Messy Misfits Club
Volume 3 Contributors
All of our contributors listed in alphabetical order for Volume Three! This list contains creators from both our physical and digital volumes.
Don't see yourself, or want an updated bio? Send us an email!
allison anne
Featuring “Close approach”&“Uncertainty in future motion”
allison anne (they/them/theirs) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (unceded Očhéthi Šakówiŋ land), working in collage, zinemaking, mail art, mixed media & graphic design. The core of their practice is handcut paper collage -- a constantly evolving exploration of experience and emotion through the reconstitution and rearranging of various printed media and ephemera. By recontexualizing images and materials, allison seeks to create complex textural, intuitive abstractions and configurations which prioritize that which is found, discarded and left behind, exploring the intersections & interactions between context, materiality and creativity. Visit their website or Instagram.
Haley Brewer
Featuring "Everything is Grey"
Haley (she/her/hers) is 28 and lives in Chicago. Grew up in the South with equal time in Texas and Arkansas. She moved to Chicago to attend film school at Columbia and stuck around for a role at a tech startup. Haley enjoys drawing, painting, watching movies and attending concerts in her free time.
Holiday Noel Campanella
Featuring "Flesh"
Holiday (she/her/hers) grew up in South Philadelphia and spent her teenage years working on the boardwalk at the Jersey shore. A high school dropout turn Ivy League grad, she’s interested in writing about paradoxical desires and identities. Consequently, she is the editor-in-grief at NINETENTHS Press, an editorial project that ruminates on the inevitability of losing and loss, which she co-edits with her husband in Nashville, TN.
Emma Cholip
Featuring "I Am Still Growing"
Emma (they/them/she/her) is a Madison based queer poet and dark fiction author. They helped begin Messy Misfits Club in Chicago, but then moved to Madison in hopes of expanding the zine. She makes chocolate to pay the bills, and writes to feed the soul. Her cat, Juniper, can often be found nearby, causing chaos.
Theaderic Crocker De Ruiter
Featuring “It’s Not About Me” & “Survival: A Pro Life Narrative”
Theaderic (they/them/theirs) Friends! Most call me Thea and I’m an enby who just moved to the big city! My live has been quite the adventure. Grown and indoctrinated in conservative religion, I believed and studied theology until it proved itself to be false. Now focusing on finding myself and my life as truly as I can!
Isobel Duncan
Featuring “Fighting femininity”
Isobel (they/them/theirs) is a genderqueer multi media artist and organizer.
Mazapán Dust
Featuring “I can’t wait to be you one day”
Mazzy (they/them/theirs) is a queer artist living in Guadalajara, México, and making comics that tell stories about their life. Themes in their work include: living life in a second language, reparenting, friendship, and the intersection between queerness, disability, and neurodivergence.
Finnialla
Featuring “To Get You Off” & “Rebound”
Finnialla (they/them/theirs) is a recent art school graduate with an honors bachelor's in screenwriting. While there, they accidentally became president of a slam poetry club for two years and fell in love with the genre. They are currently freelancing for both dramatic and creative writing but are always looking for new opportunities.
Lucy Gonzalez
Featuring "Staying Inside"
Lucy (she/her/hers) is a first generation Salvadoran-American artist and designer based in Queens, NY. She specializes in painting and digital art and is a student still learning the ropes but hopes to share her emotions and deepest thoughts through her art.
Hana
Featuring “bottleneck beer”
& “pornography 101”
Hana (they/them/any) is a recent graduate from UIUC who is struggling so hard to find a job. Sometimes they also write.
Lee Honey
Featuring “Short Anecdotes of a Horndog”
Lee (she/her/hers) is a Chicago-based visual artist, cartoonist, and an all-around awkward but well-meaning sometimes lady. Lee is an active participant in the local BDSM and Shibari/Kinbaku community, and a natural lover of comics and of all things animated. She has shown at several art shows throughout her career and has now open her doors to accept commission work.
Aliyah Knight
Featuring “How to find God in easier steps” & “hot shower/Baptism/burnt orange”
Claire-Scott Lynch
Featuring "not quite normative"
Claire-Scott (she/her/hers) is a Louisiana native focused on gender and politics. In her free time she makes collages, half-wit poetry, and extended prose.
Raksha Muthukumar
Featuring “chaque baise lesbienne”
Raksha (she/her/hers) is a desi abolitionist and queer feminist. She became a storyteller through her work as a community organizer and her work is fueled by the belief that our movements are strengthened by the stories we share with one another. You can find all of Raksha's works on her website, www.raksha.gay. Raksha currently resides in Brooklyn with her 3 pet rats, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.
Catriona Roy
Featuring “Aroace is A”
Catriona (she/her/hers) is an aroace physics student from Lancashire, UK. She loves reading old books, listening to 60s music and writing poetry.
mo santiago
Featuring "her name is flower"
Lindsey Cherek Waller
Featuring “Still Life of Queer Joy”
Lindsey (they/them/she/her) is a queer, non-binary artist that centers pleasure and joy. Through portraits and still life paintings, Lindsey envisions a future beyond binaries -- encouraging us to take up space, embrace play, and imagine the possibilities to construct a better world.
