ISSUE IV

Maija Haavisto is a poet, novelist, medical
writer, artist and disability activist. She has had
17 books published in Finland, including the poetry
collections Raskas vesi (Aviador 2018) and
Hopeatee (Oppian 2020). In English her poetry
has appeared or is forthcoming in e.g. Cosmospen,
Topical Poetry, Littoral, ShabdAaweg Review,
Asylum, Eye to the Telescope, Shoreline
of Infinity and Kaleidoscope. Find her on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/DiamonDie She
also has poetry readings available on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DiamonDie
Mina Hyeon was born in Seoul, South Korea,
and spent years in the States. Her early experience
of diverse cultures became a seed for
her to understand the world better. She has
loved playing video games and reading sci-fi/
detective novels since she was seven years old.
Enthusiasm in understanding humans and storytelling
led her to major in film&theater, and
after years of field experience, she started her
MFA study in multimedia at Korea National
University of Arts. Working in the XR industry
as a co-founder/producer of GiiÖii immersive
storytelling studio, she won awards at global
film festivals such as SXSW with her XR projects.
She is developing her art in the theme of
a ‘multiverse traveler,’ which aims to seek the
potential of the virtual environment as a physical
space and an extended sensory receptor of
ourselves using AI, XR, generative art form.
Robert Fanning is the author of six poetry
collections, including four full-length collections:
Severance (Salmon Poetry, Ireland, 2019),
Our Sudden Museum (Salmon Poetry, Ireland,
2017), American Prophet (Marick Press, 2009),
and The Seed Thieves (Marick Press, 2006), as
well as two chapbooks: Sheet Music (Three
Bee Press, 2016), and Old Bright Wheel (Ledge
Press Poetry Award, 2001). His poems have appeared
in Poetry, Ploughshares, Shenandoah,
Gulf Coast, THRUSH, Waxwing, The Atlanta
Review, and many other journals. A graduate of
the University of Michigan and Sarah Lawrence
College, he is a Professor of Creative Writing
at Central Michigan University. He is also the
Founder and Facilitator of the Wellspring Literary
Series, and the Founder and Director
of PEN/INSULA POETRY, a site for Michigan
poets. He lives with his wife, sculptor Denise
Whitebread Fanning, and their two children.
Stephanie Alishan is a London-born Armenian
artist and writer working primarily in film,
photography and immersive installation. With
a background in Veterinary Science, Alishan’s
work is rooted in the physical form: desolate
contorted bodies and immense natural landscapes.
Exploring themes of intimacy, sexuality
and loss, her work centres around the need
for confession, especially in terms of the female
experience. Having exhibited work internationally
between London and Guatemala, Alishan
produces work in a variety of traditional media,
always pushing the limits on what can be
achieved through solely analog materials such
as film, photographic emulsion and projection
integrated with her writings. @stephalishanstudio
Varvara & Mar is an artist duo formed by Varvara
Guljajeva and Mar Canet in 2009. Often
duo’s work is inspired by the information age. In
their practice, they confront social changes and
the impact of the technological era. The artist
duo has exhibited their art pieces in a number
of international shows and festivals. Varvara &
Mar has exhibited at MAD in New York, FACT in
Liverpool, Santa Monica in Barcelona, Barbican
and V&A Museum in London, Onassis Cultural
Centre in Athens, Ars Electronica museum
in Linz, ZKM in Karlsruhe, etc. Varvara (born in
Tartu, Estonia), holds the position of Assistant
Professor in Computational Media and Arts at
the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
(GZ). Previously she has held a position
at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Mar (born in
Barcelona) is a Ph.D. candidate and Cudan research
fellow at the Baltic Film, Media and Arts
School in Tallinn University, focusing on AI and
interactive art. Link: www.var-mar.info