Melekwe Anthony is a poet and journalist. He was Associate Editor for The Warriors Bulletin and author of the novel The Unwanted Guest. His works been published in Adelaide Literary Magazine, Pride Magazine, The Yard, Multiplicity Magazine, Salmon Creek Journal and Fleas On The Dog among others.

Rachel Bahk is a graduating senior at Los Osos High School. She has spent her last four years singing, debating, and advocating for racial equality in education. As a district lead for the #DiversifyOurNarrative national campaign and editor-in-chief of her online journal, Council on AAPI Relations, she learned to embrace her heritage and integrate cultural advocacy into all her passions. After high school, she will be attending Stanford University with a major in political science.

Andrew Ban is a sixth grader attending Seoul International School in South Korea. He loves writing in his free time, and his other hobbies include playing tennis and skateboarding.

Skye Bellingham-LePage is a 19-year-old English major living in Florida. Though this will be her first publication in a magazine, she has previously had a hand in producing her own play in high school. She is currently in her third year of College for Creative Writing.

Nicole Bian is a high school junior attending Los Osos High School. They identify as an aromantic asexual and have spent a great deal of their life coming to terms with their identity and trying to understand the nuances of their experiences when compared to the average teenager. “A Measure of Soul” is an attempt to explain their experiences and internal dialogue as they waded through adolescence. 

Evan Cameron Sheppard is an LGBTQIA+ writer and college student studying psychology and writing. As well as poetry, They also write short fiction, novels, and video games. This is their first publication.

Jocelyn Chen is a thirteen-year-old aspiring writer living in the suburbs of California with her family and dog. She likes to spend her hours writing personal essays as well as poetry and is hoping to write a book someday. In her free time, she likes to go bike riding with her best friend, watch Grey’s Anatomy, and study the moon.

Kayley Chun is a high school senior who finds comfort in writing. Being a part of her school newspaper has taught her that writing is a great way to express feelings and experiences to a wider audience. She hopes that through writing, more people will be able to tell their story in their own style.

Wendy Cuevas

Jia Dunsby is a sophomore attending Seoul Foreign School. She is currently working on her writing portfolio for university. She uses her writing to open a conversation and a way to think differently about the world.

Lily Ellman is a seventeen-year-old student at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York City. Her creative nonfiction piece is written in the style of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

Su Ertekin-Taner is a seventeen-year-old writer and journalist. Her poem “Soar” was honored in the Jax Poetry Contest. She has also received multiple awards from the collective Florida Times Union, Scholastic, and the Florida Scholastic Press Association for her poetry, prose, and journalism. She has also been published by Route 7 Review, Lunch Ticket, Up North Lit, and Sheepshead Review.

Hyla Etame is a young writer living in Southern California. Hyla is a member of WriteGirl and her poem “The Nonexistent Divide Between Land and Air” was published in their 2019 anthology. Last summer, Hyla was selected as a finalist for the LA Youth Poet Laureate. Currently, Hyla is editing the first draft of her novel about a teenager from a fictional communist society and hopes to publish it as soon as it’s complete.

Katie Flack is a freshman at Kent State University, where she majors in English and minors in creative writing. Pursuing a career as a young adult author, she is also a copy editor for her school magazine, The Burr. Outside of school, she can usually be found reading, writing, obsessing over Star Wars or binge-watching the latest Marvel show.

From Temecula to Murrieta to Menifee to Ontario, Lily Garcia has lived throughout the Inland Empire region. As a native Southern Californian, she has spent the last seventeen years of her life being continuously inspired by the unique flora and fauna that surround her every day. When not studying or trying to write poetry, she spends her time exploring and learning about the wilderness.

Avery Garcia has been a finalist in the Alta Loma Council PTA’s Reflections contest and has just recently earned a Gold Key and a Silver National Medal in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for their short story, ‘Osiris.’ Currently, they are working on their first novel, Crooked Teeth, though they consider themselves an essayist and poet as well as an author, exploring romantic and Gothic themes with many allusions to Greco-Roman mythology and history.

Johnathan Ghazal is a ninth grade student at Redlands East Valley High School. He enjoys writing, history, and math. In his free time, he draws, plays the flute, and walks with his dogs. He aspires to be an attorney in the future.

Kim Giang is a high school student living on the east coast of the United States. Her pastimes are reading, writing, and engaging in the arts. She enjoys thinking about literary tropes and the foundations of storytelling.

Ellaheh Gohari is an emerging Iranian-American author and poetry enthusiast hailing from South Florida. Her short story “The Ghost of St. Augustine” is set in her home state and seeks to exemplify the unbreakable bond between siblings. Her other creative work is featured on East of the Web, while her scientific research has been featured in the Journal of Emerging Investigators. When she isn’t reading a book, you can often find her spending time with her friends and family or exploring different cultures and foods. Ella’s other interests include science research, law, and politics.

