Curtis L. Crisler was born and raised in Gary, Indiana. He received a BA in English, with a minor in Theatre, from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), and he received an MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Crisler’s (and Kevin McKelvey’s) book, Indiana Nocturnes: Our Rural and Urban Patchwork, was recently released (Nebo Publishing). Other poetry books are THe GReY aLBuM [PoeMS], won the Steel Toe Books Open Reading Period Prize; Don’t Moan So Much (Stevie): A Poetry Musiquarium was published by (Kattywompus Press); “This” Ameri-can-ah was published by (Cherry Castle Publishing). His poetry chapbook, Black Achilles, was published by Accents Publishing. His previous books are Pulling Scabs (nominated for a Pushcart), Tough Boy Sonatas (YA), and Dreamist: a mixed-genre novel (YA). Other chapbooks are Wonderkind (nominated for a Pushcart), Soundtrack to Latchkey Boy, Spill (which won a Keyhole Chapbook Award), and Burnt Offering of a City (which won the Kathy Young Chapbook Award). He is the recipient of fellowships and residencies from the City of Asylum/Pittsburgh (COA/P), Cave Canem, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), Soul Mountain, a guest resident at Hamline University, and a guest resident at Words on the Go (Indianapolis). Crisler has received a Library Scholars Grant Award, Indiana Arts Commission Grants, Eric Hoffer Awards, the Sterling Plumpp First Voices Poetry Award, and he was nominated for the Eliot Rosewater Award and the Jessie Redmon Fauset Book Award. He’s been a Contributing Poetry Editor for Aquarius Press and a Poetry Editor for Human Equity through Art (HEArt). He created the Indiana Chitlin Circuit, and he is a Professor of English at Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). He can be contacted at www.poetcrisler.com.
Kevin McKelvey is a place-based poet, writer, designer, and social practice artist. He teaches at University of Indianapolis and directs the MA in Social Practice Art. His first book, Dream Wilderness Poems, is a poetic trail guide for the Deam Wilderness Area near Bloomington in the Hoosier National Forest. Other poems are collected in Indiana Nocturnes, a collaboration on Indiana’s urban and rural divide with another native Hoosier, Curtis L. Crisler. McKelvey has been a writer-in-residence in the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon and at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. This inspired him to bring this model to Indiana, working with local land trusts to create annual, centuries-long creative and scientific reflections on natural areas, including NICHES Land Trust and ACRES Land Trust. His work in novels, essays, social practice, and placemaking continue to explore the intersections of art, writing, ecology, gardening, food, and farming. McKelvey attended DePauw University in Greencastle and completed his MFA in Poetry and Creative Writing at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.