Staff Biographies

Co-Publisher

Sandra Kasturi is a poet, writer, and editor, as well as co-creator of a kids animated TV series. In 2005, she won ARC magazines annual Poem of the Year award. She is the poetry editor of ChiZine: Treatments of Light and Shade in Words and the Co-Publisher of ChiZine Publications. Sandra has written three poetry chapbooks and has edited the poetry anthology, The Stars As Seen from this Particular Angle of Night. Her work has appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including Prairie Fire, Contemporary Verse 2, TransVersions, On Spec, Taddle Creek, several of the Tesseracts series, 2001: A Science Fiction Poetry Anthology, and Northern Frights 4. Her cultural essay, Divine Secrets of the Yaga Sisterhood appeared in the anthology Girls Who Bite Back: Witches, Slayers, Mutants and Freaks. Sandra is a founding member of the Algonquin Square Table poetry workshop and sporadically runs her other imprint, Kelp Queen Press. She managed to snag an introduction from Neil Gaiman for her first full-length poetry collection, The Animal Bridegroom (Tightrope Books). She is represented by the Anne McDermid Agency, and is currently working on her first novel, a mythological noir. She enjoys single-malt scotch, red lipstick, and Viggo Mortensen.

Email Sandra at sandra@chizinepub.com.

Designer Extraordinaire

Erik Mohr's covers for Chizine Publications have been nominated for an Aurora award. His work as a Creative Director, Art Director, and designer has been recognized by the Society of Publication Designers, the Canadian National Magazine Awards, Magazines du Qubec, Applied Arts, and the Advertising & Design Club of Canada, among others. Erik has worked as an illustrator with clients including Harper Collins New York, Maclean's Magazine, National Post Business Magazine, The Utne Reader, Groundwood Books, and McClelland and Stewart. Erik's paintings have been in group and solo exhibitions across Canada and hang in private collections around the world. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Tania, his daughters, Astrid and Estelle, and his three-legged cat, Roger.

Email Erik at erik@chizinepub.com.

Junior Designer Extraordinaire

Danny Evarts is an illustrator, editor and graphic designer. He is the founder of Baby Rhino Press, and currently holds down the role of Art Director and Technical Editor for Shroud Publishing. Danny has been attempting to perfect his obsession with layout and design since the mid-1980s, and in the early 90s abandoned a career in journalistic and fiction writing as he came to realize that his visions were better suited to illustration, first for underground magazines and mini-comics. He soon fell in love with relief printmaking, and after a brief stint as a designer in the music industry, his works—most often original prints made through carving into wood or linoleum—now pepper the pages of books and magazines.

Danny lives with his partner in the Maine woods, where they spend most of their time working on their property and fleeing from irate wildlife.

Email Danny at danny@chizinepub.com.

Communications Director

Matt Moore is a science fiction and horror writer living in Ottawa, Ontario. By day, he is a project manager in the information technology field, specializing in online communications. Matt was raised in small-town New England, a place rich with legends and ghost stories. He specializes in short bios and blogs at mattmoorewrites.wordpress.com.

Email Matt at matt@chizinepub.com.

Marketing Director

Laura Marshall recently graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Masters in Material Culture and the History of the Book. Though not a writer herself, she has spent much of her life supporting and herding literary types through her work for organizations such as the Ad Astra Literary Convention, Word on the Street and the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Email Laura at laura@chizinepub.com.

Managing Editor

Helen Marshall spends the majority of her time pursuing a Ph. D. in Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto where she gets to travel across England to examine fourteenth-century manuscripts. Of course, her fascination with the making and writing of books extends well into the present. Her poetry has been published in ChiZine, NFG and the Ontarion Arts Supplement. "Mist and Shadows," published originally in Star*Line, appeared in The 2006 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2005." "The Gypsy" and "Crossroads and Gateways" both received honourable mentions in the 2009 Rannu Fund Contest, while four other poems were short-listed. Helen has been involved with a number of writing enterprises, including websites, academic journals and books, chapbooks, and a CD of folk music.

Email Helen at helen@chizinepub.com.

Managing Editor/Designer

Samantha Beiko is just beginning her foray into the much beloved publishing world, and hoping to work in a mixed field of editorial, marketing and media. After finishing her English Literature degree at the University of Manitoba in just two years, she moved to the nexus of the Canadian publishing world to not only pursue a career in books but to support her own attempt at a writing career, someday.

Email Samantha at sam@chizinepub.com.

Acquisitions Editor

Stephen Michell was born in southern Ontario in the summer, and is currently studying English Literature at the University of Toronto. Amidst sleeping, studying, drinking, and carrying the CZP donations box around at readings, Stephen also writes fiction. His first publication, a short story called The Grandmother Tree, is scheduled to be in the February issue of Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine. His favourite vegetable is asparagus.

