Abdu Ali is an independent music artist, writer, and multimedia arts curator based in Baltimore and Brooklyn. Ali has released five musical projects, all notable for his idiosyncratic blend of punk, futurism, Baltimore Club music, and rap music, with lyrics yielding poetic uprise. Through his work as a rapper, curator, writings, and outspokenness via social media/interviews, Ali has been elected as a radical underground Baltimore music and cultural figure. Unapologetically black and queer, Ali’s work is bold, raw, and most importantly life-affirming. Ali is an internationally touring artist and has been featured in Out Magazine, AfroPunk, Noisey, The Fader, Subbacultcha, Les InRocks, and Tracks Arte TV. Follow him on Instagram @Abdu__Ali and on Facebook at facebook.com/AbduAliWorldWide.
Aurora Engle-Pratt makes poetry and pottery in Baltimore. Their work deals with themes of memory, gender, disruption, liminality, family, and interpersonal relationships. Their writing has appeared in a variety of publications both print and online, including Metatron’s ALPHA, Cosmonauts Avenue, The Light Ekphrastic, and The Avenue. The poem featured here is a selection from an ongoing project called Crush Object, which Aurora has described as Soft Queer Body Horror, an exploration of annihilation, and a love letter. Follow them on Instagram @auroraemmanuel and on Twitter @panickyanimal.
Rebekah Kirkman is a writer whose work has appeared in the Baltimore Beat, City Paper, Hyperallergic, and other places. She is the former visual arts editor of City Paper as well as an artist and poet. You can read her depression tweets and her professional tweets all together over @rebekahkirkman and find some of her journalism/criticism at rebekahkirkman.wordpress.com.