BYRON BARRETT was born in Birmingham, England, and raised in Vancouver's west end. Mr. Barrett’s work has been featured on CBC Radio3 and published in such diverse publications as Popular Photography & Imaging, Clamor, PHOTOgraphic, Front, Filling Station and Vancouver's own Ripe magazine. Mr. Barrett feels some shame over using his own name in the third person when putting together bios.

While his best stories are about kids racing bikes in small-town Saskatchewan, DARRYL BERGER still struggles to make his way in Kingston, Ontario (please don't cut him off when you pull onto Princess).

ARIELLE BERGER is in the process of a career transition from massage therapist to editor. She's spent part of the summer unemployed as well as in training for her first triathlon, and is now in the process of recovering from both.

TAMARA FAITH BERGER is working on a new book.

MATT BLACKETT’s friend Trevor has an absurdly smart dog.

DAVID BURKE lives in Windsor, ON, and was recently published in NOW, Carousel, Forget Magazine and Saucy Vox.

EVIE CHRISTIE lives in Toronto. Her first book, Gutted, will be published in fall, 2005, with ECW Press.

KITTY CRABBE is a Kingstonian artist/writer presently residing in Southern California. She creates drawings and poems with her left hand and collects them in a monthly chapbook/zine entitled gadfly, which can be viewed online at www.luludesign.com

STACEY MAY FOWLES is a text-based visual artist, writer and graduate in English Literature and Women’s Studies. Her exhibited artwork has asked the world to apologize and helped women have g-spot orgasms, while her writing has been published in Fireweed and Hive Magazine. She has recently completed her first novel, broken plate ideology: a collective recollection. For further information contact brokenplateideology@hotmail.com.

KRISTI-LY GREEN is a short story writer and portrait painter in Toronto. Currently, she sews costumes made from foam. Sometimes, she pretends to be French. In her free time, she writes about disease.

JESSE HIRSH is now in possession of a valid driver’s license after a few decades as a militant pedestrian and cyclist. He now drives a David Ryan BMW 325i, without shame, and full of joy.

PAUL HONG does not remember his fourth grade teacher’s last name, but her first name was, and presumably remains, Toby. At that time, she taught at Grenoble Public School. Grenoble was the first school Paul attended in Canada.

JOANNE HUFFA just moved deeper into Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood with her dude and her cat. The first night in her new home she shocked herself on a light switch and burned her lip on a popsicle.

HELENA KVARNSTRÖM lives in London and has a cat named after a character in a Jacqueline Susann novel.

SHAUNA YAEL LANCIT is a poet and a doctoral candidate in English at York University. She holds an M.A. from Concordia University. A defector from the spoken word scene, she is currently most influenced by her brief Hebrew day school education, Paul Celan and the Victorian Long Poem.

STEF LENK likes to draw inoffensive things for other people, and highly offensive things for herself. Her heart lies somewhere between books and illustration, and she happily bandies dark thoughts between the two. She is an assistant editor at Brick Literary Journal and does production work for Coach House Press.

GREG MAJSTER A.K.A. Gonzo Stro A.K.A. Stro1 is a benevolent being who resides on the planet but is most likely from elsewhere. Luckily he can still be somewhat understood through the use of English. He realizes communication is key to ending the problems on the planet and bringing about world peace, so he practices many art disciplines. Some of his work can be seen at www.stro1.com

KELLY MCCARTHY-MAINE is one lucky duck. She learns something everyday from
from her husband and their dog, both enlightened sages in the ways of the universe, Kibble and Lao Tzu.

SALLY MCKAY has jelly for brains.

At 17 years old, SARAH MORTIMER is a novice contributor to Kiss Machine. Her age limited profile includes the editing and production of her school’s yearbook and writing a column every six weeks for her local paper (The Guelph Mercury). Sarah is the proud owner of a photo library that could easily be mistaken as that of a stalker’s (photos taken predominantly of strangers) and insists that it is this that has helped her to capture the world as it really is – imperfect and unpredictable.

COREY PIERCE is an illustrator from the soccer mom factory known as Oakville, Ontario. He can drive a fire truck. He eats salmon every day. His shoes currently have holes in them and need to be replaced. Pay him a visit at corey-pierce.com

EMILY POHL-WEARY wishes she were outdoors.

On August 21, PAOLA POLETTO dreamt about going to the disco in thigh-high boots, carrying her fishing rod and hunting rifle.

KASHFIA RAHMAN is taking her first baby steps into life. When something significant has been accomplished by her, you will be the first to know.

LISA RUNDLE is pleased to be working on reviews at the Kiss Machine. (Kiss Rating for working on this inaugural section: had the stomach-flop feeling of spontaneity, but packed a punch that can only come from many hours practising with a mirror.) She is also editing a new books section at rabble.ca. Check it out!

ABI SLONE is an editor who writes and a writer who edits. She dreams of stopping it all and learning to tap dance her way to fame and critical acclaim. She has no shame, which can be a good thing, but sometimes, not a good thing.

KATE SUTHERLAND lives in Toronto. Her first book, Summer Reading (Thistledown Press), won a Saskatchewan Book Award in 1995. She has just completed a second collection of short stories. Her stories, poems, and travel writing have appeared in The New Quarterly, Queen Street Quarterly, dig, and Taddle Creek Magazine.

MARIKO TAMAKI is also, most recently, the author of book, Fake ID, and comic Skim (created with Jillian Tamaki). Mariko would like to apologize for having no shame and continuing to dress like a teenager.

CHRISTEN THOMAS is currently on the wagon. She sold her soul at sixteen for a pineapple Chupa Chup, and regrets only the cavities.

KATHARINE TILLMAN lives and writes in New York City. She’s been embarrassing herself online for nearly a decade.

TERI VLASSOPOULOS lives and writes in Toronto, but is considering living and writing elsewhere.

ADRIENNE WEISS is a writer living in Toronto’s west-end neighbourhood, Parkdale. She is the author of one book of poetry, Awful Gestures (Insomniac Press, 2001).

ZOE WHITTALL’s next book, Bottle Rocket Hearts, will be released in the spring of 2007 with Cormorant Books. She is the author of a little book of poetry called The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life (McGilligan Books, 2001).

AUDRA WILLIAMS runs Lefty Lucy Communications out of the messy North End Halifax home she shares with her husband and her cat. She makes Fox News producers cry, and once took a call from Susan Sarandon's office while wearing raccoon pyjamas. Sometimes she worries that third wave feminism has been diluted into an aesthetic, which makes her have to put her head down on her desk for a while.

RACHEL ZOLF’s second book, Masque (The Mercury Press, 2004), was shortlisted for the 2005 Trillium Book Award for Poetry. She lives in Toronto and is poetry editor for The Walrus magazine. For money, Zolf wastes words writing corporate copy. Her days just zoom-Zoom by.