both in print and online.

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Carol Passmore attended UNC-G, married and had three children all born in Boulder, CO. In 1980 the family moved to Durham, NC. Carol worked at the reference desk of the Durham County Library. Since retirement she enjoys reading, gardening, yoga and writing poetry. She contributed to and co-edited a book of Quaker children stories which was translated into Russian.

Patricia T. Pemberton’s publishing credits include I and Lee High Review. She’s authored the following children’s book Sanford, City of Clay. Patricia, lives in Sanford,NC.

Michael Potts is the author of two poetry anthologies: From Field to Thicket and Hiding from the Reaper. He has also authored three novels: End of Summer, Unpardonable Sin, and Obedience. A philosophy professor at Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC, he lives with his wife, Karen, and their eight cats in Coats, NC.

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Mary Ricketson, mental health counselor and blueberry farmer, is published in Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Old Mountain Press, Whispers, and her books, I Hear the River Call My Name, and Hanging Dog Creek. She placed first in 2011 Joyce Kilmer national poetry contest., writes a monthly column, Woman to Woman, for The Cherokee Scout, and her book, Shade and Shelter, is forthcoming from Kelsay Press.

Dwight Roth is a retired elementary school teacher of 29 years, who grew up in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He enjoys writing, poetry, painting, and music. He had his work in several OMP anthologies. He has self-published four memoirs and Three books of poetry and three children’s books. He has nine books or booklets on Amazon Kindle. He and his wife Ruth live near Monroe, NC. He writes daily on his blog:

 www.rothpoetry.wordpress.com

Maria Rouphail is the author of two collections, Apertures and Second Skin. She is Senior Lecturer Emerita from the English Dept and NC State University, and spends her time as a volunteer teaching language skills to needful populations in Raleigh. She is at work on her third poetry collection. She has published widely.

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Writer/Editor, Dr. Lynn Veach Sadler (Burlington, NC.), a former college president, has 5 books and 72 articles and has edited 23 books/proceedings and 3 national journals and published 3 newspaper columns (1 now). Her creative writings are 11 poetry chapbooks and 4 full-length collections, 125+ short stories, 4 novels, a novella, 3 short story collections (+ 2 in press), 2 nonfiction collections, and 41 plays. She was Central Region Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet 2013-2015.

Susan Snowden’s poems and stories have been published in more than forty literary journals. Her novel, Southern Fried Lies, was published by Archer Hill Publishing in 2012. Her story collection, A Closet Full of Masks, was published in 2015, also by Archer Hill. The novel received an IPPY Award (Recognizing Excellence in Independent Publishing) in 2013 for best new fiction in the Southeast. Susan lives in Hendersonville, NC.

David Snyder is a hospital dentist. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Davidson College. He earned his Doctorate of Dental Surgery degree and completed his Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He authored an action adventure novel, The Price of Innocence, and has a manuscript in circulation. He lives in Asheville, NC, with his wife, Linda.

Yvonne Sparkes was born in England and emigrated to New York in 1948. Returned to Britain in 1958. Published in magazines, books, newspapers in Israel, Germany, Britain, U.S.A, Loving world travel and the natural world has extensively seen many countries. She enjoys walking her dogs in the countryside of Britain where she currently live.

Shelby Stephenson is Poet Laureate of North Carolina.  His recent books are Paul’s Hill:  Homage to Whitman (Sir Walter Press), Our World (Press 53), Family Matters:  Homage to July, the Slave Girl (Bellday Books), the Bellday Prize; Maytle’s World (play). He is recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Achievement Award, 2015, Department of English, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina-Pembroke. Shelby lives on Paul’s Hill, about ten miles northwest of Benson.

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Elizabeth B. Watson considers this short bio a challenge, but she'll try to be creative. She writes short stories and poetry and is fortunate to be published in numerous anthologies. Tom’s chosen theme for this anthology brought too many ideas back to life; like a lottery of choices. So pick one! Betty and her husband live in Greenville, SC at The Woodlands at Furman since 2012. It’s a great location to keep the brain nurtured next door to the University.

Charles “Hawk” Weyant’s poems appeared in over three dozen anthologies and he read on Public Radio for ten years. His book An Odyssey In Broken Rhythms And Ragged Lines was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. For his valued support of the National Hollerin Contest, he was made an honorary citizen of Spivey’s Corner, NC. He was also a decorated, battle scarred veteran of three tours in Vietnam.

Stella Ward Whitlock is the widow of a Presbyterian minister, mother of four adult children, and grandmother of seven. She retired from teaching public school in 2000, then taught writing at Methodist University, Fayetteville, NC, for eight years. Stella’s stories, poems, and articles have appeared in various journals and magazines. She now is fulfilling her dream of writing some of the stories passed down in her family. Stella lives at Glenaire Retirement Community, Cary, NC.

Glenda S. Wilkins grew up on a North Carolina tobacco farm, and believed she’d never live beyond the county line. Decades later, she moved with her husband to Europe for a dozen years. Her poems have been published in Europe, Great Britain, & North America. Thus far, she appreciates several poetry awards. She lives on an air strip, Winterville, NC.

Barbara Ledford Wright’s work appears in several Old Mountain Press anthologies (two Pushcart Prize nominations: Looking for Santa and Celebrate the Holidays.) Her work is in several anthologies and journals, Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal, Express Yourself 101 Vol 2 For Your Eyes Only, Kaleidoscope, Fireflies and June Bugs, Yesterdays Magazette, Carolina Country, Field Mules and Buttermilk Cornbread ,Five Brothers in the Civil War, and Clay Co. Heritage Book I and II. Barbara presently resides in Shelby, NC.

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C. Pleasants York dwells in images of the past. She crystallizes recollections and remembrances which have made their way into her three books – Pleasantries, Weaver of Destiny, and Dream Within a Dream – and collects the ephemera and the vintage which enfold themselves into her memory boxes and Victorian collages. She and her daughter, Emily, run the family craft business Little White Rabbit Pleasantries at Southern Charm on Wicker in their hometown of Sanford, NC.