Biographies

Antu is a multi-medium expressionist artist. His artworks cover experience with mental illness, esoteric values and symbolism, religion, politics, dreams, general life experiences and views, satire, and parody.

Autumnblitz is a painter who dabbles in poetry, his art has been exhibited locally in the USA and abroad. Born to parents who are teachers of language he grew up surrounded by books. His interest in poetry lies in the power of language to evoke imagery which ties in with his art making practice.

Consuela Caldwell / Julia Hatch is a writer and visual artist. She has worked with musicians, dancers and artists, writing and performing progressive rock, experimental electronic music,  mixing and experimenting with various forms of early performance art. She has been published in Counterspin, As It Ought To Be, The Coloradoan, Rez magazine and has had photo art in several galleries and juried art shows. She now lives and writes in Longmont Colorado.

Dearstluv Writer was a member of Second Life for 17 years. She read her poems at many venues during those years including The Blue Angel Poets’ Dive and Circe’s New Poets Sanctuary. She was also a member of The Cold Shot Play Readers group. Many of her poems have appeared in the SL publication rez Magazine. In her life outside of Second Life, she would sometimes write poems by request at a coffee shop near her home. She passed away in 2024.

Dharma Bum is a failed academic — giving up on a Physics major at Case Institute of Technology, and subsequently   aborting a degree in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Dharma ultimately lost faith in academia and migrated to California where he studied Buddhism and became inspired by a local poet (Gary Snyder), whose writings now have been published recently in two lovely volumes by the Library of America. Convinced we can all become kinder and better exemplars of our species, he occasionally attempts to bash words into meaningful mirrors of the human experience. He advocates heeding the admonition of Samuel Beckett: “All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Eira Hara is a writer from Virginia whose work is influenced by faith, love, and the strength found in everyday life. She now shares her creativity and connection through Second Life, where she participates as a Wellness RP Companion (Non-Licensed). Her poetry explores themes of memory, belonging, and resilience. This poem was inspired by Vita’s artwork.

Frédérique Eilish McMillan (aka H. Boucher). Québécoise, lover of literature, art & architecture, photographer, observer of life. Graduate in visual and applied arts, Sometimes poet. She came to poetry through SL and her SL friends in 2009. She gained confidence through a lot of short poetry workshops and the mentorship of her best friend Dante. Her poetry is photographic as she is a visual person, spontaneous, sometimes autobiographical but always contains the imprint of her hopes and wild imagination.

Grail Arnica wakes up in a good mood 6/7 days, and continues to be enchanted by the fundamental absurdity of the world, the discovery of joy, and the relentless nature of justice. She is the obedient servant of the thing that uses her for a voice, who apparently is addicted to internal rhyme, slant verse, and the Oxford comma.

Huckleberry Hax writes metaverse fiction, including novels set in and around Second Life. He is also a machinima creator and has directed two feature length movies filmed entirely in SL.

JudiLynn is an acrylic and digital painter, combining both mediums in nonrepresentational abstraction on paper and canvas. She has enjoyed showcasing her works in the virtual realm since 2009. Created as a mixed media painting by JudiLynn India, Historical Balance was inspired by thoughts of the lost cultures of Alkebulan and their revival.

Julie Trilling lives and writes in the cold confines of the Upper Midwest. A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she is also a founding member and poetry editor of rez magazine. Love is all you need remains her daily mantra.

June Stormcrow (Jennifer Fiddes) is an experienced poet who has been a part of the Second Life poetry and writing scene for 16 years. With heroes like Plath and Sexton, June writes deeply confessional poetry about mental health, love, and nature. Samples of her poems can be found on her Discord: https://discord.gg/WxPdcYHZGh.

Klannex Northmead is a long term Second Life resident (18 years).  He hosts a Saturday poetry open mic session inworld called the Poets’ Plunder. He also hosts Sunday’s Spoken Words Poetry open mic In world. Besides live poetry and poets he has interests that include the poetry library and the Apple poetry listings notecard.

Leslye Writer is poet, wanderer, drifter, no fixed pointer, escape artist, imaginary biker girl, live music lover, east coaster, roller coaster, grandmother, timeless time traveler, generation crosser, attitude of plentititude-er, Leslye Writer is lyrical, matriarchal, physical, hysterical, a world democrat, autocrat, packrat, is in turns fancy and plain, unmanageable, hopeless romantic loyal friend who cams Everyone!

