Comrade Hoffman

I am typing a message on a computer. Hello? Hello? Is this thing working? DOES IT HELP IF I DO THIS? I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE BUT NEIL is helping me now. So I'm supposed to write a paragraph about myself. Well, hell. I'm just an old fucker and the whole world has changed while I was alive and now I don't know what the hell. People blab a lot more nowadays, and things are more glitzy, and faster, I suppose. Other than that we're a bunch of Babylonian 3rd graders. Thank you, I guess, for something, I don't know. Hope your luck holds out. Goodbye now.

Scott Vetsch

Scott Vetsch lives in Northeast Minneapolis where he writes poetry and collects folklore. He supports his family and literary habit as a carpenter in a small remodeling company. Scott has produced Four chapbooks of poetry and performs his work in theaters, cabarets, clubs, and festivals. His stories and poems have been included in numerous anthologies.

Michael "Spam" Hall

Michael Hall (aka SPAM) grew up in Austin, Minnesota, in the shadow of the slaughterhouse, where his ancestors mined the “Sacred SPAM”. His poetry speaks from the heart of the slaughterhouse warrior. He has written ten books of poetry, including The SPAM River Journal, SPISH, and Slaughterhouse Rules. He’s been an active member of the spoken word community, organizing a group of spoken word artists, called “The Minneapolis Poetry All-Stars”. He hosted the poetry stage at Lollapalooza and was a featured reader at the 2002 Seattle Poetry Festival. His latest project is a poetry websight devoted to Fish Stories and Fish Art called “SPISH- Magazine” at SPISH.COM. He’s presently working on a novel of memoirs called “All My Heroes Have Benn Assholes”.

Lynn A. Gray

In 1989, as a result of a 10,000 mile road trip to Yucatan, Mexico and back, my notebook was my studio on the move. My traveling companions were music on tape, a car-ridin-view, foreign sights, and coincidence. My studio changed when I approached writing as a parallel to drawing. This was the beginning of “Audio Sketches,” because the writing was written to be spoken out or performed. . . to make a sound of a drawing...a sketch for the image.

Lynn A. Gray is currently an Associate Professor in Drawing at the University of Minnesota, Department of Art.

His recent desktop published book is entitled, To Lecture Like a Pop Song. And recent CD is entitled, Humans in Heat.

Emily Carter

Emily Carter is a fiction writer and cultural critic whose column appears monthly in Speakeasy Magazine. A recipient of the Loft/McKnight award and the Bush Foundation fellowship, she is also a winner of the Whiting award for her first book “Glory Goes And Gets Some”. She lives in Minneapolis and is currently finishing her second book, a novel about urban sprawl and damaged neural circuitry. She thanks you for your time and urges you not to forget to tip your waitress.