John Banschbach is part of the English education faculty at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He teaches courses in children’s and young adult literature. (John.Banschbach@mnsu.edu)

Melissa Brandt is the Students In Transition Coordinator for Rochester Public Schools. She holds an MA in Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University-Mankato. MEBRANDT@rochester.k12.mn.us.

Emily Brisse is in her tenth year of teaching English at Watertown-Mayer High School. Where her teaching interests often involve technology, her writing interests focus on place. She meshes the two at her blog Landing on Cloudy Water, and can be contacted there, or at emilybrisse@gmail.com.

Jeremy Corey-Gruenes teaches English and humanities courses at Albert Lea High School, where he also serves as Language Arts Curriculum Coordinator.  Special teaching interests currently include creative nonfiction and incorporating the music of Bob Dylan into as many lessons as possible. He can be reached at jcorey2@gmail.com.

William D. Dyer, known to his students simply as “Dyer,” is taking it to the house after 33 years of teaching Shakespeare, Humanities courses, World Literature, and all sorts of courses in the Novel at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The vote is still out, but he thinks he passed the audition. Carpe diem, the cabin, the boat, and your passport, Linda. But, wherever Dyer may be, you can get him at straits@mnsu.edu.

Alicia Guthmiller graduated from MSU, Mankato in December 2013. She graduated with a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in Technical Communication. She is now looking for an editing job at a publishing house. Alicia can be reached at alicia.guthmiller@mnsu.edu.

Becca James—After graduating in 2011, from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in journalism, Becca James spent two years teaching high school English language arts at Higher Ground Academy through Teach For America. Currently, she works full-time in Chicago as a copy editor for The Onion’s sister, pop culture publication, The A.V. Club, and will be teaching in the English department of her alma mater this fall. Becca’s e-mail address is rebecca.james@loop.colum.edu.

Erin Kunz is Director of Writing Center and Instructor of English at Mayville State University in Mayville, North Dakota. Erin is also co-director and writer for the Writing Stories: Voices of the Valley Project at the University of North Dakota Writers Conference. Erin conducts research in educational philosophy, composition pedagogy, feminist/critical pedagogy, writing studies, and biological anthropology, because she is clearly confused about what it means to be discipline-specific. Erin can be reached at erin.lord.kunz@gmail.com.

Michael MacBride is an adjunct English/Humanities/Literature instructor teaching within a 90-mile radius of Shakopee, Minnesota. He’s a 19th-century American Lit guy by formal training, a self-taught “Comics” guy, and a lover of Latin American literature. He teaches a little bit of everything. Michael can be reached at michael.macbride@mnsu.edu.

Heather Porter is a graduate student at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she is earning her master’s degree in English literature. She currently teaches freshmen composition. Feel free to contact her at heather.porter@mnsu.edu.

Wes Schaller is a writer of creative fiction, mainly within the horror genre, and has also been working as a freelance writer for more years than he cares to remember. Believing that reading is essential to becoming a good author, he studies a wide range of literature. He despises academic essays, yet somehow finds himself writing them all the time. Wes can be reached at wesley.schaller@mnsu.edu.

Cassie Scharber—Exhausted-yet-exhilarated assistant professor of Learning Technologies @ University of Minnesota. Enjoys thinking, teaching, learning, researching on how technology can enhance teaching and learning. Passionate about literacy(ies), the Internet, and ice cream. Let’s connect: scharber@umn.edu.

Gillian Singler teaches ELA/Communications at Worthington High School. Her teaching responsibilities entail a variety of instruction, which at the moment include composition, literature, communications, and mythology. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in English studies at MNSU. Her writing interests include dabbling in short stories and composing literary analyses. Feel free to contact her with questions, suggestions, and ideas at gillian.singler@isd518.net or gillian.singler@mnsu.edu.

Kevin Smith grew up the youngest of four children from a middle income family. He started going to MNSU in 2012 to finish his BFA in Creative Writing with a minor in Screenwriting and he hopes to get his Master’s in the following years. He hopes that after his schooling is finished he can begin writing a 12 book series about the 12 most historic events in the life and death of a planet that he’s been working on for the last 14 years. Kevin’s e-mail address is kevin.smith1@mnsu.edu.

Mitzi Watkins is a graduate of the University of Houston and currently teaches at Patterson Elementary School in Houston, Texas. She can be reached at mitzi_watkins@hotmail.com.

Jongsun Wee is an associate professor in the college of education at Winona State University, Winona, MN. She teaches literacy education methods and children’s literature classes and her research interests include multicultural children’s literature, literature discussion, and teacher education. She can be reached at jwee@winona.edu.

Neil Witikko—After 30 years of teaching English at the high school level, Neil Witikko teaches in the School of Education at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. His specialty area is literacy studies. Neil’s research interests include peer response groups in the writing classroom and digital literacies. Neil’s e-mail address is nwitikko@css.edu.

Nicholas Wysocki is an Assistant Professor of Education Studies at Winona State University located in Winona, Minnesota. He teaches two courses in Educational Sociology, namely EFRT 308: Human Relations and Student Diversity and EFRT 460: Multicultural Children, Youth, and Families. His scholarly/teaching interest involves the development of a Digital Ethnography project that his students use to analyze their clinical experiences working with diverse learners in a variety of school and community settings. He also directs an urban education travel study program that immerses his students into the St. Paul Public Schools and Minneapolis cultural community. Nicholas’ e-mail address is nwysocki@winona.edu.