Charlene is a poet whose work has appeared in the anthology Misbehaving Nebraskans and multiple collections of Nebraska authors. Her poem “How to Hear God While Making Thanksgiving Dinner,” published in The Good Life Review, was a finalist for Best of the Net 2025, and she was also a finalist in the 2024 BlackBerry Peach Spoken & Written Word competition. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, including Rebellion/Conformity, 805 Lit + Art, and Whale Road Review.

A Merit Scholar in the Pacific University MFA program, she will graduate in January 2026. In 2020, she founded the nonprofit Nebraska Poetry Society to advance accessibility and equity in poetry, and she continues to champion the literary arts across Nebraska and beyond through performance, mentorship, and her years of teaching.

Brandy is the author of "Forbidden Fruit: Poems of Love, Loss, Hope, and Regret". A professional jack-of-all-trades, she earned a Bachelor in Business Administration and has spent the last decade (maybe it’s longer, but let’s not make this awkward) writing poetry that explores the dark emotions we face when confronted by our own morality and mortality. Brandy lives in Papillion, Nebraska, and like to spend her spare time traveling the world with her trusty four-legged sidekick Mary Puppins. Most days she can be found drinking a large latte at her desk, frantically writing her thoughts down in verse before they disappear.

Julie is a freelance editor and writer and the Business and Publishing Manager for The Writer’s Ally, an editing and self-publishing services company. Julie has published in various Nebraska anthologies and The First Line as well as self-published a guide for narrative writers called Tips & Tricks for Great (Narrative) Writing. Julie is also the Publications Chair for the Nebraska Writers Guild. She lives in Omaha and is a proud cat mama.

Amy Haddad is a poet, nurse and educator who taught in the health sciences at Creighton University where she is now a Professor Emerita. Her poetry and short stories have been published in Janus Head, Journal of Medical Humanities, Touch, Bellevue Literary Review, Pulse, Persimmon Tree, Annals of Internal Medicine, Aji Magazine, DASH, Oberon Poetry Magazine, and Rogue Agent. Her chapbook, The Geography of Kitchens, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2021. Her poetry collection, An Otherwise Healthy Woman, was published by Backwaters Press, in March,  2022. The collection won first place in the Creative Works category of the American Journal of Nursing 2022 Books of the Year Awards.