Plants & Poetry Journal

Check out the Rituals & Remedies playlist.

This playlist includes songs recommended by the editors and contributors of the Rituals & Remedies collection published by Plants & Poetry Journal.

Contributors

Shalaka Gole is a Maharashtrian-American writer and civic technologist who lives mostly in Los Angeles, where she gathers, loves, and sometimes teaches rock climbing. Her work is wayfinding through questions: how have mothers and daughters ever managed, through diaspora and empire and desire and shame? What do we make for breakfast the morning after the world ends, and what do we keep from this world after the revolution? Her work has been supported by Tin House, and the Liturgy Residency at the Oxbow School of Art.

Art Goodtimes fell head-over-heels for shrooms in the Sixties, did undergraduate training with the San Francisco Mycological Society forays to Land's End, undertook freelance fieldwork with Francesca Bero roaming coastal timberlands along Highway One for Pleurotus ostreatus and has been graduating through various capacities for 44 years with what we now call the Telluride Mushroom Festival. His high points each year are Saturday afternoon's family-friendly Shroom Parade and Friday late evening's MycoLicious MycoLuscious MycoLogical Poetry Show. Art served five terms as San Miguel County Commissioner (1997-2017), was named Western Slope Poet Laureate in 2011, and continues to serve as poetry editor for Fungi magazine.

Benjamin Green is the author of eleven books including The Sound of Fish Dreaming (Bellowing Ark Press, 1996), and the upcoming Old Man Looking through a Window at Night (Main Street Rag) and His Only Merit (Finishing Line Press). At the age of sixty-eight, he hopes his new work articulates a mature vision of the world and does so with some integrity. He resides in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.

Lázaro Gutiérrez is a Cuban-American poet. His work is found or is forthcoming in Tint Journal, Snapdragon: A Journal of Art & Healing, Latino Literatures, Discretionary Love, Molecule - A Tiny Lit Mag, Somos en Escrito, Barzakh Magazine, Frontera Lit, Azahares Literary Magazine, SOMOS Latinx Literary Magazine, BarBar, The Word ’s Faire, AAWP: Meniscus, Chrysalism Press, and Angel City Review.

Fiona Hartmann is a writer living in Toronto, Canada. She is interested in creating thought-provoking fiction that creates emotional connections that transcend through the digital landscape of modernity. Find her published and forthcoming work in Poetry Pause, Juste Milieu Zine and at www.fionahartmann.com. Instagram: @fionahartmannwrites

Jennifer Freya Helgeson is an emerging poet based in Maryland, USA. Jennifer’s writing explores themes of memory, loss, nature, and human resilience. She holds a PhD in Environmental and Developmental Economics and has authored several peer-reviewed publications, co-edited textbooks, and published in several media outlets. Her poetry has recently found a home with Tension Literary, Pacific Review, The Woodside Review, and she has a poetry book forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. She enjoys gardening, dancing, experimenting in the kitchen, and spending meaningful time with her dog, close friends, and family. Instagram: @jfhelgeson

Shoshana D. Kerewsky is a retired psychotherapist and faculty emerita. She writes poetry, fiction, lyrical nonfiction, memoir, essay, and haibun. Her work has appeared in fiction international, 96th of October, Sojourner, La Concha, Crab Creek Review, Northeast Journal, Little Patuxent Review, QUIX, Locust Shells Journal, Responsible Travel Guide Cambodia, Which Lilith? Feminist Writers Re-Create the World's First Woman, Every Woman I’ve Ever Loved: Lesbian Writers on Their Mothers, and elsewhere. Her memoirs are the award-winning Cancer, Kintsugi, Camino and 50 Days in May: Reflections Along the Camino de Santiago. Her novel, The Codex of Christian Surname, is forthcoming. Website: www.shoshanakerewsky.wordpress.com

Christa King has always lived in the West. The landscapes, food, experiences and people of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and New Mexico inspire and inform her writing. She received a BA in Creative Writing at the age of 51, and a master’s degree in Library Sciences in 2012, both from the University of Arizona.

Dallas Klein (she/her) is a queer, Latinx poet living in Langley, Washington. She was born and raised in Texas and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Texas State University. She is working on her second master’s degree at University of Washington in Library and Information Science.

