Become an Emerge Author

Writers and artists work in the loneliest of all professions, inside our heads. Those daring enough to create and reveal something of their inner natures, are to be lauded. The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow salutes your courage and thanks you for your submissions.

DEADLINE for submissions for Issue 9 of eMerge is TBA.

Submission Guidelines

Currently Featured Authors

Crow Johnson Evans
Crow Johnson Evans lives in NW Arkansas. Now retired, she focuses on artwork, weaving, writing, and soaking in nature and the woods around their home. She was a founding board member for the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow. In celebration of her childhood in the artists’ colony in Woodstock, NY, Crow supports the development of other artists.
Her recent 2019 novel, Me and Miss Henrietta, was accepted for Books in Bloom 2020 which she considers an honor despite the festival cancellation due to Covid.

Posts in this issue: 1

Wendy Taylor Carlisle
Wendy Taylor Carlisle lives and writes with both feet in the Arkansas Ozarks. She is the author of four books: Reading Berryman to the Dog (2000), Discount Fireworks (2008), The Mercy of Traffic (2019) and On the Way to the Promised Land Zoo (2019) and five chapbooks.

Posts in this issue: 2

William Bernhardt
William Bernhardt is the author of over forty books, including Challengers of the Dust, the bestselling Ben Kincaid series of courtroom novels, the Red Sneaker books on fiction writing, the Shine young adult series, and two books of poetry, most recently The Ocean's Edge. He lives in Oklahoma with his wife novelist Lara Bernhardt and their children.

Posts in this issue: 2

Charles Templeton
Charles Templeton is the author of the award winning, bestselling novel, Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam. When Charles isn’t busy working on his next historical fiction novel, he serves on the Board of the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow, a writers’ retreat in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Charles also serves as the Acquisitions Editor for the Colony’s online literary magazine, eMerge.

Posts in this issue: 2

Lela Tunnell
Lela Tunnell is a novice poet; loving all things natural. She has loved and written as many poems as years lived on this planet (maybe a little more). She lives in Eureka Springs with her husband, feline, canine, chickens, rabbits, and ever-evolving gardens.

Posts in this issue: 2

Ray Shermer
Ray spent 21 years in radio broadcasting followed by 27 years as a real estate appraiser. He taught real estate appraisal at the University of Missouri, Ozarks Technical Community College and St. Charles Community College. Ray loves writing and always has. After Ray retired he attained the Certificate in Higher Education in Creative Writing from Oxford University in the UK. Writing short stories for the Certificate was exciting especially since he was in his seventies. How many people do you know have done that? Since then the genre has become his obsession and he loves to write them often.

Posts in this issue: 3

Beverly Gordon
Beverly Gordon is a writer, a visual artist, and workshop leader who has long been passionate about “deep seeing” and helping people appreciate both the material and inner, intuitive worlds. She was a professor of Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for nearly 30 years, specializing in people’s relationships with art, designed environments, and everyday objects. Her books can be found on Amazon.

Posts in this issue: 2

Bill McCloud
Bill McCloud’s poetry book, The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969 (Balkan Press), reached #1 on the "Oklahoma Best-Sellers" List (The Oklahoman). Most recently his poems have appeared in Oklahoma Today, Oklahoma English Journal, NOVUS Literary and Arts Journal, Tejascovido, and The Coronameron. He has a poem in the new anthology Bull Buffalo and Indian Paintbrush: The Poetry of Oklahoma (TJMF Publishing), edited by Ron Wallace. Counted among the fans of his poetry are songwriters Graham Nash and Jimmy Webb.

Posts in this issue: 2

Christy Prahl
I am a writer of a certain age, foraging enthusiast, philanthropy professional, and occasional insomniac. My poetry has appeared in Twyckenham Notes, Cathexis Northwest Press, and the Blue Mountain Review and I enjoyed a residency at the Writers' Colony in Dairy Hollow in November 2019. I am also the editor of the new literary compendium, A Construction of Cranes (Plastic Flame Press, 2020). I live in Chicago with my husband and our plain brown dog.