Email Stephen at stephen@chizinepub.com.

Publicity Assistant

Tristan Joseph has various degrees/diplomas in Film Theory, Media Arts and Public Relations. Her work background is varied, having worked in the film, PR and health care industries. The cause of her insomnia has always been books; so, she loves promoting those who contribute so much to her entertainment and sleepless nights. She lives wherever VIA goes.

Email Tristan at tristan@chizinepub.com.

Publicity Assistant

Beverly Bambury moved to the west side of the GTA from Tampa, Florida in 2010, and she thinks she's finally got the hang of winter. Beverly has worked selling books as well as doing business research and writing for a Big 4 firm. She is currently studying Communications and Marketing in the State University of New York's distance learning program. When she finds the time, she knits silly hats for her brother.

Email Beverly at beverly@chizinepub.com.

Editor/Slushie

Halli Villegas is the author of three collections of poetry and several anthology pieces. She has published on-line erotica under a pen name. Her poetry and prose have appeared in places such as The LRC, Exile, Variety Crossings, Kiss Machine, Pagitica, and most recently Variety Crossings: Morphogenesis and The Windsor Review. Halli has received funding for her writing from the OAC Works in Progress in 2006 and 2009, and the TAC mid-level writers in 2007 and 2009. ChiZine Publications will publish her book of strange fiction, The Hair Wreath and Other Stories in fall 2010. She is also the publisher of Tightrope Books, which to date has published over twenty-seven books and 100 authors since its inception in 2005, and the Administrative Director of the Rowers Pub Reading Series.

Email Halli at halli@chizinepub.com.

Editor/Slushie

Gemma Files won the 1999 International Horror Guild Best Short Fiction Award with her story "The Emperor's Old Bones". Since then, she's published two collections of prose and two chapbooks of poetry. Her first novel, A Book of Tongues: Volume One of the Hexslinger Series, is available right now from CZP, and will be followed by a sequel.

Email Gemma at gemma@chizinepub.com.

Editor/Slushie

Clare Marshall grew up in Malay Falls, Nova Scotia and has a combined honors degree in journalism and psychology from the University of King's College. She has recently completed the Creative Book Program at Humber College in Toronto. Not only does she love writing YA fantasy novels and plays, but she is also an accomplished fiddler and step dancer. Her website is www.faeryinkpress.com.

Email Clare at clare@chizinepub.com.

Editor/Slushie

Colleen Anderson writes in various genres and has over 100 published stories and poems appearing in magazines and anthologies, including Evolve, Horror Library Vol. 4, Chizine, Prairie Fire, Talebones, Descant, ON Spec, and Amaranth Review. She has a BFA in creative writing and has won the Jerry Jazz Musician fiction contest and placed second in the Crucible poetry competition, plus several honorable mentions in the Year’s Best anthologies, the Rannu competition and the Science Fiction Poetry Association’s contest. Her chapbook of speculative verse Ancient Tales, Grand Deaths and Past Lives is available through Kelp Queen Press.

Email Colleen at colleen@chizinepub.com.

Editor/Slushie

Kari Maaren is a wandering English professor who has turned grumpiness into an art form. She is fond of writing monstrously huge novels and then hiding them away forever. She has a webcomic called West of Bathurst and has co-written a musical, Cross Purposes, for the Calgary Fringe Festival. Otherwise, she spends her time marking papers about irony and playing bad-tempered music on the accordion.

Email Kari at kari@chizinepub.com.

Editor/Slushie

Chris Edwards is a Toronto-based editor, writer, proofreader and blogger. He reviews and edits manuscripts for several small presses, and recently proofed the limited edition, hardcover reprint of Tony Burgess’ Pontypool Changes Everything. Prior to turning freelance, Chris spent five years as a trade magazine editor, developing articles on a range of topics, including structural engineering, law, and franchising. He currently writes the silent film blog Silent Volume, contributing related material to the Toronto Silent Film Festival and Toronto Urban Film Festival. Chris’ latest project is a photography blog, Balcony Shots.

Email Chris at chris@chizinepub.com.

Marketing/Promotions Intern

Sara Knaus is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto with a degree in English and Art History. She has recently completed the Humber Summer Workshop in Creative Writing, and in 2009 self-published her first fantasy novel, Windstorm, to an online fanbase. When not writing, she enjoys drawing and painting, and makes sure to travel at any opportunity.

Email Sara at sara@chizinepub.com.

Intern

Courtney Kelly graduated U of T with a degree in philosophy and religion, and is currently trying to figure out what to do with it. She has worked as a freelance copy editor and as assistant editor for the literary journal Shadows and Tall Trees. When not wasting too much time on her computer, she enjoys painting and composing music.

Email Courtney at courtney@chizinepub.com.