Rachelle Cruz is from Hayward, California. She is the author of the chapbook SelfPortrait as Rumor and Blood ( Dancing Girl Press, 2012) and coeditor with Melissa Sipin of Kuwento: Lost Things, An Anthology of Philippine Myths (Carayan Press, 2015). Her work has appeared in As/Us , New California Writing 2013 (Heyday Books), the Los Angeles Review of Books , Yellow Medicine Review, Jet Fuel Review, The Lit Pub, The Bakery, Stone Highway, The Collagist, Bone Bouquet, PANK Magazine, Muzzle Magazine, Splinter Generation, KCET's Departures Series, and Inlandia: A Literary Journey, among others. She hosts The BloodJet Writing Hour on Blog Talk Radio, and is the Podcast Editor at The Collagist. She is a recent recipient of the Manuel G. Flores Scholarship from the Philippine American Writers and Arists, Inc (PAWA). An Emerging Voices Fellow, a Kundiman Fellow and a VONA writer, she lives, writes, and teaches in Southern California.

Rachelle Cruz is from Hayward, California. She is the author of the chapbook SelfPortrait as Rumor and Blood ( Dancing Girl Press, 2012) and coeditor with Melissa Sipin of Kuwento: Lost Things, An Anthology of Philippine Myths (Carayan Press, 2015). Her work has appeared in As/Us , New California Writing 2013 (Heyday Books), the Los Angeles Review of Books , Yellow Medicine Review, Jet Fuel Review, The Lit Pub, The Bakery, Stone Highway, The Collagist, Bone Bouquet, PANK Magazine, Muzzle Magazine, Splinter Generation, KCET's Departures Series, and Inlandia: A Literary Journey, among others. She hosts The BloodJet Writing Hour on Blog Talk Radio, and is the Podcast Editor at The Collagist. She is a recent recipient of the Manuel G. Flores Scholarship from the Philippine American Writers and Arists, Inc (PAWA). An Emerging Voices Fellow, a Kundiman Fellow and a VONA writer, she lives, writes, and teaches in Southern California.

Kimberly Alidio wrote After projects the resound (Black Radish, 2016) and The Sky Forever (Writ Large/ The Accomplices, 2019). She received a doctorate from the University of Michigan, held and left a tenure-track position at the University of Texas’ History Department/ Center for Asian American Studies, and won residencies and fellowships from the National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation, the University of Illinois’ Asian American Studies Program, Kundiman, VONA/ Voices, Naropa’s Summer Writing Program, and the Center for Art and Thought. Most recently from East Austin, Texas, she lives and writes in Tucson, Arizona.

Kimberly Alidio wrote After projects the resound (Black Radish, 2016) and The Sky Forever (Writ Large/ The Accomplices, 2019). She received a doctorate from the University of Michigan, held and left a tenure-track position at the University of Texas’ History Department/ Center for Asian American Studies, and won residencies and fellowships from the National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation, the University of Illinois’ Asian American Studies Program, Kundiman, VONA/ Voices, Naropa’s Summer Writing Program, and the Center for Art and Thought. Most recently from East Austin, Texas, she lives and writes in Tucson, Arizona.

Kimberly Alidio wrote After projects the resound (Black Radish, 2016) and The Sky Forever (Writ Large/ The Accomplices, 2019). She received a doctorate from the University of Michigan, held and left a tenure-track position at the University of Texas’ History Department/ Center for Asian American Studies, and won residencies and fellowships from the National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation, the University of Illinois’ Asian American Studies Program, Kundiman, VONA/ Voices, Naropa’s Summer Writing Program, and the Center for Art and Thought. Most recently from East Austin, Texas, she lives and writes in Tucson, Arizona.

Kimberly Alidio wrote After projects the resound (Black Radish, 2016) and The Sky Forever (Writ Large/ The Accomplices, 2019). She received a doctorate from the University of Michigan, held and left a tenure-track position at the University of Texas’ History Department/ Center for Asian American Studies, and won residencies and fellowships from the National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation, the University of Illinois’ Asian American Studies Program, Kundiman, VONA/ Voices, Naropa’s Summer Writing Program, and the Center for Art and Thought. Most recently from East Austin, Texas, she lives and writes in Tucson, Arizona.

Jason Bayani is a graduate of Saint Mary’s M.F.A. program in Creative Writing. He is a Kundiman fellow and a veteran of the National Poetry Slam scene, and his work has been published in Fourteen Hills, Muzzle Magazine, Mascara Review, the National Poetry Slam anthology, Rattapallax, Write Bloody’s classroom anthology–– Learn Then Burn—and other publications. As a member of seven National Poetry Slam teams, he’s been a National Poetry Slam finalist and represented Oakland at the International World Poetry Slam. He is also one of the founding members of the Filipino American Spoken Word troupe, Proletariat Bronze, and has been an organizer for the Asian and Pacific Islander Poetry and Spoken Word Summit. His first book, Amulet, was published in 2013 through Write Bloody Press and has garnered acclaim in literary magazines such as Zyzzyva and Glint. He is currently the program manager for Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American multi-disciplinary arts organization in the country.

Photo credit: Maragrita Corporan

Jason Bayani is a graduate of Saint Mary’s M.F.A. program in Creative Writing. He is a Kundiman fellow and a veteran of the National Poetry Slam scene, and his work has been published in Fourteen Hills, Muzzle Magazine, Mascara Review, the National Poetry Slam anthology, Rattapallax, Write Bloody’s classroom anthology–– Learn Then Burn—and other publications. As a member of seven National Poetry Slam teams, he’s been a National Poetry Slam finalist and represented Oakland at the International World Poetry Slam. He is also one of the founding members of the Filipino American Spoken Word troupe, Proletariat Bronze, and has been an organizer for the Asian and Pacific Islander Poetry and Spoken Word Summit. His first book, Amulet, was published in 2013 through Write Bloody Press and has garnered acclaim in literary magazines such as Zyzzyva and Glint. He is currently the program manager for Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American multi-disciplinary arts organization in the country.

Photo credit: Maragrita Corporan