Posts in this issue: 2

Milton Ehrlich
Milton P. Ehrlich Ph.D. is an 88-year-old psychologist and a veteran of the Korean War. He has published poems in The Antigonish Review, London Grip, Arc Poetry Magazine, Descant Literary Magazine, Wisconsin Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Christian Science Monitor, and The New York Times.

Posts in this issue: 3

Carolyn Dahl
Carolyn Dahl is the 2020 winner of the Poetry of the Plains and Prairies chapbook contest for A Muddy Kind of Love, which will be published by North Dakota State University in 2021. Her 2019 chapbook, Art Preserves What Can’t Be Saved, was a first place winner in the National Federation of Press Women’s Communication contest, the Press Women of Texas’ contest, and also received an Honorable Mention in the Eric Hoffer Book Awards.

Posts in this issue: 3

Laurence Foshee
Laurence Foshee is a born and raised Tulsa, Oklahoman with poetry and prose in Dragon Poet Review, The Drabble, and The Tulsa Review. He is currently hard at work on a narrative sonnet project as well as a prosimetrum collection.

Posts in this issue: 3

Nikki Hanna
Nikki Hanna describes herself as a metropolitan gal who never quite reached the level of refinement and sophistication that label implies. The contradictions reflected in this description are the basis for her humorous prose. Hanna describes her writing as irreverent and quirky prose with strong messages. As an author, writing coach, and contest judge, she is dedicated to inspiring others. Her award-winning book, Listen Up, Writer––How Not to Write Like an Amateur is available on Amazon and Kindle. Hanna offers workshops and presentations on writing on her website.

Posts in this issue: 1

Woody Barlow
Woody Barlow was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Olathe, Kansas. He is the author of Tarzan Wore Chaps and The Aluminum Ballet.

Posts in this issue: 1

Lynn Packham Larson
Lynn lives with her husband in a house that he built, where the edge of town meets the edge of the woods. She was raised in a big city, and now finds peace and inspiration walking the dog and hiking the trails near her home. The birding is wonderful, trees abundant, water plentiful. Lynn practices Yoga, shares what she learns with others and can't imagine aging without it. Lynn and her husband share the endless love in their hearts with their son, their daughter, their son-in-law, and their granddaughter.

Posts in this issue: 1

Vallery Lomas
Vallery Lomas is a lawyer turned baking blogger and food writer. She is best known for winning ABC’s The Great American Baking Show and has also appeared on CNN, Fox, the Hallmark Channel, and Food Network Kitchen. Her recipes have appeared in Food & Wine, People, Better Homes & Gardens, and NYT Cooking. She is currently working on her debut cookbook with Clarkson Potter, a baking book which will be out in 2021.

Posts in this issue: 1

Jan Edwards Hemming
Jan Edwards Hemming holds an MFA in Poetry from NYU and a BA in English from LSU. Her work has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Los Angeles Review of Books Blog and elsewhere, and her poems “Bird” and "Oven" were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She teaches creative writing in New Orleans, where she lives with her wife and two cats.

Posts in this issue: 1

Jerry Davis
Board President for the Assoc. of Senior Arts Programs which encourages seniors attendance at and participation in the arts, and Co-Director of Carousel Theater which performs Readers’ Theater. He's served on the boards of several community theater groups and has directed and acted in many shows. He was a founder and Charter President of the Arkansas Community Theater Assoc. and the only Arkansan to receive the Spotlight Award for service to community theater from the American Assoc. of Community Theater. He is a past President of the Village Writers’ Club where he's directed several plays.

Posts in this issue: 1

Linda Dimitroff
Linda Dimitroff is a writer, artist and owner of Graffia Gallery on the shores of Lake Michigan. She lives with her husband, John, and their sassy cat, Sandy.

Posts in this issue: 1

Lucilla Garrett
Lucilla Garrett has been and is a community volunteer, antique dealer, property developer, freelance writer, teacher, interior decorator, flower arranger and compulsive postcard sender. Her Master’s Degree is from the University of Arkansas. Her exceptional daughter lives too far away in NY. She has lived in Texas, Mississippi, Illinois, England and Tennessee. Since 1970 she has spent at least part of the time, if not all the time, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The town is home.

