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we are ducts

Domenick Angiello
essays
Dom, one of four brothers, was born in the Bronx, New York in 1940 of first generation Italian-American parents. He attended PS 95, then Fordham Prep, and finally Fordham College, where he specialized in tippling and eking out what was then called "the gentleman C." Nevertheless, he managed to go on to earn an M.A. and a Ph.D. (in medieval English literature) from Fordham. He is now a professor at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry. In 1980, Dom added general contractor to his resume, more or less in imitation of his idol, Geoffrey Chaucer who, for a time, had charge of construction and maintenance projects for Richard II. Having no royalty to serve, Dom has built and remodeled castles for the aristocracy of Westchester, N.Y. A few years ago, despite his best efforts, Dom's poetic urge reemerged-metastasized as a desire to write memoir. "The Store" is a symptom of that disease.
Mesa Begic
poetry
Mesa was born in 1977 in _apljina, bosnia-hercegovina. The most intense, nervous days of his life were spent in Mostar. He now studies and works in Sarajevo. He is the co-writer of three books of poetry, the first of them published in Italy, in Italian, and he is the editor of two magazines: KOLAPS (www.kolaps.org) and IZA.
Aaron Bergeron
humor
Aaron Bergeron is a writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He's made dozens of appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien -- usually playing an NBC page or wearing some sort of animal costume. Aaron's performed in numerous improv shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. You may contact him at Awesomefactory@aol.com.
Nicholas Bhasin
columns
Nicholas Bhasin is a comedy writer and screenwriter. He has recently moved to L.A. to seek his fame and\or fortune in the entertainment biz.

Bill Bilodeau
columns

Bill is the editor of a small daily newspaper in New Hampshire. He studied creative writing at Harvard and is currently at work on a novel. He is married... with children.
Hillery N. Borton
reviews
Hillery doesn't consider herself a writer, but from time to time she'll pose as one if it allows her to pass her convoluted opinions on to an audience slightly larger than her circle of friends. She edits Telling Stories, a short fiction showcase, for TheSimon.com, which also allows her to be highly opinionated all of the time.
Eric Brooks
reviews
Eric currently resides in San Francisco, Ca. Several poems and short stories have appeared in various magazines and papers. He is now working on a novel that incorporates lost innocence with a loathsome revenge on all who have crossed him over the past ten years. Born in rural Idaho, son of missionaries, his religious, quiet upbringing flavors his stories with both sentiment and excitement of discovery. A Season Without Snow is his last collected volume, a series of stories dealing with his travels through the U.S., Asia, and Europe. Eric weaves the tragic, natural and perverse into webs sometimes a little too recognizable.
Steve Cest La Vie
stage
Steve is an Edinburgh native who writes because he doesn’t like the way 'they' run things. He hopes his statements can change someone's mind and point out faults which are so glaring. Writing helps him vent excess pressure and lets people know not to take things lying down. Please contact him if you would like to support him, publish him or arrange for a reading: http://www.synister.com/cestlavie/
Stephen DePino
humor
• illustrator
Steve is a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His big break came when he was "featured" blurry in the background of a MTV commercial. His artwork, bio and contact information is available at http://www.spacegoobers.com. He now works and lives in Connecticut.
Neesha Dosanjh
kids
Neesha has been published in various anthologies, journals, newspapers and magazines. She has produced two films which arecurrently being distributed internationally. Whether on film or in print, she tells universal stories with multicultural characters, paying particular attention to the lives of girls and women.
Richard Dubin
reviews
Richard is a veteran writer/director/producer. His work has been recognized with an Emmy nomination, Humanitas and Mentor Awards. He is also a recipient of The B’nai Brith Humanitarian Award. He was the co-founder and artistic director of The Jazz Theatre Workshop. Starting in entertainment as a musician, he’s played with Otis Redding, Ray Charles and Alvin the Chipmunk. He has acted with Myrna Loy and directed a chicken. Richard is currently Professor of Television and Film in The S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He welcomes e-mail at rdubin@syr.edu.
Mildred Ehrlich
memoirs
Mildred has been writing poetry since she was a child and has published in college literary journals, including Turning House, the journal of Union Theological Seminary, where she works as the Faculty Secretary and International Student Advisor. She has taken fiction and non-fiction workshops at the Writer’s Voice of the Westside Y in NYC and attended various writing conferences around the country. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Theater and a Master’s degree in Teaching ESL. Her website, www.englishforeverything.com, offers online editing services for native and non-native speakers of English. She was the development editor for several popular-level physics books by her brother, Robert Ehrlich, including Nine Crazy Ideas in Science/Some of Which May Even Be True… She has just finished writing a memoir, Beauty through Broken Glass.

