Gumball Poetry

Raymond Carver (born May 25, 1938, Clatskanie, Oregon, U.S.—died August 2, 1988, Port Angeles, Washington) was an American short-story writer and poet whose realistic writings about the working poor mirrored his own life. Born: May 25, 1938, Clatskanie, Oregon, U.S. Carver was the son of a sawmill worker. He was famous for short story collections such as: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, and Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?

Thrift was first published in the journal Slipstream (issue #41, 2021). Eileen Pettycrew's poems have been published or are forthcoming in New Ohio Review, CALYX Journal, Cave Wall, ONE ART: a journal of poetry, SWWIM, and elsewhere. In 2022 she was one of two runners-up for the Prime Number Magazine Award for Poetry and a finalist for the New Letters Award for Poetry. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Eileen lives in Portland, Oregon.

Melissa Favara teaches English, writes nonfiction, collects typewriters and old hotel stationery, and is a good correspondent. Reach Melissa at mel.favara@gmail.com.

"13th Article of Faith" was published by Poetry South and is forthcoming in the collection An Exodus of Sparks Allisa Cherry’s poetry has appeared recently in TriQuarterly, The Penn Review, The Journal, The Baltimore Review, and Rust + Moth. She is the recent recipient of the Wheelbarrow Books poetry prize awarded by the RCAH Center for Poetry and her book An Exodus of Sparks is forthcoming from MSU Press. She lives in the Pacific Northwest where she completed her MFA at Pacific University, teaches workshops for immigrants and refugees transitioning to a life in the United States, and is an associate poetry editor for West Trade Review.

Matt Schumacher's work is forthcoming in Coffin Bell and Birdcoat Quarterly. His chapbook, Mooncalf Almanac, will be published this year on Bottlecap Press. He edits the journal Phantom Drift and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Armin Tolentino is the author of the collection We Meant to Bring It Home Alive (Alternating Current Press) and served as poet laureate for Clark County, WA from 2021-2023. He is a phenomenal clapper, a passable ukulele player, and a bumbling, but enthusiastic, fisherman. More info at www.armintolentino.com.

Kim Stafford is the founding director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College, and is the author of a dozen books, including The Muses Among Us: Eloquent Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft (U. Georgia Press, 2003), and As the Sky Begins to Change (Red Hen Press, 2024). He has taught writing in Scotland, Mexico, Italy, and Bhutan. He served as Oregon Poet Laureate 2018-2020. He teaches and travels to raise the human spirit. Poems reprinted from As the Sky Begins to Change, by Kim Stafford (Red Hen Press, 2024), by permission of the author.

Scott Poole has been writing and performing poetry in the Pacific Northwest for over 30 years. He has been drawing and painting for 18 years, but began exhibiting in just the last four years. He is best known for his 11 year stint as the "House Poet" on the weekly Live Wire! public radio variety show, taped in Portland, OR and broadcast nationally by Public Radio International. He is the author of eight books of poetry: most recently, Switching Rooms at the Infinity Hotel (Lunch Hour Press, 2023) In 2019, he finally combined his two art forms by marrying 20 original paintings with 20 of his poems. Since then he has produced a book of 20 poems and 20 paintings every year. He lives in Vancouver, WA with his wife and family where he works as a software developer. You can find out more about his work at scottpoole.com.

Jennifer (JP) Perrine is the author of five books of poetry: Beautiful Outlaw (forthcoming in early 2025), Again, The Body Is No Machine, In the Human Zoo, and No Confession, No Mass. Their latest poems and essays appear in Five Minutes, The Maine Review, Cincinnati Review, Pleiades, Nimrod, New Letters, Poetry Northwest, Orion Magazine, Harpur Palate, Oregon Humanities, Essential Queer Voices of U.S. Poetry, and Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, and Poetry. Perrine lives in Portland, Oregon, where they cohost the Incite: Queer Writers Read series, teach writing, and work as the equity and racial justice program manager with the regional parks and nature department. Read more at www.jenniferperrine.org

Levin Schersvanaskitty is a bicycle star and philosopher. You should probably see him do bike tricks.

Emily Kendal Frey is a therapist. Her poetry can be found on Instagram @emilykendalfreypoetry Poems here are from a chapbook called The New Planet.

Dan Hannon is a third generation Oregonian. He holds a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon, and taught writing and International Studies at Mt. Hood Community College for thirty-one years. He enjoys hiking, cross country skiing, sea kayaking, gardening, and of course, writing. He and his wife, Cathie, live in Portland, Oregon. Dan Hannon's poem The Wind Ledger was a winner in the 2023 Raymond Carver Writing Festival.

Sarah Summerhill receives poetry inspiration from daily walks around the beautiful growing downtown of Vancouver, where she lives with her brown tabby, Orphea. Find her on Instagram at @spiiirtd. Sarah Summerhill's poem was a winner in the 2023 Raymond Carver Writing Festival poetry contest.

Sylvie resides in the waterlogged city of Portland, with her two marvelous cats, Ferdinand and Myrtle. She is the Co-founder of Art Church, member of several bands, and is usually wearing very interesting socks. See more of Sylvie's work here.