Margo Hollak / Jolie Carter / P. de Haan has spent much of her life working in the arts as an art teacher, an art gallery director and an art therapist. She attended Pratt Institute for her BFA and Wayne State University for her masters degree in art therapy.  She has experimented with various styles and media, so her body of work is eclectic.

Mariner Trilling has maintained a Second Life for over a decade and a half. During that time he’s been a part of the diverse virtual arts community with a portfolio that includes poetry, plays and in-world comedy. His humorous collection of short poetry “Pooplets of Truth” is currently available on Amazon in print, audio and e-book.

Mark McCormick is a journalist, a New York Times bestselling author, and a social justice advocate committed to clarity and conscience in public discourse. He is a popular speaker at academic and civic events such as the KIPCORE Peace Series presented by Bethel College.  He is the inaugural executive director of the Kansas Black Leadership Council, the former executive director of The Kansas African American Museum and chairman of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission.

Nellie Bly is a European RL poet & retired IT director, who volunteers on wartime projects all over Ukraine. She is most proud of working with displaced children as an English, German, & Theatre teacher.  Her “Soldier’s Wife” poems are published in the Ukrainian-language “First Coffee” anthology. Drawing renewed inspiration from Street Art & train travels, her joy is to give a voice to those who haven’t, and stand for those who don’t stand a chance.  In SL, Nellie runs Octavia’s, a literary coffee house & bar in a nature preserve.

Persephone Phoenix / Debra Rymer founded the Blue Angel Poets’ Dive in Second Life in 2005 as a venue for dive bar poetry like so many she had been to in Brooklyn and the east village of New York City.  As Debra Rymer, she has been published in Lurch, Passionfruit Review, The Folklore Review, The Font, Frontiers: a Journal of Women’s Studies, Alternate Route and Blue Angel Landing I, II, and III.  In her spare time she beads and writes songs for cats. She hosts the Blue Angel every Sunday at 4pm SLT.

Phorkyad Acropolis in RL is Dr. Stephen A. Schrum, now retired from his position as Associate Professor (Emeritus) of Theatre Arts at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, and with a new title: that of Artistic Director of StoryZ, a nonprofit theatre and performance company founded on May 1, 2023. He is also an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, the professional union. As Phorkyad, he has performed his original poetry with backing musical tracks in SL, and has also staged the ancient Greek plays The Bacchae by Euripides and Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, along with other works of SL playwrights, also in SL. He also continues to make short films, sometimes with the help(?) of AI; see the StoryZStudios’ YouTube channel for more.

R. lives on the Emerald Coast of Florida.

Scarp Godenot was a second life manifestation of Bob Bauer, an experimental photographer who inspired many other artists and writers in Second Life.

Shadow Liberty aka John Barnes has been writing poetry since he was 16.  For the last 4 ½ years he has been focused on reading and writing poetry and attending open mic readings.  He has been a featured poet in SL at Sunday Spoken Word at Hotel Chelsea, he was a featured poet at The Dirty Grind, he was a featured poet @poetry:openair and for the last year and a half he has been coordinating a real-world open mic called Dead Poets Out Loud.  He also did a series of readings and workshops at the Whetstone branch of The Columbus Metropolitan Library.

Shyla the Super Gecko is a handi-capable lesbian. Her poetry evokes emotions about loss, healing and philosophy. Her work has appeared in Boats Against the Current, The Coop, rez Magazine and The Fib Review.

Sonitus Randt has been a member of Second Life for 17 years. He hosted a weekly poetry reading and music performing event in Second Life for 10 of those years. He has been writing poetry since he was a child. In Second Life since 2007, Vita Theas has been the Manager of the Serena Arts Center, a virtual clothing designer, and a sim developer/builder.   She gains a great sense of satisfaction when her imagination aligns her photography with her dreams. Her  works have been exhibited at Serena Arts Center, Kultivate Galleries, La Maison d’Aneli, Rainbow Art Gallery, and in many community events such as Free Town of Helvellyn, RYR, ImagoLand, ArtinMotion, and the Art Walk event at Chelsea, where her artwork inspired the winning poem of the Ekphrastic poetry competition.