Freya Alexander is a queer writer, multidisciplinary artist and educator living and working in Naarm. Freya co-runs Gems, a collective that self-produces zines tri-annually, with art and writing by women and non-binary creatives. Freya is also currently part of the West Writers program, through the Footscray Community Arts Centre.

Paul Barrett has a degree in Philosophy and Environmental Studies and much of his poetry reflects these areas of investigation. He has had poems published in the Pendle War Poetry and Poetry d’Amour anthologies. He has studied poetry at Oxford and Aberdeen Universities and is a member of Writers Victoria.

Meli de Groot lives in lutruwita, surrounded by nature and held in the loving embrace of her favourite mountain. She is passionate about growing and eating herbs, drawing and painting and generally being happy.

Tiph Harris has been a national and state finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam multiple times. Her solo show, “Live or Cry Trying,” debuted at the 2019 Newcastle Fringe Festival. She lives in Bathurst, NSW with her husband and three terrific kids. She loves tea, reading, and watching television.

Tegan Iversen is a twenty-something-year-old artist, illustrator & curator, currently based in Footscray. Tegan holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts & co-runs Gems, a collective who create arts opportunities for women and non-binary people. 

T. J. Kloprogge has been writing stories since the time she could string her A-B-C together. After completing a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Teaching (English and History), she now enjoys tinkering with words on a daily basis, teaching high school students in the leafy suburbs of Melbourne.

Kira West is a Sydney-based poet and creative writer. As a queer poet and C-PTSD survivor, her works aims to capture themes of trauma, joy, and identity crisis. Her science background lends itself to the use of nature as metaphor as she constructs the ever-changing phases of childhood and adulthood.