Prox_Obit_Pic_CASSENNETTINICO CASSANETTI graduated from The New School with a BA in creative writing, and is currently pursuing her MFA at Florida Atlantic University in the same. Her writing has appeared in Life|Style Magazine, The Faster Times, and A3 Review. Her favorite punctuation mark is the em dash. Nico lives and works in South Florida, but asks that you do not judge her by this unfortunate circumstance. (@Nico_Wins)
 
 
 
Prox_Obit_Pic_COLONEMMY “Midnightingale” COLON is an ink and watercolor illustrator and Death Midwife based in Chicago, IL. Her undergraduate focuses of Psychology and Anthropology, life-long love of dark/aggressive/elegant art, and Catholic upbringing have heavily influenced the work she creates today. Colon is currently dividing her time between a Cabinet of Curiosities coloring book project and indie comic about a grim reaper in training. She probably (and unashamedly) owns more memento mori books than you. (@Emmy_Colon)

 

Prox_Obit_Pic_HITESMANBased on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, SARAH ENSOR is a journalist and nonfiction writer. Ensor spent seven years at The Star Democrat as a daily staff reporter and eventually news editor. Now focused on personal narratives, her essays have been published in Splice Today and Braided Brook. She holds an MFA in Nonfiction from Goucher College. (@Write2Sarah)
 
 
 

Prox_Obit_Pic_NAOMIA native of Montreal, NAOMI GUTTMAN is the author of three books of poetry, most recently a novella-in-verse, The Banquet of Donny & Ari: Scenes from the Opera (Brick Books, 2015). She has received grants from the Canada Council, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Saltonstall Foundation. An alumna of the Warren Wilson Program for Writers, she teaches literature and creative writing at Hamilton College. She still has the red elephant.
 
 

Prox_Obit_Pic_ENSORTIFFANY HITESMAN resides in Boise, Idaho, where she grades, advises, and conducts writing workshops. She can often be found in front of a computer screen wasting time on social media, researching trends in developmental writing, reading archived newspapers regarding random local history, and occasionally writing the stuff she wants to write. She holds a Master of Arts in English from Boise State University.

 
 

Prox_Obit_Pic_HUTNERHEIDI HUTNER is associate professor of English and Sustainability and Director of the Sustainability Studies Program at Stony Book University. She teaches and writes about environmental literature and film, environmental justice, ecofeminism, ecocriticism, and media. Her writing includes academic books, popular magazine articles, narrative nonfiction, and memoir. At present, Hutner is working on two environmental memoirs, Inspiring Green Minds: Memoirs of an Eco-Professor, and Nowhere: Memoirs of An Atomic Family. (@HeidiHutner)

 
 

Prox_Obit_Pic_INNES2ERIN INNES is a writer, activist, full-time organic farmer, and part-time curmudgeon. She lives and farms in a tiny village you’ve never heard of on the shores of the Salish Sea, a few ferry rides from Vancouver, BC. Her work has appeared in Briarpatch, Canadian Dimension, and The Dominion, among others.

 
 
 

Prox_Obit_Pic_LUCAS

KIJA LUCAS is an artist and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She uses photography to explore ideas of home, heritage, and inheritance. She is interested in how ideas are passed down and seemingly inconsequential moments create changes that last generations. Lucas holds an MFA in Studio Arts from Mills College. Lucas has a compulsion toward making puns and probably thinks your dad is funny.

 
 

Prox_Obit_Pic_PHILLIPSBased in Pembrokeshire, Wales, LEE JOHN PHILLIPS has been teaching art for ten years. He diligently keeps up with his own creative practice and has been selected for shows such as Welsh Artist of the Year, Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize, and Jerwood Drawing Prize. He holds a Master of Arts in Visual Communication from Swansea Institute of Higher Education. Lee would very much like to spend a little more time outdoors than he is at present. (@LeeJohnPhillips)

 

Prox_Obit_Pic_PRINCEELLEE ACHTEN is the assistant editor of New Ohio Review. With a background in magazine journalism, an obsession with witty fiction, and a closet collection of poetry since age seven, she is now a master’s student in creative nonfiction at Ohio University. Exploring issues of home, health, and connection, her work has appeared in Proximity, Brevity, Alimentum, Southeast Ohio, Ohio Today, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a memoir, chronicling her 24+ childhood homes across the country. (@ElleeAchten)