E. Martin Pedersen grew up in San Francisco and other towns in northern California. He is a poet, fiction writer, singer-songwriter, and former teacher of English for forty years at the University of Messina. He has degrees from the University of the Pacific, San Francisco State University, and San Jose State University. His over-350 published poems and short stories have appeared in 140 journals in 17 countries. Martin has published Bitter Pills, Exile’s Choice, and Smart Pills. His poem, “Gull Eggs”, was nominated for the 2023 Best of the Net. Finally, Martin is an alumnus of the Community of Writers.