Melanie Cole (She/Her) - Editorial Curator
Melanie Cole is a writer and poet from Tacoma, Washington. She holds a degree in International Relations, with minors in Political Science and Theatre from Richmond, The American International University in London. Melanie worked an eight-year career in disaster relief before opening her own floral business. Melanie has always been a writer, but had her first story published by Grit City Magazine in 2022. She has since continued to work with Grit City Mag, has been published by Dandelion Revolution Press, PHIL LIT Journal, and on The Mighty. Melanie has lived in London and New Orleans, but now calls Tacoma home.
Jessie McCarty (b. 1997) is an Irish-American writer from the South and information professional. Jessie McCarty holds a BFA in Creative Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They hold certifications in systems migration and rare book cataloging (DCRMB). Their poetry, in English and Gaeilge, uses depictions of the American South and Midwest as memory tools. Their poems can be read in Bog Bodies Press, Sarka Journal, The Minnesota Review, Charm School, The Documentarian, Don’t Submit Lit, Thick Press, and more.
Their full-length debut, Pretty Punks, is forthcoming with Magra Books in December 2025 (ed. Sean Pessin, Paul Vangelisti). Previous collections include The Bovine Huff (Track and Field Studios, 2021) and the self-published artist book, Our Fairy Diary (2023)