Dennis Etzel Jr. lives with Carrie and the boys in Topeka, Kansas where he teaches English at Washburn University. He is the author of THE SUM OF TWO MOTHERS (ELJ Publications, 2013), and MY SECRET WARS OF 1984 (BlazeVOX, 2015), and his work has appeared in Denver Quarterly, Indiana Review, BlazeVOX, Fact- Simile, 1913: a journal of poetic forms, 3: AM, Tarpaulin Sky, DIAGRAM, and others. He is a TALK Scholar for the Kansas Humanities Council, and volunteers for the YWCA in Topeka, Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge, and other Kansas spaces.