Thomas Fast
memoirs
art gallery

Thomas, a.k.a. Naked Man, is teaching English and Spanish to junior high and high school students in Japan. He studied art history at New York University and has traveled and lived throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia. His photographs have appeared in articles and magazines, and have been exhibited in Japan. He also makes guest appearances as a DJ at his local coffee house in Okayama City.
Joelle Hann
poetry
Joelle Hann lives in Brooklyn where she runs the waxpoetic poetry reading series. She has published widely and currently has several projects underway, including Reliquary, an artist's book project. She has received two Canada Council grants, residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell, and holds an MFA and an MA from New York University. E-mail her at: joellehann@hotmail.com

Rob Huebel &
Rob Riggle

stage

Huebel & Riggle are members of the acclaimed improv comedy team, Respecto Montalban. Visit their website to learn more about the team that proudly performs "comedy that doesn't suck."
Diana Sherman Kash
fiction
Diana grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but has lived in many places from suburban Washington, D.C to Houston Texas. She has a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from The University of New Hampshire. She currently lives in New York City where she is working on a memoir in addition to free-lance writing and editing. She has also taught English, memoir writing and writing composition and did a brief stint in the corporate world. Her stories have been published in Whetstone, Rosebud, The MacGuffin, Women Writing For Their Lives, and Writes of Passage: an Anthology of Teachers Writings. Her essays have appeared in The Hampshire Gazette, and The Houston Chronicle (cover story of the Texas Magazine section), Greenwich Time and Bucknell World.
Susan King
profiles
Susan is a Canadian who is teaching Philosophy of Education at Hofstra. In her varied past she has built cabins in northern Quebec, flown a small plane in British Columbia, written poetry and short stories, and taught innumerable, wonderful students.
Mitchell Levenberg
best of fiction
Mitchell has published short stories in FICTION magazine, The New Delta Review, The Cream City Review, Fine Madness and others. He teaches writing at New York University and St. Francis College.
Johanna Li
kids
Johanna is an associate editor at Simon & Schuster. Despite repeated attempts at rehabilitation she still likes to draw.
Constantine Limperis
art gallery
Constantine is an artist and a filmmaker living in New York City.
Benjamin Malcolm
columns
Benjamin is a freelance writer based in Thailand. A former Thailand Peace Corps volunteer, he now lives and works in the northern town of Mae Hong Son, near the Burmese border.
Mamilla
stage
Mamilla is sometimes a band but more often a duo. Here the duo serenade you with bright harmonies that will remind you of how good singing / songwriting could be.

