Artist Bios

Alex Romero is a New York native with roots from the Philippines. After earning his undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College, he taught English in a fishing village in northwestern France. His work has received scholarship support from the Southampton Writers’ Conference and the Unterberg Poetry Center. He was awarded the 2022 Matt Leone Fellowship from Colgate University and was named a 2023 Jane Hoppen Finalist at Paragraph Union Square. He has been featured on Literary Hub and The Coachella Review, among others. A current MFA candidate at Columbia University, he lives and works in Manhattan. 

Anastasia Duchess is a photographer and director based in Los Angeles, CA. In her personal work she likes to explore self-portraiture, nature, and themes of solitude. She loves interacting with water in all its forms and is working on a photobook capturing the element. Her work can be viewed at anastasiaduchess.com.

Caroline Harper New is a writer and visual artist from Bainbridge, Georgia. Rooted in the Gulf Coast, her poems straddle archaeology, folklore, and environmental issues, often tracing the line between love and ruin. She received her BA in Anthropology from Davidson College and her MFA in Poetry from the University of Michigan. Her work has appeared recently in American Poetry Review, Southern Humanities Review, PRISM International, Driftwood Press, and Ruminate; has won prizesfrom Cincinnati Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Palette Poetry, Malahat Review, and San Diego Annual Review; and is forthcoming in the Colorado Review. See more at www.carolineharpernew.com.

Coriander Focus is a full-time creator, working most in the mediums of photography and written word. Coriander creates between four and eight thousand photos per year and shares her art with her community alongside poetry, short stories, and other creative exploration. Coriander spent her youth deep in the mountains of Appalachia where her love of wild places was cultivated. She has since captured that love in her art for more than a decade. Coriander has had her work displayed nationally across galleries, shows, and publications since 2010. 

Leanne Dunic is a multidisciplinary artist. A fortune teller once described her as wanting “the fattest, juiciest watermelon——and for only two dollars.” This is an accurate description.