Hope Baxter
Featuring "Self-Pleasure"
Hope (she/her/hers) is a self published author of the book "The Unseen" and 21 year old who has just finished studying at Bangor University. She loves all things creative and likes all of her works to hold a message.
Ellie Cameron
Featuring “Never” & “Sonnet on a dream”
Ellie (they/she/he) is an emerging nonbinary writer and writing teacher. They hold a BA in Writing Arts with a concentration in Creative Writing from Rowan University. They are a founding editor and contributor of R U Joking?, and they have poetry published in small leaf press and Lead & Pulp Poetry.
Ahneka Campbell
Featuring “Ethereal feminine”
Ahneka (she/her/hers) is an artist centered around feminism, mental health, and nature. She works with naturally foraged and preserved materials as well as most times making her own paper and stretching her own canvas. Ahneka is currently studying at Ohio University for a BFA in Printmaking and Painting. She has won awards for her works, one of which includes the Dox Thrash Award for Printmaking.
L.M. Cole
Featuring "I am"
L.M. (she/her/hers) is a poet from the US East Coast via the Midwest. She has had work published with Strukturriss, Unfortunately, Substantially Unlimited and upcoming in others. She can be found on Twitter.
soledad con carne
Featuring “Something about self-love”
soledad con carne (he/his/they/them) is a first-generation Chicanx poet, student, and mixed-media artist. Based at the edge of stolen Tongva and Tataviam land and the heart of The Valley, soledad is known as the poet laureate of the San Fernando Valley.
Emily Deadman
Featuring “In My Comfy”
Emily (she/her/hers) lives in Chicago, IL with her partner and cat. As a proud ex-christian, divorced, lesbian, Emily writes to express herself and unpack the trauma, fears, shame, freedom, and truth she experiences. When she’s not writing, she enjoys crocheting, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and being surrounded by friends. She can be found on Instagram.
Kayla Martell Feldman
Featuring “Best Fit” & “On Sober Sex With A Married Man”
Kayla (she/her/they/them) is a founding member of Sovereign Writers Group and co-hosts Process, a monthly spoken word night. She has had work published by Fifth Wheel Press, Popshot Quarterly, Derailleur Press, Moonlove, 9VT\5, and been featured on the Dead Darlings and Artists That Work podcasts. Last year she published her debut poetry collection, TIKVA.
Clem Flowers
Featuring “FOG AT DAWN” & “double underflip”
Clem (they/them/theirs) is a poet & low rent aesthete; poetry editor of Blue River Review & Pushcart nominee. Nb, bi, and queer as hell, living in a cozy apartment with their wonderful wife & sweet calico kitty. Found on Twitter
Mel Grebing
Featuring "Graveyard"
Mel (they/them/theirs) is a middle aged, nd enby working full-time in HR. They like gaming or sewing, depending on whether they do or do not want to use their brain. Mel has no writing credits to show, unless 1.5 million words of fanfic count. Sometimes they blog about the challenges of being a neurodiverse writer or traveling. Visit their website here www.melgrebing.com
Sema Hernandez
Featuring “Cuerpo de Luz”
Sema (they/them/theirs) is a queer artist of Mexican descent from the southwest side of Chicago. Their visual art explores corporal themes, urban environments, and possibility, among other things. They deeply appreciate and believe in grassroots community organizing and, in particular, the work of the Gage Park Latinx Council (GPLXC).
Alexander Jensen
Featuring “I received my invitation” & “Therapy”
Alexander (he/him/they/them) is a Cuban American trans(FTM) poet from the southeast US. They were previously published under their deadname and are seeking to make a new name for themselves as a poet living as their true self.
Kelas Lloyd
Featuring "Mothballs"
Kelas (they/them/theirs) is a queer, disabled author, artist, and activist doing their best to survive (and hopefully one day escape) Texas. They mostly write spec lit, and love to make glittery, shiny pieces with their hands. You can find them on Twitter.
Mari
Featuring “Inner child”
Mari (they/she/he) @snailtastic, is a queer illustrator and concept artist from Portugal with a lifelong love for nature. Their work portrays soft queer relationships, plants and bugs!
Aleah Romer
Featuring "The Casualties of New Love"
Aleah (she/her/hers) is a neurodivergent, queer writer living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Ruthenium
Featuring “Flower Signals” & “Rainbow Glyphs”
Ruthenium (they/them/theirs) is an artist currently living in the state of uncertainty. They believe creativity is real-life magic, and are obsessed with texture, context, light, and the question “what if?...” Their art has been published in Rabble Review, Celestite Poetry, Vulnerary Magazine, and Warning Lines Literary, among other wonderful places. Their various presences and publications can be found at https://linktr.ee/Ruthenium
SJ Singh
Featuring “Too Much Too Little (Message from Past to Present)”
SJ (they/he/she) is a queer aspiring game developer and multimedia artist who deeply enjoys making queer-themed work--whether it be a comic, fanfiction, poetry, short story, or a game. When not plotting over story ideas--they enjoy cooking and even more plotting.
Devon Webb
Featuring "Temperamental Pussy"
Devon (she/her/hers) is a full-time writer based in Wellington, Aotearoa. Her themes revolve around sexuality, femininity & vulnerability, & she is currently working on her debut novel.