Margie B. Klein has been a freelance writer for 35 years and a nature-lover all her life. She feels a special kinship with plants and has two degrees in the plant sciences. She has had a long career working in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, parks, and wildlife. Certified in ecopsychology, she is also a fellow with the International League of Conservation Writers and recipient of the Writing in Conservation Education Award from The Wildlife Society. At home, she cares for several gardens and over a hundred houseplants. Instagram: @badpennywriting

Rebecca Kolodziej is poet Hailing from South Wales UK. She loves to spend time practicing her craft and exploring nature while making her own little apothecary while reading and practising the art of mindful journaling. She loves to read Poetry and write her own. Creating worlds is cathartic and feeds her soul. You can find her poetry over on Instagram @Heartless Whispers. Her poetry is an open diary to the pains she has been through in hopes if inspiring others to not feel so alone.

Lina Krishnan is an artist and writer in India. Her work can be seen in several global magazines and in sixteen anthologies; among them are three editions of the annual Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English. www.x.com/Khanabahdosh

Siena Lamb is a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, where she is studying Advertising/Public Relations and English. She has a deep passion for poetry and storytelling and is currently working on her own contemporary romance novel in her spare time. Her poem, “Cracks in the Sidewalk,” was published in her school’s student-produced magazine, Hill Mag, and she looks forward to publishing more of her work as she continues to grow her portfolio. Siena aspires to work in marketing for publications and other aspiring authors after graduation.

Kamakshi Lekshmanan holds MA Wild Writing from the University of Essex, UK. Memories became Paper boats and Puliinji (her debut memoir). Her photo essays and poetry can be found in – Zoo’s print magazine, Tiny seed literary journal, The Alluvian, The Wild Roof journal, Thebloom.news, The Hopper Magazine, contributor – Botany of Gaia – A nature inspired anthology- Quill keepers Press, The Winged moon Literary Magazine, Writerly Magazine, and The Closed Eye Open.

Constantinos N. Makris, born in Limassol, Cyprus (1982), is a poet, writer, and former president of the Cyprus Writers’ Union. He has published novels, short stories, and poetry collections, including Pentadromos (2022) and the award-winning The Straw Killer and Other Stories (2023). His work blends historical, mythological, and philosophical themes. Makris has received international recognition, including first prize in poetry from UNESCO’s International Arts, Literature and Science Competition (Greece, 2017). His poems have appeared in Mediterranean Poetry Magazine, and he continues to write and publish in Cyprus.

Gigi Marks is a poet in the unceded lands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫɁ people, in what is commonly known as Ithaca, NY. Her work includes four books of poetry with a focus on the care and attention of relationship to place and its inhabitants. She lives on a small farm with her family.

Tom Matern is a graduate of Wilkes University, where he earned a degree in English and is currently pursuing his MBA with a focus on Sustainability. He resides in Pennsylvania, and hopes to begin working towards his MFA in Creative Writing in 2026. In his free time, he enjoys learning languages, particularly Greek and Portuguese, though he cannot confidently hold a conversation in either.

Mary McCoy is a writer and environmental artist whose work explores the human experience of the natural world in all its wonder and vulnerability. Her writings have appeared in Orion Magazine’s Place Where You Live, Gargoyle Magazine, Bay to Ocean, From Whispers to Roars, Pen in Hand, Art Spiel, and Salisbury University Art Galleries Here/Not Here–Art and Poetry of Place. She has published five books and is a former art critic for The Washington Post and several art magazines. She currently writes on art for The Chestertown Spy and The Talbot Spy and is the recipient of a 2022 Regional Independent Artist Award for Literary Arts from the Maryland State Arts Council. For more information, please visit www.marymccoystudio.com

Ameythist Moreland is an emerging poet and author of two new-adult science fiction novels. She holds a B.S. from Western Michigan University and is currently pursuing her M.A. in Creative Writing and Publishing at City St. George’s University of London. Her poetry has appeared in several anthologies, journals, and magazines. For more information, visit www.ameythistmoreland.com

Katie Ness is a writer, budding historian, and yoga instructor specialising in folklore and spirituality, holding a BA Honours in Fine Art from UCLAN, Level 4 certifications in Prehistoric Art and The History of Folklore from Oxford University, and extensive expertise in Yoga history, Vedic philosophy, Sanskrit and the Śākta Traditions from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. As a yoga instructor and wellness educator she specialises in women’s spirituality and health, Katie also offers instruction on the history and philosophy of yoga, available as a guest teacher for teacher training programs. She has been a contributing writer for Kindred Spirit Magazine, Femme Occulte, Witches Magazine, Occulture Magazine, Haunted Magazine, The Feminine Macabre, Girl God Books, The C Word Mag, Poetry Cove and others. Two of her short stories feature in Mulberry Literary and a book collection entitled ‘Incurable’ published with Running Wild Press. Her poetry is published widely with an array of anthologies and two poetry collections entitled ‘Aphrodite Fever Dream’ and ‘Juggernaut’. Her non-fiction book entitled 'Word Witchery: Walking the Path of the Poetry Priestess' is set to be published with Moon Books in 2025. She is a passionate globetrotter and is currently learning to play the lyre harp.

