Masthead

Leah Angstman started this press in the early 90s, when she was a mere 13 years old (don’t do the math!), and it’s still going strong 32 years later. She’s old-school Midwestern by nature (Midwesterners were friendly once!), and she’s made up of equal parts Broadway musicals, French Revolution trivia, Colorado Avalanche and women’s ice hockey, 1930s-Hollywood Canadian Mounties, nautical lore, German Shepherd fur, Bruce Springsteen, celebrity boyfriends who don’t know they’re her boyfriends, mountain hikes, chai lattés, punk rock, comic books, exclamation points!, American history lessons between 1636 and 1901 minus the Civil War, and a lineage of English teachers. She reads cholera death records and 1800s land deeds for fun, and she’s either not the person you bring to the party, or she’s exactly the person you bring. Professionally, she has also been an editor/fact-checker for Pacific Standard, Underscore News, Mother Jones, Departures, and Smithsonian, and she is the author of Out Front the Following Sea, Shoot the Horses First, and Falcon in the Dive. [Back to Top]

Torgo is a graduate of the University of Collarado (Go, Barkaloes!), where he received his Dogtorate in Anthropawlogy with a minor in Barketing. He considers himself an armchair s’collar of Ruffsian Literature, naming Fyodor Dogstoyevsky, Boris Pawsternak, and Vladimir Nabarkov among his favorites. (We tell him to read more women, but he says they aren’t punny enough. Boys, amiright?)

Laika almost received her Barkchelor’s in Wagriculture, but she ended up dropping out of Front Mange Community College to pursue a life in the Fine Farts. After a second brief attempt at Arapawhoe Community College, she found her way back to nature, and now she’s a full-time Woofworker, sculpting chew sticks out of tree limbs. Her motto in life is WHY SO SERIOUS?, so she’s an enjoyer of George Bernard Paw, Bark Twain, Jane Pawsten, and Margaret Atwoof. [Back to Top]

Jane Berg is a writer and photographer from South Africa, currently based in San Francisco. She studied English and Journalism at Rhodes University and later completed an MFA in Creative Writing at San Jose State University. At SJSU, she was a teaching associate and served as the managing editor of Reed Magazine. She mostly writes fiction and poetry, with work published or forthcoming in The Argyle Literary Magazine, Flint Hills Review, Months to Years, The Rappahannock Review, Superstition Review, and elsewhere. Somewhat nomadic by nature, Jane has lived on four continents and visited over a dozen countries; experiences that contribute to her interest in international literature and works in translation. She also enjoys theater, yoga, trivia, and collecting vintage cameras. If she’s not writing, then she is probably at a protest or creating an overly ambitious travel itinerary. [Back to Top]

Chandler Kidd spent four years working in journalism before pivoting to publishing — a move that reignited her love for books and allowed her to support authors in bringing their stories to life. When she’s not immersed in the world of publishing, Chandler can be found practicing yoga, reading romantasy or sports romance, attending music festivals, DJing techno sets, or relaxing with her beloved cat, Pickle. [Back to Top]

Lumin Manea is currently working on her undergraduate thesis at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) in the Honors English program. At any given moment, she is crafting a new playlist to fit an incredibly specific vibe or making art with their friends. She has been compared to Kermit the Frog, Winona Ryder, and someone’s uncle, and somehow all of these comparisons are mystically accurate. Her poetry has been published in Ahoy, Arrival, Footnotes, and Acta Victoriana, and she is the coeditor-in-chief of Kaleidoscope Magazine as well as editorial assistant and first reader for Pinhole Poetry. If she isn’t writing right now, please guilt her into doing so (or bribe her with a caffeinated beverage if needed). [Back to Top]

Henry Stevens is a writer and editor from Halifax County, Virginia. He majored in history while studying in China at Duke Kunshan University and completed his MFA at Old Dominion University. A former runner and amateur soccer player, he enjoys binding chapbooks, riding horses, and playing Dungeons & Dragons. He believes that listening to an audiobook counts as reading. Henry’s fiction has been published in New Plains Review, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Artwife, Nude Bruce Review, Teach. Write., Please See Me, and The Gravity of the Thing. He currently reads for the science fiction/fantasy magazine The Colored Lens and the literary magazine The Adroit Journal and is pursuing a career in publishing. [Back to Top]

Ademola Adefolami is a storyteller, teacher, curator, and content strategist. His writings have appeared in New Orleans Review, The NY Literary Magazine, The Adroit Journal, The Rustin Times, Prosopisia, Anathema, Preachy, Olongo Africa, Poetry Potion, and KTravula, among other outlets.

