Gather Poets

Lauren Rich is a poet and a social worker from the Chicagoland area. Lauren writes a lot about girl/womanhood, relationships, and female rage. She is working on her first poetry manuscript which investigates how one can be both prey and predator, destroyed and defiant, harmed and harmful. The collection explores integrating one’s damage while refusing victimhood and redemption. Connect with Lauren on Instagram @laurenrichwrites.

Allison Mei-Li is a poet, mother, and speech therapist living in California. Her writing has appeared in journals such as Rust & Moth, MER Literary, Voicemail Poems, and Wildscape. She was recently shortlisted for poetry prizes by Central Avenue and The Alpine Fellowship. To learn more about her forthcoming collection, visit writtenbyallison.com or connect with her on IG @writtenbyallison.

Elise Powers received a BA in English Literature from Western Washington University. Her poems reflect on identity, womanhood, and the ordinary moments that make up a life. Her work has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies including Gather and Only Poems, and has been shortlisted for the Central Avenue Poetry Prize, awarded second place in the Black Horse Review Poetry Contest, and nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology. Her debut poetry collection, The Size of Your Joy, is forthcoming from Central Avenue Publishing in spring 2026. She lives in Seattle with her husband and daughter, where she writes, collects sea glass, and savors life’s tender joys. Find more of her work on Instagram @elisepowerspoet and on Substack at Two Raw Sugars.Michelle Halket is the Publisher of Central Avenue, a small-but-mighty press of poetry and fiction, and a proud techno- and bibliophile with a background in economic and market research. After seventeen years at the helm of Central Avenue, she is happily immersed in words, paper stock, and devices of all kinds. She’s the sort of person who asks a lot of questions, tries most things at least once, keeps a growing collection of started-but-unfinished projects, and does her best to learn something useful from every misstep along the way.

jp thorn is a queer, neurodivergent artist raised in & returned to the bible belt. advocate for destigmatization & radically open communication, their work is inspired by humanness, reframing traditionalism, therapeutic processes, unlearning patriarchy, identity, & global patterns. they’re also a pushcart & best of the net 2025 nominee. you can find more of their works at www.thorn.jp​

Bri Gearhart Staton (she/her) is a South Dakota poet whose writing explores experiences that exist in the periphery. Bri’s poetry has been published by Button Poetry, FLARE, Wildscape, The Page Gallery Journal, Livina Press, and in a number of anthologies, including the Gather anthology. A mother of two, her objectively hilarious children are the joys of her heart. Connect with her on Instagram @bristaton.writes

Karan Kapoor is the Editor-in-Chief of Strange Pilgrims and ONLY POEMS. His poems have appeared in Best New Poets, AGNI, Shenandoah, North American Review, and elsewhere. He’s on the editorial board of Alice James Books.

Nicole Zwolinski is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection, Motherhead. This is her first full-length book, and it will be published in summer 2026 by Finishing Line Press.

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She has been published in the Feminine Collective, Firewords Quarterly, Alternate Routes, Effemera, the first Gather anthology and more. Nicole is an alumna of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project. She was shortlisted for the Central Avenue Poetry prize and will have two poems featured in their 2026 anthology.

Alexa Brockamp Hoggatt is a poet and programmer from Tacoma, Washington. Her poems have been published in Sky Island Journal, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, and Strait Up Magazine, as well as a collection called “Voices of Tacoma”, published in collaboration with the City of Tacoma Arts Commission. She was selected as a Garden Poet for Lakewold Gardens’ 2024 ‘Poetry in the Garden’ event.Although there is endless machine to rage against, Alexa writes poetry as a sort of running list of reasons humans deserve to go on existing: The tenderness, the shared experience, the soft parts. Her dad woke up every morning after coughing through the night from breathing sand and dust at work and said “It’s another perfect day” and that is what she wants her poems to say: Even if you have sand in your lungs, it’s another perfect day.

Sarah Frost is a poet whose work wanders through time and place, currently based in Juneau, Alaska. She has been published in Beyond Words, Last Leaves, Palindrome Journal and Corporeal literary magazines. You can find her on Instagram @fromthenotesapp.gatherpoets.com

Kassandra Vilchis is a poet based in Minnesota. Her work thoughtfully examines themes of grief, womanhood, and generational relationships. She was recently short-listed for the 2026 Central Avenue Poetry Prize. Her writing appears in Bending Genres Journal, Rowayat, The Passion Fruit Review, Effemera zine, Roots & Ruins anthology and the Upon Learning anthology. Outside of writing, she spends time with her dog, Thor and is dramatically lactose intolerant. You can find her on Instagram @kassandra.vilchis and curating notes for you on Substack  @KASSANDRAVILCHIS-g7w  gatherpoets.com