Claire Åkebrand was born in Stockholm, Sweden, grew up in Frankfurt, Germany, and has lived in Utah since age 15. She is a senior majoring in English and will graduate in April 2009. She is the recipient of the La Verna S. Clark, and the Blessing Creative Writing Scholarships. In Winter 2008, she won first place in the Hart-Larson Poetry Contest and second place in the Elsie C. Carroll Essay Contest. She has published poetry in the British literary journal X-Magazine: Daring New Poetry and Prose. In Fall 2008, she was nominated for the AWP Intro Journals Contest. After BYU, she plans on getting an MFA and a PhD in writing poetry. Claire’s greatest goals are to live in a stone cottage by a lake in Ireland, raise children with Irish accents, and always be surrounded by poetry
Alicia Anderson is a Junior at BYU but a Freshman in the Studio Arts Department, with emphasis on Drawing and Painting. She grew up in California but now considers herself to be from South Jordan, Utah. She plays on the BYU women’s lacross team.
A special thanks to Clayton Bailey has spent many years as a Professor of art and ceramics in California. Previously a professor of Art at Wisconsin State University and now an Emeritus professor of ceramics at California State University-Hayward. He is also a recipient of the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Craftsmen’s Fellowship Award and an Honorary Fellowship Award from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. In 1976 he founded “The Wonders of the World Museum” in Port Costa, California.
Ellis Clark is a sophomore from Moscow, Idaho. She is majoring in English with an emphasis in creative writing. When not studying in the Periodicals section of the Harold B. Lee Library, she enjoys reading voraciously, writing poetry, hiking, cooking with friends, and singing in her ward choir.
Kate Finlinson is from Salt Lake City, Utah. She will graduate this April with an MA in American Literature. This year she took first place in the Utah Arts’ Council Original Writing Contest. She has also received various awards for her writing at BYU. Kate is applying for admission to MFA programs for Fall 2009, where she will continue to work on her fiction.
Jeff Harris is a senior majoring in English. He thinks your tractor’s sexy.
Bryce Isaacson is an Advertising major at Brigham Young University, minoring in English. He spent his teenage years in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is currently missing the beef very dearly. He has published several articles and features in BYU Magazine and won first place in the Radio Ad category at the 2007 BYU Half Show. He is currently preparing his honors thesis, “Content Analysis of Family Conflict in Childrens Television in the 2006-2007 Season.” He enjoys performing in community theater, and harbors an intense love for music, cooking and eating. As a postscript to his essay, he would like to add that his grandmother’s sneezes sound like “Hug-a-choo-choo!” His current home is Farmington, Utah.
Alma Jean is from Laie, Hawaii.He is the winner of no awards. However, he recently won the Alexis Plowman Scholarship that includes a lifetime supply of milk and cookies, piñatas, indie movies, mornings, awkward phone calls, and occasional roses.
Sydney Kiker is a sophomore from Henrico, Virginia studying English. This is her first time submitting to Inscape. Sydney hopes to continue on to graduate school with the tentative goal of teaching English at an East-coast college preparatory school. However, in the meantime, she is passionate about her education, fighting for social equality, and learning about other religions and cultures.
Eliesa Lake is a freshman from the small town of Wilsonville, Oregon. She is currently undecided as to what to do with the rest of her life, but enjoys photography, sewing, and craft projects of any kind. After graduating college, she hopes to travel the world, but wants to eventually end up living in her favorite place in the world: Oregon.
Tammy Messick recently graduated from BYU with a degree in Anthropology. She currently resides in the outskirts of Washington, D.C. where she is pursuing a career in museums. She is passionate about finding beauty in seemingly everyday things.
Julia Moore, having recently forsaken a career in law to pursue poetry, is a novice writer. Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Julia aspires to develop the skill of those exceptional Southern writers who have come before her. In the mean time, she is working for the Man as a technical writer.
Jordan Reasor found herself drawn to creative endeavors at a very early age when she produced her first major piece: a marker-crayon mix on white wall; a bold tribute to a Victorian staircase upon which the artist suffered many a fall. The controversial abstract piece drew many criticisms and was finally removed from exhibition by a parental figure of sorts. The artist currently prefers canvas but plans to return to wall in the near future. The piece “You Play Ball Like a Girl”; was originally done in color.
Katherine Elaine Sanders is a senior from Keizer, Oregon, majoring in English. She plans to continue studying creative nonfiction (along with the myriad of other things that interest her) in graduate school. Her latest adventure includes street haunting in New York City.
Skoticus is a guy who likes to write and take pictures. He will soon be graduating from BYU with a degree in Recreation Management, and has no idea how that is going to help his future. Skoticus’s creative work has previously appeared in Inscape and The Prick of the Spindle. FYI: “Globes” was taken at Old Star Mill.
Amanda Stoddard is a senior in English Language/editing. She is from Fruit Heights, Utah. She graduates in April 2009.
Cassie Stoneman is a sophomore from West Point, New York. She tries to write about small things: her inspiration comes from diners, bike rides, and rainy days in Manhattan. This is her first contribution to Inscape.
Christina Tibbetts is a 21-year-old BYU senior, majoring in Theatre Arts and minoring in English. She has freckles, schizophrenically curly-straight hair, and a crooked yawn. Some of her favorite things in the world are blue jeans, sunsets, and words that start with the letter “Q”. On that note, she is also a word nerd and devours books like most people devour junk food—with great enthusiasm and little self-control. She takes pictures of leaves, old houses, and interesting people. She is also a health nut who loves chocolate and a sun-worshiper who adores thunderstorms. She will graduate in April and move home to bask in the sunshine.