A.J. Stevens is a Whitney Award finalist for her book Mere Mortal. She studied Microbiology with an emphasis in genetics at a university on planet Earth, but prefers writing to lab work, so that’s what she does.

Ash Stevens Ash Stevens is a Health and Kinesiology student at the University of Utah—though she still can’t spell “kinesiology” without double-checking. Ash began writing poetry at eighteen as a way of coping with anxiety and depression, and it has become a source of purpose and creative freedom. When she isn’t crafting emotionally devastating poems or buried in coursework, you can find her mountain climbing anything that isn’t actively collapsing. reading, weightlifting, doing jiu-jitsu, and yapping her heart out with her girlies.

Asia Bushman got her first sketchbook at seven and hasn’t stopped creating art since. Her art grows with her. She likes to create, whether that be nail art, painting, drawing, or cross-stitch. Art is her passion—she finds joy in anything that could be considered art.

Boydell Bown is a Realm Award semi-finalist for his book Splinter's Edge. As a software engineer by day, and a supervillain by night, Boydell finds it a challenge to spend enough time writing to let free the stories plaguing his soul.

BRANDON B. CHAMBERS is an author and accomplished martial artist, with black belts in Taekwondo and three different variants of Karate. He recently opened his own dojo and enjoys balancing martial arts with his love of writing.

Crow is an artist from Utah who is currently pursuing a BFA in Studio Arts and Art Technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They are working to become a game designer, with their projects usually focusing on memories, environmental storytelling, and birds.

Elesa Hagberg is a Whitney Award finalist for The Dissection and Reassembly of Cohen Hoard. She loves cookies, board games, collecting and remodeling travel trailers, laughing louder than other people, and hanging out with her family.

Esther Davis is the author of “A Dog, 3 Cats, and a Dragon,” a collection of family-friendly speculative fiction stories. You can also find her sci-fi and fantasy works scattered across the internet, including “Frozen Heart” and “Scars” on T. Gene Davis’s Speculative Blog, and “The Baboons of Mars” on Tall Tale TV.

Ethan Whitaker is a speculative fiction/fantasy writer from Spanish Fork, Utah. He is a part-time student at Utah Valley University, where he is studying creative writing. Into the Void is his first published work, and hopefully not his last.

Faralee Pozo is a Teen Readers Choice Award finalist and a Realm Award finalist for her book Sorry, Humans (Especially Greg). In her spare time, she plays tabletop games with her family, reads, and tries to avoid cooking.

Helix Arts otherwise known as Jefferson Hunter, is an aspiring young artist who has had art displayed and sold at the Springville Museum of Art. With an undying love for creating stories, Helix hopes to one day be a published artist in a weekly magazine.

Jan Hassmann first studied and then taught English Literature at universities far from home. He has recently returned to Europe, where he runs an amicable poetry club in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He's in Seaside Gothic, Dishsoap Quarterly, WireWorm Magazine, Stone Circle Review, Sparks of Calliope, PoemAlone, and elsewhere.

Jess Smart Smileyis a #1 bestselling and award-winning creator of more than twenty books. Jess has helped thousands of creators around the world in writing their own stories, and currently enjoys teaching creative practices, techniques, and processes at BYU-Idaho.

With twenty-seven stories in print, it's safe to say Jessica Guernsey is obsessed with short fiction. Two of those stories are in coloring books! She reads the slush pile and crushes dreams by day and produces anthologies by night. Also, she was once hit on by Vanilla Ice. So that was cool.

Jessica Kendall has a BFA in creative writing with minors in both English and History, and she is an editor for CookieLynn Publishing. Jessica is a self-proclaimed reading omnivore who loves to immerse herself in multiple genres, so long as there is kissing and/or stabbing. She lives in Idaho with her hunky, science-nerd husband and four brilliant, creative, and crazy kids. When not editing, reading, or writing, she bakes, beats her kids in Nertz, and binges shows like Leverage, Buffy, Great British Bake Off, The Nanny, and Golden Girls.

Kara Reynolds lives in Arizona, where it's almost always too hot. She works as an administrative assistant to Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and has taught at the Storymakers Conference in Provo, UT.

Kasey is a professional content writer for a marketing company. Two of her stories have won the Storymakers first chapter contest. She's a digital nomad, wandering the globe in search of delicious recipes to add to her repertoire and exciting new playgrounds for her toddler sidekick.

Kristina Atkin's debut epic fantasy novel, Feathers Sharp as Knives, released in May 2023. It was an Honorable Mention for the 2024 Writer's Digest self-published e-book awards. She's had multiple chapters shortlisted in Uncharted Magazine's Novel Excerpt Prize, and Uncharted also published her first short story, "Mercy Kill," a sapphic zombie story set in 1900 West Virginia. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Converse College in 2012.

Award-winning poet and author of the Rogue Royals and Fires of Qaf series,Kyro also has works in various anthologies. She owns Eight Moons Publishing, the writing resource blog Vanillagrass.com, and is an experienced editor, book coach, and indoor plant enthusiast. 

Lydia Pozo is an artist that loves any sort of paint, and is proud to have placed in a Springville Chalk the Walk competition. Aviator and reader, she is eager to explore this world and the fictional ones.

Matthew Cushing is an American author of speculative fiction short stories and novels. He is a winner of the Gold Rush Literary Award for speculative fiction and a Finalist for the Roswell Award. An animal lover and trombonist, Mr. Cushing lives in Connecticut. 

Orpheus is a twenty-three-year-old philosophy student and artist. They work in multiple mediums, but they mostly do either acrylic on canvas or marker on paper when doing traditional art. They're an avid reader and aspiring writer, and have long loved anything fantasy, magic realism, or sci-fi.

Paul Martz is a science fiction writer, technology blogger, and former punk rock drummer. He’s published at Amazing Stories, Creepy Podcast, Sci-Fi Lampoon, and others. His awards include the Uncharted Magazine AI Flash Challenge and the Roswell Award. He recently published the non-fiction book, Solve It! The Only Speedsolving Guide for Blind Cubers.

Rebecca Jensen loves telling stories and drawing pictures, so becoming an illustrator made perfect sense. She currently lives and works in Utah, creating art for children’s books, magazines, posters, cards, and anything else people will let her draw on.

Regan Wolfe is a fantasy and sci-fi writer, currently based out of Edinburgh, Scotland. Her short stories and poetry have been published in Touchstones and Warp & Weave, and she came in first in her heat for the NYC Midnight short story challenge. Regan loves discovering new places, finding hidden coffee shops, talking about death, and hearing peoples' life stories.

Russ Marcum is the o-creator of the soon-to-be published graphic novel, Sleeping Wizards. He is also the co-winner of Tucson Horror Fest Best Script. Father of four humans, two cats, and married to a wonderful hypnotherapist. Currently in third term as the social media director of the Whitney Awards.

Shelley Thayer has been writing since she was seven, starting with a story about a superhero potato. She holds a BA in Creative Writing and is editing her debut YA fantasy novel. She once appeared in the background of the Today show—just a few feet from Al Roker.

Author/Illustrator Taryn Skipper’s publications include picture books, activity books, poetry and cover art, as well as her debut novel for young adults, Between Tungsten and Gold (Splinter Press, 2025). She has served on the Storymakers Guild board of directors and as president of the Whitney Awards for novels.