Catherine Strisik is a poet, teacher and editor. She was the '20-'21 Poet Laureate of Taos, N.M and is a recipient of the Taoseña Award for Woman of Impact. She is the author of Insectum Gravitis, The Mistress, and Thousand-Cricket Song. Her poetry has been translated into Greek, Persian, and Bulgarian. She is the co-founding editor of the Taos Journal of Poetry. Cathy attempts to divide her time between Taos and her hometown, Rockport, MA. Find out more at cathystrisik.com

Ani Gjika is the author and translator of eight books and chapbooks of poetry. Her translation of Luljeta Lleshanaku’s Negative Space won an English PEN Award and was shortlisted for the International Griffin Poetry Prize, the PEN America Award, and Best Translated Book Award. She was a Robert Pinsky Global Fellow at Boston University in 2011 and a Pauline Scheer Fellow in GrubStreet’s Memoir Incubator program in 2019. She has taught English and writing in the U.S. and Thailand. Gjika lives in Framingham, Massachusetts.