James R. Gapinski is the author of the novella Edge of the Known Bus Line, as well as the forthcoming short story collection, The Museum of Future Mistakes, which won the 2024 BOA Short Fiction Prize. They are the managing editor of Conium Press, a boutique literary publisher in Portland, Oregon, an Adjunct Professor in Southern New Hampshire University’s MFA program, and the Director of TRIO Student Support Services at Portland Community College.

Steven Espada Dawson is from East Los Angeles and lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where he serves as poet laureate. His poems “Waiter Park” and “Caldera” appeared in the Rehoming Remarkable Work issue of Variant Lit in Winter 2022.

Rosalind Goldsmith’s short story “Inside the House Inside” appeared in issue 8 of Variant Lit in Fall 2021. Rosalind’s debut fiction collection Inside the House Inside will be published by Ronsdale Press in April 2025 and available in the U.S. in May. It is currently available for preorder. 

Joshua Adams, author of Past Lives (Jackleg Press), recently sat down with d.S. randoL, a poetry reader for Variant Lit, to discuss his debut collection. As a past contributor to Variant Lit—with his poem “Views” included in Past Lives—Adams explores the philosophical depth, experimental forms, and the tension between logic and emotion that shape the book.

Lindsey Schaffer’s poem “Untitled” appeared in the very first issue of Variant Lit back in 2019. In the time since, she published a chapbook, City of Contradiction, (Selcouth Station 2022) , became a Poetry Editor of Variant, and wrote a second chapbook, Witch City, (dancing girl press) which is now available for preorder. 

ince Summertime Fine, jason has gone on to publish two more chapbooks, Twerkable Moments (Paper Nautilus) and goodboi (Neon Hemlock) as well a full length from Sundress Publications, Year of the Unicorn Kidz. The day before Tyler and I spoke with jason about community, representation,, and art making, the July/August 2023 issue of Poetry Magazine came out, with three new jason b. crawford poems inside.

Katherine Gaffney’s poem “Likewise, Here” was a finalist in Variant’s 2022 Pizza Prize Competition and also appears in her first full-length poetry collection, Fool in a Blue House which won the Tampa Review Prize for Poetry. I spoke with Katherine in July 2023, a few months after her book’s release to discuss the domestic and caregiving themes in her writing and the process of writing and publishing a full length collection.