Michelle Moncayo is a first-generation immigrant & tree enthusiast. Her roots rise from the volcanoes of Ecuador, dance to the Dominican Republic, and curl up in New Jersey. She is a VONA/Voices of Our Nation fellow, & her work has been featured in Kweli Journal and Maps for Teeth, among others.
Ajanae Dawkins is a Michigan and New York Native, and a current First Wave Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a: poet. performer. playwright. She is a two time individual finalist for the Rustbelt regional slam. She has been published in undr_scr review, the blueshift journal, and word riot and her work has also been featured on For Harriet, and Button Poetry, and she has been featured in Ebony Magazine. She is a poetry editor for wusgood.black. Currently she is acting as a Teaching Artist in Madison Wisconsin and working on a full length project, in conjunction with finishing her degrees. Ajanae has spent the past year living in Spain and Morocco, learning Spanish and Arabic, while conducting research on the role of God in feminism, and perfecting the art of being a care-free Black girl. The only thing she believes in more than poems is the transformative power of Christ.
Kristen Sze-Tu is an English Major at Washington University in St. Louis. She loves being a part of her school’s slam poetry community, practicing improv, and watering her fake plants.
Levi Todd is a poet from Chicago, always trying to make his way back. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Reacting Out Loud, an independent organization devoted to uplifting poetry and affirming community in Muncie, Indiana. He has also served as Executive Editor at Polyphony HS and Poetry Editor at The Broken Plate. His work has been published in or is forthcoming from The Indianola Review, In Transit, and Thread.
Kayla Haas is a baker in Wichita, Kansas. She enjoys cat cuddles and really good bread. Her work can be found in NANO Fiction, The Toast, Gigantic Sequins, The James Franco Review, among others.
JR Mahung is a Belizean-American poet from Chicago’s South Side. He is a pushcart nominee, and his poetry is published or forthcoming in Freezeray Literary Journal, Maps for Teeth, and Moko Literary Magazine. He is now based in Boston where he helps organize the Louder than a Bomb MA youth poetry slam and co-coaches Northeastern University’s slam team. JR is currently working on his second collection of poems on Pizza Pi Press titled “Since When He Have Wings.”