Jolene Nolte is a freelance writer, editor, and English as a Foreign Language teacher. She has called all of North America her home: Born and raised in the US, she later lived eight years in Vancouver, Canada, where she met and married her husband. They now live in Mexico City where they are growing their family and a small herb garden. She also has a published book of poetry, Tender Sieve.

Oliver O’Daniel is a writer born in Florida studying writing in Victoria, BC, and he desperately wants to remain on the friendlier coast. In his spare time, he overthinks, and when there is more time, explores—seasides, coffee shops, thrift stores, national parks, and highways. He can be found on instagram @beary.drin

Erik Peters is a father and avid mediaevalist from Vancouver, Canada. His writing is influenced by late antiquity, his family, and his students. Erik has been featured in Coffin Bell, Zoetic, Takahe, Beyond Literary Words, and Thirty West. You can check out all Erik's work at erikpeters.ca.

An Australian writer of Montenegrin origin, Pavle Radonić spent ten years living in SE Asia, from where a disproportionate number of his publications derive. Recent work has appeared in Sagebrush Review, QU Literary Magazine, Hobart & New World Writing. (Post Road Magazine forthcoming.) Website: www.axialmelbourne.blogspot.com

Sambhu Ramachandran is a bilingual poet, translator, short story writer, and academic from Kerala, India. He is currently working as Assistant Professor of English at N.S.S. College, Pandalam. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Bombay Literary Magazine (TBLM), Wild Court, Madras Courier, The Alipore Post, Muse India, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Setu, The Chakkar, Ethos Literary Journal, Soul Poetry, Neon & Smoke, Every Body Magazine, and Sextet, among others. You can reach out to him on Instagram: @sambhuramachandran

Neil Rhind has been doctored by Edinburgh University for work on the deceased Glaswegian polymath Alasdair Gray. He therefore has OPINIONS about Poor Things, and has shared them in reputable journals and disreputable comment sections. A contributor to Poetry Scotland, Apricity, Eemis Stane, Coffin Bell, Punt Volat, and others, his work has appeared in thematic anthologies on scientists, Satanists, and, most recently, cephalopods (Three Hearts: An Anthology of Cephalopod Poetry, World Enough Writers, 2024)

Lucy Sanders is an educator in the College of Education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She writes poetry about loss, grief, and the magic of the natural world. She lives in Honolulu with her daughter, where they swim and play with abandon on the beaches.

Denise Scott is a nonfiction writer and poet from the Midwest. Her poem “Mouthing Truth” won Saturday Writers Pen & Paint Contest, a collaboration between artists and writers. Although content to observe hummingbirds at her feeder, she is occasionally nudged toward adventures like skydiving or zip lining. https://www.denisescottwriter.com

Joanna Wiggin was born and raised in the Midwest, and is currently living in Nairobi, Kenya, soaking up the beauty of the land and people here. Writing, while sitting amongst trees and water, is one of her favorite pastimes.

After receiving her MFA from the Michener Center at UT-Austin, Sarah Wolbach moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she led poetry workshops for expatriates and taught English to employees of a mushroom factory. After leaving Mexico, she lived in New York City for many years. Her work has been widely published in journals and anthologies, and she is the author of two chapbooks. She now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Tetiana Yatsechko-Blazhenko is a Ukrainian writer and visual artist. Her work has appeared in literary journals including Shot Glass Journal, Eleventh Hour Literary, Corncrake Magazine, Sheepshead Review, Haunted Words Press, Foxylit, Indigo, and Love You. Daily. Afterword. She is also a contributing author to the anthologies Tidings (Anomaly Poetry) and Men’s Appreciation Anthology (Quillkeepers Press), as well as to Koromyslo (Almanac), KOLOS (Literary and Artistic Almanac), the poetry collection Whisper of Sisters (co-author), and the children’s collection Kryshtalynky. A Fairy Tale Winter 2025–2026 (co-author).