Among JIM ELLEDGE's ten books are four collections of his poetry, most recently Into the Arms of the Universe which won the 1995 Stonewall competition for gay and lesbian poets; four volumes of literary criticism; and Sweet Nothings: An Anthology of Rock and Roll in American Poetry, also published by Indiana University Press. Professor of English at Illinois State University, he teaches in that department's creative writing program and is director/editor of Thorngate Road, a press.
Susan Swartwout is Assistant Professor of English at Southeast Missouri State University where she teaches creative writing and literature. She also serves on the editorial staff of The Cape Rock and advises the student literary magazine, Journey. Her two collections of poetry are entitled Freaks and Uncommon Ground, and she has poems published in literary journals such as Nebraska Review, The Cape Rock, Mississippi Review, Negative Capability, and Spoon River Poetry Review.