Daniel McCoy
humor

Daniel McCoy is a freelance writer and actor whose work has appeared in Modern Humorist and been performed on the NPR programs Rewind and Morning Edition. He is currently studying improvisation at the UCB theater. He lives in Brookyln. Email Daniel at dkirk78@yahoo.com.
Dermot O’Brien
reviews
Dermot is a freelance writer and teacher. His most recently published piece appeared in The New York Times. He is working on a comic novel about fatherhood. OBrien is also an adjunct professor of politics in the adult degree program at New York University. A native of Dublin, he has lived in Manhattan for the past twelve years. He lives on the Upper West Side with his wife and two sons.
Jack Richold
• illustrator & translator for mesa begic
stage
Jack was born in 1977 in Somerset (UK) and has lived in Edinburgh for the past six years. He has published poetry in the Edinburgh literary magazine Smallfry and plays guitar in the band Mamilla. He is an illustrator of sorts. He is Involved in the Forest Community Arts-space and Venue. Jack has worked and traveled over several years in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Elizabeth Robertson
fiction
Elizabeth has written for small magazines, including The Hamptons and Profiles. She has worked as a copywriter and marketing director for the magazine publishing industry in New York City, at such places as Architectural Digest and more recently for SI for Women. She is a graduate of Brown University. She’s married with two children, ages 14 and 7. She is currently working full time on a novel entitled Lost in New York City. She’s lived in Manhattan since 1976. Her second short story is being published in the January 2003 issue of deadmule.com. It's called "How To Grow Up"
Soak Hides Road is her first published short story.
Hannele Rubin
memoirs
After a bad breakup with an Israeli Tank Commander, Bachelor Girl purchased the entire "Relationships" section at Barnes & Noble. On her way out, she also grabbed a copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' 100 Years of Solitude. Bachelor Girl is a 20-year veteran of fixup flops, bad bar pickup lines, great sex with bad men, and failed attempts to see the merits of socially maladjusted -- but marriage-minded -- guys. She's also a freelance journalist.
Ellen Schecter
memoirs
Ellen has published 24 books for children with Viking Penguin Putnam, HarperCollins, Scholastic, and Bantam Doubleday Dell. She has written, produced, or developed many multi-award-winning television series for children and families, including The Magic Schoolbus and Reading Rainbow for PBS, Allegra's Window and Pinwheel for Nickleodeon, Out of the Box on the Disney channel, and Ramona (based on the books of Beverly Cleary) for the Canadian Broadcasting System. Her latest film project is RED SUN, an animated feature film, currently in development. She was also Executive Producer of Voices of Lupus and of We're Here! Young Immigrants Tell Their Stories. Schecter is a member of the Writer's Guild, ASCAP, The Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and PEN. She is featured in Who's Who Among American Women, Who's Who In Entertainment, and Something About The Author.
Forrest Twombly
illustrator
Forrest was raised in the woodsy wilds of Vermont and now spends his time frolicking around the globe in search of endorphines, metamorphosis, absorption. It is his pleasure to create artwork on call, anywhere, anytime. Contact fjtwombl@yahoo.com for questions, comments, or superfluous babble.
Catherine E. Walker-Stol
essays
Catherine is a freelance writer and teacher, who lives in Ontario with her husband and two children. She has a BA (History/Psychology) and a BEd in Elementary Education. Her work has been read on CBC radio, has appeared in several periodicals, and she writes book reviews. Catherine has written two children’s books, Stone Posts, and Tyler’s Adventure, both yet unpublished. Catherine recently learned that one’s first parent-teacher interview is similar to reading an editor’s comments. First reaction: how can they say anything negative about something so perfect. (my child/my writing). Second reaction: Acceptance.
Christine Walters
art gallery 
As a Writer/Producer, Christine has worked for Comedy Central, VH 1, Oxygen Media, HBO, Jim Henson Productions, Children's Television Workshop and a host of others. She has provided voices for the Cartoon Network series, Sheep In The Big City and MTV's legendary series, Beavis and Butthead. She is also a founding member of Leche Magica, a guerilla comedy video movement based in NYC. Additionally, Ms. Walters performs regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater as a member of the acclaimed improv comedy group, Mother.
Paul Wilson
profiles
A California native, Paul is an aspiring journalist now living in Syracuse. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara last year and is getting his masters in journalism from Syracuse University. He hopes to head to warmer, dryer pastures -- either south or west – where he’ll continue freelancing and/or working for a daily newspaper.
Helen Zelon
memoirs
Helen's writing has appeared in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Brooklyn Bridge and Scientific American: Explorations. A proud booster of her adopted hometown (New York), she is a nonfiction contributor to Totally Brooklyn.
STAFF
Jonathan Kravetz
editor
Jonathan is best known for his ability to scratch his forehead and squint his eyes simultaneously. He is a writer, editor and some time trumpet player who spends too much time reading long feature stories on the world wide web. He is the co-founder of ducts and founder of the New
York based monthly reading series, Trumpet Fiction, held each month at KGB Bar in the east village. He’s studied writing with a number of teachers in New York, including Alice Eliot Dark (fiction), Fred Hudson(screenwriting) and Alison Estes (children’s fiction) and he has held a number of odd jobs, including news reporter, taxi cab driver, projectionist and ducts installer (hmmmm). He currently works as a computer consultant. He has recently taken up improv comedy classes with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater of NYC as a way to discover finer and more glorious ways of embarrassing himself on a weekly basis. You can contact him at editor@ducts.org.
Philip Shane
designer
Philip is a freelance film editor. His programs have appeared on PBS, ABC, Cinemax, Lifetime Television, The Learning Channel, and in theaters and film festivals around the world. He lives in New York with his wife Julie.
Rachelle Meyer
graphics
Rachelle is a freelance artist, designer and writer. She often works under the pseudonym Plasmotica Studios to seem worldly and mysterious. She loves bacon.
Charles Salzberg
reviews editor
Charles is a New York based freelance writer and teacher. He has published a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction books. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Arts & Leisure section, Redbook, New York Magazine, Travel & Leisure and many others.
Jonathan Toubin
designer
Jonathan Toubin once shot a man just for snoring.
Marsha Harrison
special projects
Marsha designed the new rotating text feature in ducts. She is world renown for her design skills and for her ability to stay calm when all hell is breaking loose.
Stephanie Hart
children's editor
Stephanie Hart teaches writing at F.I.T. and the Parsons School of Design and is currently the Children's editor at ducts. She has published a young adult novel. Her short stories have appeared in the magazines "Caprice," and "And Then," as well as the anthology, Mondo James Dean, published by St. Martin's Press in 1996. While her fiction and non-fiction has been included in recent issues of ducts, a personal essay appears in the anthology, Self Portraits: Language Learners in a Multicultural World, published in 2000 by Teachers College Press.
Laura Buchholz
humor editor
Laura is a science editor about town, most recently at the medical website Praxis.md. She has studied improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and has collaborated on two short films by Please Stop Stealing My Bike Productions.
Jennifer Lauren Pelley
illustrator
Jennifer is studying cinematography at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Ryan Van Winkle
poetry editor
Ryan Van Winkle is 23 years old and lives out of a back pack. He has no permanent residence and is a happy freelance writer. He spends as much time naked as humanly possible. E-Mail him at ryan@smaxx.com.