Originally from Victoria, Tx, Katelyn Perez is a dancer, choreographer, and recent graduate of Sam Houston State University with a BFA in Dance. Throughout her time at SHSU, she worked with choreographers and professors such as Alethea Alexander, Joshua Manculich, Francisco Graciano, and Adele Nickel. Katelyn has showcased multiple dance films and stage works at Sam Houston State University and with Victoria Ballet Theatre as a senior company member. She has attended summer intensives such as the National Choreography Intensive where she received a full scholarship through Regional Dance of America to create and set works for two weeks. In 2020, her dance film, Sinking in Her Thoughts, had the opportunity to premiere virtually with Danceworks Chicago’s DanceChance. Additionally, her piece ceaseless was nominated in 2021 for the South-Central ACDA Conference and she instructed two masterclasses at the 2022 North-Central ACDA Conference. She is currently an MFA candidate in Dance at the University of Iowa on the performance track.

Reetta Pekkanen (poet; Finland) has published the collections Pieniä kovia nuppuja [Small Hard Buds] (2014), Kärhi [Tendril] (2019), Salakuljetuksia [Smugglings] (2021) and Katkaistut tulppaanit [Cut Tulips] (2023). Her poetry focuses on themes of personal and environmental loss, non-human perspectives, and natural semiotics. Among her awards are the Kalevi Jäntti Prize, the Katri Vala Prize and the Silja Hiidenheimo Memorial Stipend; she is a member of the poetry publishing cooperative Poesia. Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.