Philly Dame

John Carroll was born and raised in Philadelphia. He now lives just outside D.C. and is completing an MFA at American University. John's work has appeared in the Battered Suitcase, 34th Street Magazine, and Dragonfire, as well as the websites Phillyist and CHUD. In 2006 John won the Kelly Writers House Junior Fellows Award, which funded his yearlong experimental mail project, A Place to Stand Productions.

Christine Flanagan's recent work has appeared in Philadelphia Stories, The Pisgah Review, and Burning Leaf. "Return to Ithaca" was nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Prize. Writing awards include the James D. Bartolomeo Prize from the Drexel Online Journal, Kumu Kahua Theatre Award, Chameleon Theatre Circle New Play Prize, and South Florida Writer's Contest (drama) First Prize. Her fiction and plays have been produced at InterAct Theatre's Writing Aloud, the Riant Theatre, the Actor's Center, and the Northwest Playwright's Guild. She teaches writing and literature at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

Elise Juska is the author of the novels One for Sorrow, Two for Joy (2007, Pocket); The Hazards of Sleeping Alone (2004, Downtown Press); and Getting Over Jack Wagner (2003, Downtown Press). Her short stories and essays have appeared in many publications including the Hudson Review, The Missouri Review, American Literary Review, Harvard Review, the Carolina Quarterly, Black Warrior Review, the Seattle Review, American Literary Review, Esquire.com, and the first Philly Fiction . She teaches fiction writing at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Benjamin Matvey's ("Piece of Mind") fiction has been featured in Sunday Salon, Generation X Journal, and twice in InterAct Theatre's Writing Aloud series. His story "Big Secrets" was named one of Cynic Magazine's "Best of 2008." His play Brie! The Musical Dissertation was produced in Philadelphia in the summer of 2005 and he hopes to bring it back for an extended run. He is currently working with a producer to bring his first screenplay, No Regrets, to the big screen, and has completed his first novel.

Kelly McQuain, a native of West Virginia, has lived in Philadelphia more than half his life. He holds an MFA from the University of New Orleans and an MA from Temple University. He has twice won fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as well as Philadelphia City Paper writing awards in both fiction and poetry. His stories have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rough Trade, Obsessed, the James White Review, Skin & Ink, the Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly, Wilma Loves Betty, Best Gay Erotica, and elsewhere. He is an associate professor of creative writing at Community College of Philadelphia.