Jaden Goldfain is a sophomore pursuing a B.A. in Writing from Point Loma Nazarene University. Her work has appeared in Blue Marble Review, Bridge Ink, and Foreshadow Magazine. She loves Jesus, her friends, and Stranger Things. Twitter: @j_goldfain

Chris Grimstad is a queer artist creating from their experiences. “Voice=Medium” explores how voice intersects with having a speech impediment, being a singer-songwriter and activist, and experiencing dysphoria. “Resurrection” examines martyrdom in trans activism. “Chris Reloaded” is a matrix-inspired reflection on the binary’s duality, which traps trans people yet creates a code to express gender. “Forbidden Fruit” reclaims Adam and Eve’s story, rejecting the notion of queerness as unnatural.

Lauren Hoy, a seventeen-year-old high school student from Indio, California, has been interested in writing since she was young, from poetry to songwriting to short stories. Her high school freshman English teacher was most influential in her pursuit of writing as a career. He gave her the confidence and support to see she has the ability and nerve to make a name for herself in the creative writing world.

Nic Kawecki is a senior (class of 2021) at Los Osos High School. They are passionate about art, activism, and just spreading some good vibes into this world. Writing and art has been a huge part of their mental health journey and recovery. As they move into college, they hope to become a high school English teacher and to continue sharing art.

Emily Khym is a fourteen-year-old sophomore attending The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut. In her free time, when she is not writing, she enjoys listening to music, playing the flute, and long runs. She is currently preparing her writing portfolio for university.

Sigrid Kim is a thirteen-year old attending Mclean High School in Virginia. Her hobbies include writing, drawing, and playing with her two dogs Oliver and Cooper. She has currently started creating her portfolio for University.

Jenna Lane

Kathleen Langston lives and attends school in Brooklyn, New York. She likes to garden; her cherry tomato seedlings were eaten by a mouse, but she is still going to persist to try and germinate more.

Karen Lee is an eighth grader attending Chadwick International in Seoul, South Korea. Besides writing, her other interest is drawing. She is currently preparing her writing portfolio to apply to creative writing camps for next summer.

Lauren Lee is a junior attending Yongsan International High School in Seoul, South Korea. She is currently building her creative writing portfolio in preparation for enrollment in a university. Her other hobbies include volleyball and baking.

Riley McFarlane-Cobb is a high school senior and creative writer whenever they have the time. They love reading fantastical stories just as much as they love creating them.

Amber McNeill is a digital and traditional illustrator. Art and design have been a part of her life since she was very young. She developed a large interest in painting, digital art, and traditional illustration from a very young age. She enjoys being able to create whole new fantasy worlds and stories through her art, something people can read and look at to take a break from the struggles in our society.

Adrienne Mueller’s Instagram was a tiny unknown oasis among the vast sandy dunes of art until it blossomed into a fabulous community of clay mini lovers. She has her own Etsy shop to sell her clay creations and posts daily. She is a studious sophomore on the dean’s list who is an anti-social gaming cheese connoisseur with the crafting skills and the creativity of a Christmas elf. All photographs and clay minis are original works of art. When she is not studying or making clay miniatures you can catch her watching Breaking Bad or reading about aliens. https://www.claycrusaders.com/

Sidney Muntean is in the Creative Writing program at Orange County School of the Arts. She has been recognized by the Kay Snow Writing Awards and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, among others. Her work most recently appears in Orca, Rising Phoenix Review, and Adonis Designs Press. When she’s not writing, Sidney can be found curled up with a book, off on a picnic, or dancing in the rain.

Jacob Nef is a seventeen-year-old high school senior in Temecula, California. He is on the track and field team at his school and also loves to program computers. Jacob has been writing since he was eight years old and has won a few awards for his works. He has a passion for writing short fiction and especially loves science fiction and fantasy.

Constantina Pappas is a sophomore at Syosset High School and is an avid participant in her school’s English Department. From planning Book Day for the ninth graders to creating writing groups, she is a part of it all. She has been writing since she was a child and tremendously loves what she does and creates. She won a writing award back in elementary school.

Suroshri Paul is an undergraduate student of Presidency University’s B.A. (honors) English program. She was a nominee for two consecutive years for Storymirror’s Author of the Year Award (2018 & 2019). She has published in The International Kolkata Book Fair (2020) and has other forthcoming works. She is currently based in West Bengal, India.

Abigail Pellitteri is currently a student at Los Osos High School and will be attending UC Riverside in the fall. She participated in San Bernardino County’s Poetry Out Loud competition, which opened the door to the world of poetry for her. Through this experience, she was inspired to start writing her own work, her first being “To be a Woman.”

Isabelle Pinto is a high school sophomore at Los Osos High School. She’s vice president of her school’s Key Club as well as research director of the Human Rights Club and president of the Innovation Club, where she volunteers, writes about solar panels, and manages the science fair, respectively. Isabelle is also cofounder of the starsandsneks blog on WordPress and a content creator on CuriouSTEM. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, programming, and reading.

