Keith Pille is a freelance writer living in south Minneapolis. His work has appeared in McSweeney’s, The Rake, DIAGRAM, Pulse of the Twin Cities, Modern Humorist, City Pages, Rift Magazine, and the anthologies Best American Nonrequired Reading 2002 and Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans. He takes his position as Editorial Honcho of American Nerd Magazine very, very seriously.

Jason (Jay) Bauer-Clapp doesn't want to be a hero. As a child, he attended computer camp two summers in a row. An administration insider (who requested anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity) reports that Jay prefers Mr. Pibb to Dr. Pepper.

Valerie Borey lives in MN where she writes, teaches, and serves as acting dramaturg for Camden's Workhouse Theatre Company. She is the editor of MN Flasher and MN Crawler, sister blogs that focus on the creative sociological landscape of Minnesota.

Rebecca Collins is not a fan of this sort of “contributors” page.

Chad Cook lives in St. Paul and finances his lavish lifestyle on a Menards card. He will gun you down like a dog if he ever hears you referring to “the Benjamins.”

E.C.W-J gets the joke

N. Gingrich is a semi-public figure of some repute. He allegedly lives near Atlanta.

Geoff Herbach writes in Minneapolis, MN. Recent work has showed up in Bathtub Gin and an anthology called Workers Write! His sad and funny essays sometimes play on Minnesota Public Radio. He is a member of the Lit 6 Project and often shouts stories in live music venues. Furthermore, he has a novel, which is being shopped to the biggest publishing houses in the whole world, even as we speak.

David Indish lives in Detroit, Michigan, which is a very nice place to live despite what you may have heard. Dave has been published nowhere (barring, of course, this fine publication), due to either lack of effort or talent. He hopes it’s the former. Dave is uncomfortable writing about himself in the third person, so he will conclude his bio at this point.

Joel Jensen lives in Boulder, Colorado. When he’s not immersed in his dissertation on Anaximander’s paradigm of mimetic architectonics, he just gazes at buildings.

Mark Kalar won seven NCAA championships while running for the University of Oregon from 1969-73 and finished fourth in the 5000 meters at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He set more than a dozen American records at distances from 2- to 10-kilometers before his mysterious 1975 death in a one-car accident.

Ben Lang is a man of mystery who lives in Minneapolis. Damn, he loves Pac-Man.

Chris Marsh is from Grand Rapids, MI. He’s a young man with modest looks, mild talent, skewed perceptions, and frequently wavering motivation. He enjoys the films of David Cronenberg.

Stephen McClurg lives in Mobile, Alabama, and plays bass in a bluegrass group. He also writes comics.

Reed Miller Reed has recently moved himself and all of his worldly possessions (except for the comic books still in his parents attic) from McLean, Virginia (near Washington, DC) to Marblehead, Massachusetts (15 miles north of Boston). Marblehead is 47 times cooler as a place to live than DC, as it turns out, so the move was a good one. Reed contributes to the contributors page but has contributed nearly nothing but encouragement to American Nerd as a whole. He's hoping to remedy that in the future, maybe.

Ander Monson lives in Michigan where he edits the magazine DIAGRAM and the New Michigan Press. Two books are forthcoming in May 2005: Other Electricities (fiction, Sarabande Books) and Vacationland (poems, Tupelo Press). His essays, fiction, and poems have appeared in lots of places. He plays disc golf much more often than he probably should.

Don Pizarro is an Asian-American who loves being asked "Where were you born?" so that he can truthfully reply, "Cleveland," and watch the ensuing discomfort. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his wife.

Lauren Pontious just graduated from Grand Valley State University with an undergrad degree in creative writing, and is in a process of applying to MFA programs. Besides writing essays, she also writes poetry and enjoys spending time with her evil-yet-lovable kitten, Nina.

bryan is a semi-cartoonist currently residing in Mobile, Alabama… he earns a living making rich people richer and was looted during hurricane Ivan.

Katie Sheehan is a viciously competitive skee-ball player, a three-time reject at blood drives, and a staunch supporter of the series comma. She lives in Burnsville, Minnesota, within biking distance of a library, a sparkling lake, a natural foods co-op, a Vietnamese restaurant, a second-hand store, and a Chuck E. Cheese's.

Jonathan Shipley is an idiot savant and an avant-guard point guard for the Vashon Parks Department Co-Ed basketball team The Earwax Conquistadors. His writings have been published in McSweeney’s, Yankee Potroast, and his own blog, which he updates every 47 minutes.

Neha Y. Upadhyaya Lang is rumored to like shawls.

Matt Vadnais has worked as a dancing coyote, sugar beet security guard, and professional actor. His first book of stories All I Can Truly Deliver was published in February. He currently teaches and writes on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, where he lives with his wife, Mary Ann Hudson, the poet.

Amethyst Vineyard lives in Mobile, Alabama, and just celebrated her twenty-third birthday. She very nearly pays her bills as a massage therapist, and has written several short stories, poems, and one and a half novels which have paid no bills whatsoever. She also takes the time to read something like four books a week. They are the same four books every week, but at least she takes the time to read them.

Clint Weathers is a photographer with a BA in rhetoric. He's still trying to tell his mama that he would rather get an MFA than a Ph.D. In the meantime, he's been managing editor of Haute Dish, written for various print rags, an alt.country music review site, and is a staff photographer for Minnesota Fringe Festival. He's also not sure why he's writing this in the third person.

Grant Weeks lives in St. Paul and prides himself on his ability to provide a high-class meal on a low-rent budget.

Jennifer Whigham lives in Minneapolis and thinks vitamins are important. She always carries a flask.