Authors

Quintin Collins ((he/him) is a poet, writer, and editor. In his professional career before becoming the Solstice MFA Program's Assistant Director, he spent more than five years in the digital marketing field, where he applied his expertise to managing and developing teams of writers and executing editorial content strategy for clients of various industries, most notably higher education. During that time, he earned an MFA in Creative Writing for Poetry from the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program at Pine Manor College. Quintin attributes his success in publication to the many educators he has had on his path to his current role. As a result of their guidance, he has had work appear in Ghost City Review, Kissing Dynamite, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, and many other notable publications. He also earned a Pushcart Prize Nomination in 2019 and was a finalist for the 2020 Alice James Award.

(© 2025 Jasen Sousa)

QUINTIN COLLINS

(© 2025 Lou Bryant)

CURTIS L. CRISLER

Curtis L. Crisler was born and raised in Gary, Indiana. He received a BA in English with a minor in theater from Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne and an MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Crisler is the author of numerous poetry collections, including THe GReY aLBuM [PoeMS] (Steel Toe Books, 2018), winner of the Steel Toe Books Open Reading Period Prize; Don’t Moan So Much (Stevie): A Poetry Musiquarium (Kattywompus Press, 2016); “This” Ameri-can-ah (Cherry Castle Publishing, 2015); Pulling Scabs (Willow Books/Aquarius Press, 2009), which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize; Black Achilles (Accents Publishing, 2015); Wonderkind (Aquarius Press/Willow Books), which was also nominated for a Pushcart Prize; Soundtrack to Latchkey Boy (Finishing Line Press, 2012); and Spill (Keyhole Press, 2008), which won a Keyhole Chapbook Award.  Crisler is the recipient of fellowships and residencies from the City of Asylum in Pittsburgh, Cave Canem, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), among others. A recipient of a multitude of prizes, and professor of English at Indiana University—Purdue University Fort Wayne, Crisler was appointed poet laureate of Indiana in 2024.

(© 2025 Steven Cummings)

BRIAN GILMORE

Brian Gilmore is a poet, legal scholar, and former attorney. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he spent 15 years in public interest law, working with the Neighborhood Legal Services Program and the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. From 2005 to 2010, he developed the Fair Housing Teaching Program and taught courses at the Clinical Law Center and Howard University. He later served as Associate Professor and Director of the Housing Law Clinic at Michigan State University (2010–2021). Gilmore is the author of four poetry collections, including We Didn’t Know Any Gangsters (a 2014 NAACP Image Award Nominee) and come see about me marvin (Wayne State University Press, 2019), which won a 2020 Michigan Notable Book Award. He has published nearly 50 works, including law review articles, essays, and contributions to anthologies, and his writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Book Forum, ABA Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, The Progressive, and the South Carolina Law Review. A respected expert in landlord-tenant advocacy and inequality, Gilmore has delivered over 30 lectures, workshops, and presentations. He is a Cave Canem Fellow and Kimbilio Fellow. He is a Senior Lecturer of MLAW Programs at the University of Maryland, College Park. 

FRANK THOMAS ROSEN

(© 2025 Sandy Kostantras)

Frank Thomas Rosen grew up in East Germany and witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall while studying English and Russian at the University of Potsdam in 1989. He moved to the United States in 1997. After earning his BA and MA in English and TESL, he taught English and ESL at universities and community colleges in Northeast Ohio for over ten years. After finishing his ADN/RN degree in 2010 (BSN/RN in 2014), he worked as an emergency nurse for six years, and after earning his MSN/FNP degree in 2017, he started working as a Nurse Practitioner for an FQHC, serving uninsured and homeless patients in the Cleveland Metro area. In his poems, he addresses recurring themes of sociopolitical injustice, cross-cultural struggle, and civil rights. He has published one of book of poetry: scratches (2003), German-English. The book project was part of the Ohio Art Council - Dresden Artist Exchange program.

PATTY SOMLO

(© 2025 Richard L. Fung)

The granddaughter of immigrants, Patty Somlo grew up in a military family that moved constantly. Her nomadic childhood has fueled her passion for writing about immigrants, refugees, the homeless and the dispossessed. She spent ten years as a reporter, including at Pacific News Service, where her articles were picked up by major newspapers throughout the country, before concentrating on short fiction and creative nonfiction. Her journalistic focus on social issues reporting continues to inform her fiction. She has published two short story collections, From Here to There and Other Stories (2010) and The First to Disappear (2016), a Finalist in the 2016 International Book Awards, the 2016 Best Book Awards, and the 2017 National Indie Excellence Awards. She has received four Pushcart Prize nominations, been nominated for storySouth’s Million Writers Award and had an essay selected as Notable for Best American Essays 2014.

MICHELLE M. TOKARCZYK

(© 2025 Melanie Henderson)

Michelle M. Tokarczyk was born to working-class parents in the Bronx and lived there until the age of nine, when her family moved to Queens. She has always been nostalgic for her Bronx roots and attended Herbert Lehman College. She went on to pursue a doctorate in English at SUNY Stony Brook, where she not only earned her PhD but also met her husband, Paul. After a few years as a contingent faculty member, she received a tenure-track appointment and eventually tenure at Goucher College. Her writing—encompassing poetry, essays, and criticism—often reflects a deep engagement with themes of class, social justice, gender, and urban spaces. In retirement, she continues her work as an activist. Her latest book, Galapagos: Islas Encantadas, was inspired by a dream trip. It marks her first exploration of the natural environment in writing and her first book to feature poems accompanied by photographs, most of which were taken by her husband, Paul J. Groncki.

CORY THOMAS

(© 2025 Marlene Hawthrone)

Artist Cory Thomas, Illustrator of Cherry Castle Publishing's My TV is Not the Boss of Me, grew up in Trinidad and studied mechanical engineering at Howard University (where he graduated magna cum laude). During this time, he became an illustrator at The Hilltop, Howard University's historic newspaper. There, he presented the earliest versions of his "Watch Your Head" comic strip, which has been syndicated and published by as many as 20 national and international publications.

TRUTH THOMAS

(© 2025 Melanie Henderson)

Truth Thomas is a singer-songwriter, poet, and photographer, born in Knoxville, Tennessee and raised in Washington, DC (the Capitol recording artist once known as Glenn Edward Thomas). He is the founder of Cherry Castle Publishing and studied creative writing at Howard University under Dr. Tony Medina. Thomas earned his MFA in poetry at New England College. His collections include Party of Black, A Day of Presence, Bottle of Life, Speak Water, winner of the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry and My TV is Not the Boss of Me, (a children's book, by Cory Thomas). He is a former Writer-in-Residence for the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo) and the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Howard County, Maryland. His poems have appeared in over 150 publications, including The 100 Best African American Poems (edited by Nikki Giovanni) and This Is the Honey (edited by Kwame Alexander). He is the creator of the "Skinny" poetry form and Editor-in-Chief of The Skinny Poetry Journal.