Jessica Redington is currently a senior at Morristown Beard High School and will be furthering her studies at Tulane University in the fall. After living abroad in Rome, Jessica became enthralled with trying new things and challenging herself academically, emotionally, and physically. Being previously unpracticed in the subject, Jessica’s new hobby of choice is poetry.

Shriya Roy is a 13-year-old writer/composer from California. Her work has appeared in the literary journals Stone Soup, Cholla Needles, and Howl. Additionally, she is passionate about music, with training in piano and violin, even reaching California state level in the PTA Reflections Competition, for music composition. She was the president of her school student council and received the 2019 “Hope of America” scholarship from the Kiwanis Foundation. She loves reading and the escape it offers.

Andrew Sanford is a high school senior from St. Regis, Montana. He survived middle school with the help of best selling author Rick Riordan and developed an obsession with Stephen King early in high school. Andrew is the third-place winner of the 2021 Missoula Writes fiction competition, and plans to expand upon this list. When he’s not reading King or writing poems, Andrew spends his time enjoying the many pleasures of the Montana outdoors.

Ajay Sawant is a student and artist from Pune of Maharashtra, India. He is a medical student simultaneously pursuing B.A Hons. in English at IGNOU. He is the editorial director at Globalage Poetry. He is an arts activist and public speaker. His poems appear in Detester Magazine, Vayavya, America’s Art & Understanding Magazine and forthcoming in Xavier Review. Ajay can be reached on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ajaycycles

Bianca Singelstad is a seventeen-year-old high school senior from Lake Mills, Iowa. She is passionate about children’s ministry, as well as dance, cheerleading, and spending time with her close friends and family. Previously her work has been published through Indolent Books, For Women Who Roar, Encore Prize Poems 2020, and has an upcoming piece in Hip Circle Empowerment Center. Bianca also worked as a volunteer guest editor for Inlandia.

Sadhvi Swaminathan is an eighth grader who resides in the suburbs of Chicago. She started her poetry journey with inspiration from watching the “Louder Than A Bomb” poetry competition. She was most recently published in the Teen Author Boot Camp Poetry Collection for her poem “The Race.” Her other interests include playing the violin and singing South Indian classical music. She greatly admires the poetry of Shakespeare and hopes to one day write like him.

Zahra Taylor is a seventeen-year-old junior from Rancho Cucamonga, California. She is a member of CSF, the robotics club, GWC, and she is an athlete in competitive hip hop dancing. She hopes to attend Spelman College in 2022.

Bridget Van Houtem resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attends Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School for Writing and Publishing and is a staff member of BatCat Press. Her work has been published in Bridge: the Bluffton University Literary Journal, Garfield Lake Review, and Pulp, Lincoln Park’s award-winning literary journal, where she now serves as managing editor.

Emily J. Wang is an incoming junior at Los Osos High School. She is the president of her school’s Key Club and an avid volunteer of the San Bernardino Red Cross Chapter, serving on the Youth Leadership Committee. Emily is also the co-founder of the S.T.A.R.S. blog and enjoys writing poems and stories. In addition to writing, she loves biology, paper crafts, and any good fantasy book series.

Derek Weinstock was born in New York City but moved to California at the age of two. He has always loved the stark and beautiful geography of California, as well as the strange, wonderful culture that pervades the entire state. Weinstock has won several awards for his fiction, including a YoungArts Foundation Merit Award and several from the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards. He is eighteen years old and hopes to continue writing for the rest of his life.

Emily Welborne is a fourteen-year old who attends SouthWest Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is an unpublished author but is looking to grow more in her writing. Emily Welborne wrote “Living With a Curve” to help inspire and encourage youth and adolescents with physical or even mental disabilities.

Steven Yeh is a writer from Taiwan. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the school magazine and has works published in the Nanjinger Magazine and The Vigil (Concordia International School Shanghai Model United Nations Press).

Chelsea Younglove grew up in Riverside and recently graduated from Riverside STEM Academy High School. She has submitted her poetry to the American Library of Poetry and the Inlandia Institute, as well as to her high school’s art magazine, MUSE. She enjoys writing both fiction and nonfiction, and recently won the Riverside Dickens Festival’s essay contest and placed second in the Riverside Fox Theater’s short story contest. She also enjoys musical theatre and historical costuming.

Kanghui (Jesse) Zhang is the co-founder of S.T.A.R.S. blog. She has been writing in Chinese and English since the age of six. Jesse is an incoming junior at Los Osos High School and the president of her school’s Human Rights Club and Academic Decathlon team. This is her first time being published. She is working on a novel as well as a biography of her grandmother.

Adam Zhou is a published author in both academia and in creative writing, highlighting the extrajudicial killings and environmental disasters in the Philippines. His work also spans social impact and sustainable development; the environmental organization he founded was featured by National Geographic and ranked the #1 UNESCO-accredited organization in the country. This September, he was a delegate at the UN General Assembly. Adam is taking a gap year before heading to Harvard University.

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