
Marian Szczepanski holds an MFA in fiction from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and a BA in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame. Her short fiction has appeared in Clackamas Literary Review, which garnered the deMaine Award for an Emerging Writer, with forthcoming work in Concho River Review. A Houston Press Club award recipient for magazine feature writing, Szczepanski also has published articles in the University of Houston’s Collegiummagazine and Houston Woman Magazine. Huffington Post’s reviewer praised her book Playing St. Barbara (High Hill Press, 2013) as “a stunning debut novel that shimmers with unforgettable characters while casting necessary light on a dark chapter in American history.” Named to the 2014 Houston Press roster of 100 Houston Creatives, she lives—where else?—in Houston, Texas. http://www.marianszczepanski.com
In addition to his most recent work, A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip, KEVIN BROCKMEIER is the author of the novels The Illumination, The Brief History of theDead, and The Truth About Celia; the story collections Things That Fall from the Sky and The View from the Seventh Layer; and the children’s novels City of Names and Grooves: A Kind of Mystery.His work has been translated into seventeen languages. He has published his stories in such venues as The New Yorker, The Georgia Review, McSweeney’s, Zoetrope, Tin House, The Oxford American, The Best American Short Stories, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and New Stories from the South. He has received the Borders Original Voices Award, three O. Henry Awards (one, a first prize), the PEN USA Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an NEA Grant. In 2007, he was named one of Granta magazine’s Best Young American Novelists He teaching frequently at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and he lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was raised.
Mackenzie Doss has a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. During her studies she interned at Black and White Publishing under the assistant editor while also editing for Edinburgh University’s student journal The Forum. Her undergraduate degree was in Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara with specializations in Literature of the Mind and Early Modern Studies. She has participated in many workshops and has organized and hosted numerous open mic nights across Edinburgh City. Having spent several years within the writing community in Edinburgh, she is excited to be back in the United States to contribute to the universal creative process. After traveling through eleven countries on three continents, she wholeheartedly believes in the connective power of storytelling. Mackenzie also writes for the Eureka Springs Independent and Fun Guide. Contact her at 213-281-0660 or m.n.doss89@gmail.com

Kelly Madigan is the award-winning author of a new collection of poetry, The Edge of Known Things (Stephen F. Austin State University Press) and a how-to book titled Getting Sober: A Practical Guide to Making it Through the First 30 Days (McGraw-Hill). She is an accomplished poet and essayist whose work has been published in literary magazines and anthologies such as Best New Poets 2007, Crazyhorse, Prairie Schooner, Barrow Street, The Massachusetts Review, Calyx, Natural Bridge and elsewhere. (For a comprehensive list of her publications, go to the Nebraska Center for Writers.)

Elizabeth Diane Mack has taught Creative Nonfiction Writing and English at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Creighton University, and Metro Community College in Nebraska. Elizabeth holds a BFA in Creative Writing and an MA in Creative Nonfiction. She currently works as a Writing Consultant and freelance writer in Omaha. Visit her website at BigMackWriting.com.
KEITH SCALES
AEA; AFTRA; SAG
Born and raised in London, England, Keith Scales has acted in more than 200 plays and directed nearly 100 productions in professional regional theatre. Study Fellowships have taken him to Ireland, Japan, the west of England and the south of France in preparation for various theatrical projects. He was awarded the first Masters Fellowship in Theatre by the Regional Arts Council of Oregon, which took him to Greece, London, and Prague. From 1993 – 2009 he served as artistic director of the Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon, for which he wrote line-for-line English versions of sixteen ancient Greek plays.
In 2011, he relocated from Oregon to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to concentrate on the creation of original works for page, stage and screen. His long-time partner is well-known local visual artist and actress Rebecca J. Becker, owner of the Prospect Gallery. Keith is currently Tour Manager for the Crescent and Basin Park hotels.
Paula Martin Morell has an MFA from the University of New Orleans, and she has been teaching creative writing for over 20 years. Her short stories, poetry, and creative non-fiction have won numerous regional, national, and international awards. Three times she has been featured as an emerging writer at the International Conference on the Short Story in English. Her critically-acclaimed novel-in-stories broken water was published in 2006, and her writing workshop Invoking the Gifts is being used in recovery centers nationwide. She started Temenos Publishing Company, a small literary press, in 2005. She created, produces and hosts the popular “Tales from the South” radio program, heard on NPR and around the world.