Posts in this issue: 1

Sallie Crotty
While earning her Master’s at Harvard, educator Sallie Crotty worked in the Radcliffe College Media Relations Office. She has published in The Drabble; Capitalines; Texas Jewish Post; The Menninger Clinic’s Annual Fund 2016 publication and Resources to Recover, an on-line resource for people living with mental illness. The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference selected her personal essay for workshop in 2013, and her book manuscript in 2014 and 2017. Currently, she is working on a memoir and a poetry collection.

Posts in this issue: 1

Ruth Mitchell
Ruth Mitchell’s career as a travel writer took her many places. Her gigs as a freelancer educated her in the ways of the world. Her positions as an editor for At Home in Arkansas and Arkansas Business taught her to manage lots of little fires. As the author of Arkansas Heritage, a state-adopted elementary history text, she learned to be accurate. As a novelist she's learning her toughest lesson yet, how to engage readers through stories. Her novel White Oak can be purchased online. She is currently working on a new novel that will really wow readers.

Posts in this issue: 1

Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Sandra Jackson-Opoku is the author of novels, The River Where Blood is Born and Hot Johnny (and the Women Whom Loved Him). She coedited the anthology Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks. Her works are widely published and produced. Jackson-Opoku’s awards and honors include a N.E.A. Fiction Fellowship, the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines Fiction Award for Younger Writers, an ALA Black Caucus Award for Fiction, and an Esteemed Literary Artist Award from Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

Posts in this issue: 1

Judy Nickles
Judy Nickles is a multi-published writer (indie and traditional) who retired in 2011 and decided it was time to put up or shut up when it came to taking her writing hobby one step farther. She writes vintage romance, romantic suspense, cozy mysteries, and short stories in other genres. Traveling and doing genealogical research to find story ideas and settings is her passion. She shares writing tips on her Facebook Author Page and works (plays) on her website.

Posts in this issue: 1

Jackie Cruz-Wagener
Jackie Cruz-Wagener writes fiction, essays, and poetry. Despite having a doctorate in social welfare, Jackie has found something else she loves to do more—write. Jackie has served as a judge for the Daphne du Maurier writing contest, started a group for writers to connect with writers, and formed a monthly book club. She received her first rejection letter when she was ten from Highlights for Children, but she didn’t let that stop her from writing. Jackie lives with her husband and two kids in south Florida where she is working on her debut novel.

Posts in this issue: 1

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning Vietnamese poet and novelist published in Vietnam. Her first international publication, The Secret of Hoa Sen (poems, BOA Editions, 2014) was published as part of the Lannan Translations Selection Series. Quế Mai writes about war to call for peace. Her debut novel in English, The Mountains Sing (Algonquin Books, March 2020) presents the much needed perspective about the Vietnam War - from the Vietnamese people themselves. The novel has received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal.

Posts in this issue: 1

Majella Pinto
Majella Pinto moved to California at 23 and lives with her husband and two sons. She works in Silicon Valley to indulge her left brain, and in her spare time she dedicates herself to artistic and literary pursuits. She is happy to be in her corner as a wife, a working mother, a writer, an artist and a dreamer.

Posts in this issue: 1

Andrea A. Firth
Andrea A. Firth is a freelance journalist and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Saint Mary's College of California where she is adjunct faculty and is the cofounder of Diablo Writers’ Workshop where she teaches creative writing. Originally from the Philadelphia area, she spent twenty years in Chicago before landing on the west coast where she loves hiking on the beaches and in the hills with her husband and dog and open water swimming with anyone willing to jump in with her.

Posts in this issue: 1

Chad Gurley
Colony Coordinator at The Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow

Posts in this issue: 1

Suzanne Janney Howard
Suzanne Janney Howard has made Denver Colorado her home, after living in thirty other locations in both the United States and Japan. This gives her a deep appreciation of the beauty of different places and cultures and the satisfaction of actively choosing her forever home (as those in animal rescue would say!). Her poetry has appeared in various publications and she is currently enjoying channeling her inner Dr. Seuss writing and illustrating children’s books for her Grandkids.

Posts in this issue: 1

Former Contributors