Issue 6: Refuge Spring/Summer 2025

Najib Abbi is a Muslim Somali-American writer, and founder of The Gaas Collective, a literary publishing platform. His poetry reflects his own experiences and the experiences of those around him. Najib seeks to inspire others and to highlight the Somali writing community with his words and in his work.

Najma Abbi is a freelance writer based in Seattle, with roots in Minnesota, Nairobi, and Washington state. Her work spans personal narratives, fiction, and pop culture analysis. You can read more of her writing at najmaabbi.substack.com.

Kirk Astroth has been a volunteer with Humane Borders for eleven years and delivers water in the Arizona desert to migrants to prevent needless deaths. He also volunteers with the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project. Kirk is a committed desert rat, archaeologist, and mountain biker.

Fran Blake has traveled extensively to study world cultures. She is especially interested in memories: how they are stored, reconfigured and accessed. This has led her to specialize in working with persons who have undergone trauma due to political upheaval and natural disasters. Fran has published widely.

Denise Celentano is a native of Italy and is an assistant professor at the Université de Montréal in Canada. She has written and published extensively on the topic of ethics and contemporary political and social philosophy. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Room Magazine, AlfaBeta2, and Poetarum Silva.

María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado writes poetry and prose that code-switch between English, Spanish, German, and Farsi, the cultural languages of her experiences. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, she holds an MFA and is pursuing a PhD in Comparative Literature at Binghamton University. Website: www.multicreativewisdom.net Instagram: @poeta.profesora

Carlos Deleon lives, writes, and sings in Chicago, Illinois. A product manager by day, Carlos explores transformation through loss in his creative writing, working to unravel what it means to live in these unprecedented times.

Mahru Elahi (she/her/they/او) is a queer Iranian American femme. She has received support from Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices, Hedgebrook, Tin House, Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, Antioch University Los Angeles, and the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. Instagram: @mahru_elahi Website: mahruelahi.co

Kerry J Heckman is a psychotherapist and writer based in Seattle, Washington. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University where she serves as the assistant editor and a contributing writer for the program’s journal, Soundings. Her work has appeared in Sonic Boom, Whiptail, and The Heron’s Nest, among other publications. Website: Kerry J Heckman Instagram: @kerryjwriter

Allan Hunter is the author of twelve books. Formerly a professor of literature, he now works with clients on memoir writing, with an emphasis on the early events that shape our lives. He can be reached via his website: allanhunter.net.

Ann Kendall‘s creative work has appeared in Sacred Places Magazine, Reverie, Humans of the World, Sad Girl Diaries, Faith & Form, and others. Ann holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Bay Path University and is the English Graduate Program Director at Heritage University. Instagram: @akendallwriter

Nathaniel Lachenmeyer’s first book, The Outsider, which takes as its subject his late father’s struggles with schizophrenia and homelessness, was published by Broadway Books. Nathaniel has forthcoming/recently published poems, stories and essays with North Dakota Quarterly, Potomac Review, Epiphany, Permafrost, Berkeley Poetry Review, About Place Journal, and DIAGRAM. NathanielLachenmeyer.com

Chris Luis is an occasional actor, singer, photographer, and artist with wide-ranging and eclectic interests and a deep affinity for the natural world. Born and raised in central California, she currently lives in a very small hilltown in the northeastern Berkshires.

Jen Machajewski’s nonfiction has appeared in Brevity Blog, Grown & Flown, and Hippocampus. She is a prose editor for Kindred Characters, a literary magazine based in Central Texas, and holds an MFA from Bay Path University. Find her on Substack and at www.jenmachajewski.com.

Jessica Pulver is a therapist and mother of three. She lives nestled in the woods outside Portland, Maine. In her free time, she tends a garden, meditates, jumps in the ocean, and finds other ways to slow down. Her chapbook about raising her son with cerebral palsy, May You Step Forward, was published in 2024.

Lindsay Rutherford is a writer and physical therapist in the Seattle area. Her work has appeared in Cleaver, Literary Mama, The Examined Life Journal, and elsewhere. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Bay Path University and spends a lot of time marveling at trees.

Jodie Sadowsky is a Connecticut writer whose work has appeared in Brevity Magazine, The Huffington Post, CNN, and The New York Times. She is the author of a forthcoming picture book, A Sukkah for Bella. Jodie is currently co-writing a family memoir, told in distinct voices, about her father’s disappearance.

Richard Spang is a retired electronics technician and lifetime photographer. His work has been published by 1889 Magazine, Wildroof Journal, Beaver Magazine, Burningword Literary Journal, The Closed Eye Open, Reservoir Road Literary Journal, Willows Wept Review and others. Rich is also an avid reader and an obsessive gardener. Find him on Instagram: @spangrich.

Cindy Stewart holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Bay Path University. An avid photographer and journal writer for the past four decades, Cindy’s creative work is inspired by the natural world. Cindy can be found
on Instagram: @aurora_creative_writing.

Angela Townsend is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee and seven-time Best of the Net nominee. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Arts & Letters, Blackbird, Five Points, SmokeLong, and West Trade Review, among others. Her poet mother is her best friend. Find her on Twitter/X: @thewakingtulip and IG: @fullyalivebythegrace or at https://belovedmoonchild.wordpress.com/. 

Norman Tran (he/they) is a queer, neurodivergent Chinese American poet, educator, and designer. Their work traces the aftershocks of polyamorous love, grief, and time. Based in Los Angeles, Norman is currently writing his debut poetry collection, and he formerly facilitated Stanford GSB’s Interpersonal Dynamics course.

Robyn Weaver‘s writing centers around grief and survival and has appeared in The Auburn Circle, 34th Parallel Magazine, and Multiplicity Magazine’s Quick Work. They work as a technical editor and reside in Decatur, Georgia with their partner, Samantha, three cats, and a dog. Robyn can be found at robynleaweaver.com.

Krista Westendorp‘s creative nonfiction has been published in The American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, The Linden Review, the anthology Better Together, and Disability Studies Quarterly. She’s currently seeking representation for a memoir-in-progress about raising her son Aaron, who has survived because of advanced medical technology. She lives with her family in Minneapolis.