Tani Arness
Tani Arness resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She grew up in rural Poulsbo, Washington, surrounded by water and cedar trees, before moving to the desert. The beauty of nature has always been a refuge for her and plays an important part in her creative work. For more than a decade, Tani travelled in over thirty countries, finding inspiration in the people and places she discovered. In her writing, Tani often finds herself exploring themes of place and, more recently, delving into themes of spirituality, femininity and beauty.
Tani loves learning and has been a teacher for many years. She taught in schools in rural Shamva, Zimbabwe and Wales, Alaska before settling in New Mexico. Since completing her master’s in creative writing at the University of New Mexico, Tani continues to study, teach, and write. Tani is currently the principal and poetry teacher at a charter high school serving “at-risk” students.
Tani remains dedicated to finding the beauty, spirit, and surprise in the intersection of words and living. A collection of her poems can be found in Tzimtzum: 5 contemporary poets lend us their hearts by Mercury Heartlink Press, 2013. Her poetry also appears in numerous literary magazines including North American Review, Rhino, Adobe Walls, Rhino, bosque (the magazine), Malpais Review, Santa Clara Review, Red Rock Review, and Crab Orchard Review. Her website is: www. tani-arness.com




CHARLES POTTS BIO

Washington state poet Charles Potts, of Walla Walla, is well known nationally in addition to the Pacific Northwest and is an incredibly prolific writer, having published some 34 books, mostly poetry, over the years. His latest poetry collection is The Source (Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Green Panda Press, 2014). He has also been involved with some 25 poetry anthologies, has published his poetry in a huge number of journals, read his work on many radio and TV stations, and has been a board member of the Placitas -based poetry quarterly Malpais Review since its inception five years ago. Two of his books were published by Albuquerque's West End Press,
which specializes in poetry.

For Several years, Potts owned The Temple Bookstore in Walla Walla, where many poetry readings were held (and which had thousands of poetry books on its shelves), and published a poetry journal also called The Temple. And once a year, he hosted the Walla Walla Poetry Party (1990-2005), which attracted many poets from all over the U.S., as well as from the Pacific Northwest. Many well known poets read at this festival.

Potts also owned three poetry publishing concerns: in his early days, when he was attending the University of California at Berkeley, he started Litmus, Inc. in which he published a series of poetry collections from various poets, including the first book of poetry by Charles Bukowski. Later, he published books from The Temple, Inc. and Tsunami, Inc. From time to time, Potts taught courses at Walla Walla Community College, Whitman College and the Free University of Seattle. Originally from Idaho, he is a graduate of Idaho State University. He now lives on a ranch outside of Walla Walla and raises Appaloosa horses. And he still writes.