Managing Editor
Jennifer Kemnitz is an herbalist and a great defender of plant life; she can be roused at any moment to an impassioned discussion of its innate intelligence. Her work has most recently appeared in Cirque, Rain, and the Kerf, and has been anthologized by Poetry on the Lake, among others. Jennifer’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and translated into German.
Assistant Managing Editor
Desiree Wright started writing for survival at age six – handmade books of horse names, rhyming poetry, and short stories. She hasn’t stopped writing since.
Desiree takes a seat at the Pinewood Table each week to bleed, sweat, and laugh her stories into existence. Her first published piece was in the Winter 2016 edition of VoiceCatcher. Her poetry currently moves through the Vancouver area on a C-trans bus, thanks to the Poetry Moves project.
Desiree almost finished a double Master’s degree in Cultural Survival and Cultural Anthropology. She is a non-biological mother. She says “I am a writer” without explanation. She is finally able to live her life, no regret-style.
Poetry Editors
Suzanne Sigafoos is the author of Held In The Weave (Finishing Line). Her work has appeared in The Oregonian, VoiceCatcher, Bellingham Review, and Windfall: A Journal of Poetry of Place. Most recently, her poem, Thanksgiving, 2016 – A Monochord appears at Indolent Books’ Transition: Poems in the Aftermath, an online series created in response to the election.
Juleen Johnson is a co-founder of Soundings: An Evening of Word and Sound. Johnson has been invited to read at: BuzzPoems, Ink Noise Review, Open Door Enjambment, Penduline Poetry Series and Word Warriors in Portland, OR. She won first place in the Voices Poetics Poetry Contest. Her poems have been published in publications, including Cirque: A Literary Journal, Nervous Breakdown, Rust and Moth, The Round, and other journals. Johnson currently writes and creates art in Portland, OR.
Mercedes Munoz is a licensed Special Education teacher for Portland Public Schools. As an avid performance poet with an emphasis on social justice, Munoz has garnered attention as an invited slam guest for the Oregon Senate, The Skanner ́s Annual MLK Breakfast, and Imago Dei ́s ̈Saving Justice ̈ artist event and panel. Locally, Mercedes has facilitated student writing workshops in classrooms throughout the Portland Metro Area. She holds a BA in English and Masters in Special Education from Portland State University. Outside of education and writing, Munoz ́s passions include cooking, mentoring youth and women, as well as devouring books.
Prose Editors
Michele Ford is a current graduate student in the Book Publishing program at Portland State University. As an undergraduate at Pacific University, she worked as Managing Editor for The Silk Road Review and freelanced for Forest Avenue Press. She currently lives in Portland and posts embarrassing pictures of her cat on Twitter.
Nikki Schulak writes and performs comedy about bodies and relationships. Her work has been published in numerous journals and websites, most recently at Full Grown People and forthcoming in Creative Nonfiction this spring. Her essay “On Not Seeing Whales” (Bellevue Literary Review) was chosen as a Notable Selection in Best American Essays 2013. Nikki’s latest tattoo is an ampersand because she wants to have her cake and eat it, too.
Michelle Fredette is the co-host of the Plonk reading series and the book podcast, “Go Away, I’m Reading.” She’s currently working on a novel set in the world of roller derby.
Art Editor
Sarah Fagan received a BA from Stonehill College in North Easton, MA in 2007, relocating to Portland, OR shortly thereafter. She became imbued in the Northwest art scene as an artist and teacher, eventually receiving a post-baccalaureate certificate in painting and printmaking from the Oregon College of Art and Craft. Sarah spent the last year back in New England on a twelve-month artist residency in Concord, MA, and currently splits her time between Portland and the east coast. She is represented by galleries across the U.S. More at www.sarahfagan.com.
Young Voices
Suzy Harris was born and raised in Indiana and has lived her adult life in Portland as a teacher, parent, lawyer, spouse, friend, and writer of poems. She has studied with Claudia Savage and has been published in VoiceCatcher.
Kate Ristau is the author of the middle grade series, Clockbreakers, and the young adult series, Shadow Girl. In her ideal world, magic and myth combine to create memorable stories with unforgettable characters. Until she finds that world, she’ll live in a house in Oregon, where they found a sword behind the water heater and fairies in the backyard. You can find her online at Kateristau.com.