Allison Joseph is a poet and essayist who lives in Carbondale, IL, where she is on the faculty at Southern Illinois University. Her most recent books include Dwelling (Red Hen Press), Lexicon (Red Hen Press). Her collection Confessions of a Barefaced Woman won the Feathered Quill Book Award and was a named finalist for the NAACP Image Award in Poetry. Her Substack, Ambivert Blues, features essays on grief and loneliness. She is the widow of the beloved poet and editor Jon Tribble. Her next chapbook, Spare Me, will be published by Harbor Editions in October 2026.

Matthew Murrey lives in Urbana, IL and is the author of Little Joy (Cornerstone Press) and Bulletproof (Jacar Press). He’s been an NEA Fellowship recipient, and has published widely with recent work in Under a Warm Green Linden, Whale Road Review, and North American Review. He is a retired school librarian.