Meet the Poets: Inside the Collective
Meet the poets shaping the vulnerable voice of our latest Literary Magazine, “Stories on the Move: Voices of the Unhoused.” Inside the Collective is an on-going series dedicated to revealing the people behind the pages because the IHRAM Literary Magazine is about diversity, community, and representation.
Meet Foster, Eve, Gloria, and the other poets : for them, writing is about conversation and resistance; stories that refuse to stay silent.
This is the first chapter in our on-going series, pulling back the curtain behind the creatives that made this magazine happen. Today it is the poets. Next time, there will be more voices and stories.
Foster Gareau, Canada, “imagine chalk enough for a million hopscotch games”
Foster Gareau is a queer French-Canadian poet, sentimentalist, former member of the unhoused, and alcoholic in recovery with a degree in Cinema Studies. In 2025 his work has appeared or is forthcoming in PRISM international, Frozen Sea, Periodicities, carte blanche, Yolk Literary, & Change, and Soliloquies Anthology. He was also shortlisted for the 2025 Vallum Chapbook Award.
It's been utterly lovely [publishing with IHRAM Press]. I published with you because this poem tells a story that is dear to me and needed a "home" somewhere it would be understood and welcomed completely.1. "It's hard to hate up-close" While I know this to be true from interacting with people face-to-face, especially with people whose lives have looked different from mine, I also know that it's more difficult to get "close" to someone across great physical distances. Poetry can have that effect, so I want my writing to feel intimate. 2. (I'm paraphrasing) By writing, by honouring the ordinary, the poet is always attempting to protect humanity itself by reminding us of our shared value and shaping how we treat one another and the world. This impacts the choices we make; our acts of respect and care.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
In 2025 Foster's work appeared in seventeen literary journals including IHRAM, carte blanche, PRISM, Frozen Sea, Periodicities, NECKSNAP, long con magazine, & Change, and others. His poetry collection "Folded Oceans" comes out with Cactus Press in 2026.
Eve Rifkah, Worcester / United States, Change of Address
Eve Rifkah was a co-founder of Poetry Oasis, Inc., and was the Founder and editor of the literary magazine DINER. She was awarded the Stanley Kunitz Medal in 2021 and lives in Worcester, Massachusetts. The play Outcasts the Lepers of Penikese Island was based on her first book. She has 6 published books, which you can find more information about at eve-rifkah.com.
It's so important in reducing the stigma of being unhoused by getting their stories out. I interviewed people in my city of Worcester. Here the numbers are increasing dramatically each year and the government continues to harrass those who are struggling.We don't know problems exist until we witness the results either visually / in person/ or through literature. In reading we all develop empathy. With learning empathy, we learn how to be compassionate to others.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Eve has previously published: Outcasts the Penikese Island Leper Hospital, 1905-1920; Dear Suzanne, a novel in verse on the life of Suzanne Valadon; Lost in Sight; One Kid, a telling, a childhood memoir; and a chapbook, Scar Tissue.
Gloria Ogo, United States, "Things that Rot Beautifully"
Gloria Ogo is an American-based Nigerian writer. Her work has appeared in Eye to the Telescope, Brittle Paper, Spillwords Press, Metastellar, Gypsophila Magazine, Harpy Hybrid Review, Allegro Poetry Magazine, CON-SCIO Magazine, and more. While earning her MFA in Creative Writing, Gloria was a reader for Barely South Review. She won the Brigitte Poirson 2024 Literature Prize, and received honorable mentions for the Jerri Dickseski Fiction Prize 2024 and the ODU 2025 Poetry Prize. She is also a finalist for Lucky Jefferson's 2025 Poetry Contest. Her work was longlisted for the 2025 American Short(er) Fiction Prize.
IHRAM foregrounds human rights, migration, and socially engaged work without flattening the art itself. From communication to production, the process felt intentional and grounded, which made it clear I wasn’t just placing work, but entering a conversation I wanted to be part of.IHRAM’s mission treats art not as ornament or instruction, but as a living force, one that can unsettle, illuminate, and open doors rather than dictate conclusions. I believe literature influences social change precisely through beauty and sincerity: by making us linger, feel, and recognize ourselves in lives we might otherwise overlook. Vulnerability, in this sense, is not exposure for its own sake but a disciplined honesty that resists simplification and invites ethical engagement. I’m aligned with creating space for difficult, plural truths - work that does not collapse difference into sameness, but allows distinct voices, histories, and aesthetics to coexist. For me, art becomes a doorway when it asks the reader to stay present with complexity, to listen more closely, and to imagine responsibility as something shared rather than abstract.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Gloria Ogo has several published novels and poetry collections. Her work has appeared in Eye to the Telescope, Brittle Paper, Spillwords Press, Metastellar, Gypsophila Magazine, Harpy Hybrid Review, and more. You can find her at: https://glriaogo.wixsite.com/gloria-ogo.
Matthew Schembri, Malta, “a roof”
Matthew Schembri is an artist, writer, and poet based in Malta. Schembri won Divergent Thinkers 04 (2015), Shifting Contexts (2019), and was named Young Artist of the Year in 2017 by Arts Council Malta. His debut novel, Stessi (Selfies, 2018) won the Literary Contest for Novels for Youth 2016, and his debut poetry collection, Ħassartek (I Erased You, 2021), won him the Best Emerging Author award from the National Book Council of Malta in 2022.
The team at IHRAM Press is phenomenal, which makes the publishing experience amazing from start to finish. I discovered you on social media (I believe Instagram), and I chose to publish with you because the theme of one of your calls—the unhoused—is very dear to my heart. I think it’s a very important issue that we need to talk about more.IHRAM Press’s mission and values closely align with my own, both personally and creatively. I believe that art and literature—and the values and principles they embody—are essential drivers of social change.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Matthew has previously published: ARTMENTS: Investigating the Artistic Potential of Online Criticism on Contemporary Public Art (2017), WiN, art catalogue (2018, self-published), Stessi (2018, a novel, Merlin Publishers), and more. You can learn more about him at: https://www.matthewschembri.com/books
Raven Schmale, Canada, “The Year of Twelve”
Raven is a 73-year-old Indigenous woman from British Columbia. Surviving early years of poverty and neglect, she found love and purpose at 19 when she became a mother. Her greatest joy is her family: her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are her world. Raven built two successful careers and devoted countless hours to community volunteering. Later in life, she embraced her creativity as a visual artist, expressing emotions through painting. Raven stands as a testament that destiny is not dictated by origin. She has transformed adversity into strength and created a life of meaning beyond its scars.
I still see the people without a home and have suffered loss. I see the hopelessness that surrounds them and can only hope I can bring them some glimpse into the future and what life has to offer. By writing I can feel the once empty heart I had and the a heart filled with joy today.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Lao Rubert, United States, “Just a Clean House”
Lao Rubert lives in Durham, North Carolina, USA. Her poems are forthcoming—or have appeared in About Place Journal, Atlanta Review, Barzakh, Cider Press Review, Collateral, Muleskinner, Poetry East, Rust&Moth, Spillway, The Avenue, The Marbled Sigh, Writers Resist, and elsewhere. Rubert was a finalist in the Anita McAndrews Poets for Human Rights Award organized by Poets Without Borders. Her work can be found at https://www.laorubert.com/.
I want to be part of a movement connecting arts and human rights. Pablo Neruda (from Chile) was one of the greatest human rights poets to write in any language. He wrote in Spanish, but has been translated around the world.Art provides one way to address the emotional side of human rights issues. Journalism and policy changes are other essential ways, but they often focus more on systemic facts and less on emotional realities.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
You can find Lao on: www.laorubert.com
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