Ademola was awarded the inaugural Poets in Nigeria Fellowship and the Covid HQ Storytelling Fellowship, the latter of which included multidimensional storytellers from across Africa. His essay chapbook manuscript, A Half-Formed Thing, was a semifinalist for the Newfound Prose Prize, and his essay, “Becoming an Immigrant,” was longlisted for the Eugenia Abu/Sevhage International Prize for Creative Nonfiction. He has moderated panels and book chats at leading literary events such as the Aké Arts and Book Festival and the Kaduna Book & Arts Festival.

As a graduate student in English at Kansas State University, Ademola was awarded the Graduate Creative Writing Award in Nonfiction and was a nonfiction reader for Touchstone, the program’s in-house literary magazine. As a writer, he is drawn to stories that grow larger than the tiny cubicles where they unfold. [Back to Top]

Anastasia Jill is a queer writer living in Central Florida. They’ve dreamed of being an author since they first read Harriet the Spy in the third grade and have been working toward it ever since. They have a bachelor’s in English and writing, and have held several editorial positions at various magazines and literary presses. When not reading or writing, they can be found playing Overwatch, pampering their very spoiled cat, visiting their local library, or rewatching The Golden Girls for the millionth time. (And can quote most episodes verbatim).

Over their decade-long career, they have been nominated for Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, and several other honors. Their work has been featured or is upcoming with Poets.org, Sundog Lit, Flash Fiction Online, Contemporary Verse 2, Orca, and other outlets. They are currently working on their first novel. [Back to Top]

Nicole Bird is a writer and teacher in Orlando, Florida. She holds undergraduate degrees in creative writing and film production, as well as a master’s in screenwriting. She spent many years in Los Angeles working in the film industry and can describe the nuanced smell of sausage being made. As a result, she no longer writes scripts and now focuses on poetry and prose. Her work has appeared in Angel City Review, As Surely as the Sun, and The Acentos Review, among other outlets, and she has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her first poetry chapbook, Baptized by Earthquake: Poems About Hollywood, was released from Nat 1 Publishing in April 2025. When she is not writing, she teaches writing, plays tennis, and navigates the herculean task of finding scrumptious gluten-free food. She’s currently at work on a poetry collection about finding truth in modernity, as well as a polyphonic magical-realism novel. You can learn more about Nicole at nicolebirdthewriter.com. [Back to Top]

Talicha J. is a Black queer poet and teaching artist whose poetry career lives inside a color-coded Notion dashboard and an ever-growing pile of voice memos. She writes toward reclamation, clarity, and the kinds of questions that don’t have easy answers. Her books include Falling in Love with Picking Myself Up and Taking Back the Body — which won a chapbook contest and still makes her do a little shoulder shimmy when she sees it on someone’s shelf.

She co-runs an online writing retreat built on care and curiosity and hosts a monthly submission space to help poets keep showing up to their work. She’s known to proclaim, “Is it even a virtual workshop if there’s no technical difficulties!?!” — usually while in the middle of experiencing a technical difficulty. Her poems have appeared in Torch Magazine, Fahmidan, Just Femme and Dandy, Peach Fuzz, Button Poetry, and elsewhere.

She’s powered by snacks, a deep love for BTS, and her 10-year-old, sassy Norwegian Elkhound named Lola — who insists on being listed here. When it comes to craft, she’s especially drawn to well-placed kennings and the turn a good volta can make. [Back to Top]

Emily McKenna is from Kansas City, Missouri, and is currently pursuing her MA in Renaissance Literature at the University of Alabama. She received her BS degrees in English and Philosophy from Missouri State University. Her current research explores beast fables, love, and pedagogy from the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. When she isn’t reading The Riverside Chaucer, she’s probably walking, writing, or crocheting a scarf because she’s too stubborn to learn new crochet patterns. [Back to Top]

Kulthum Ikram Abubakar is a writer and English tutor whose love for language runs deep. She believes great writing isn’t just about style; it is shaped by the eras it emerges from and the history beneath it. Growing up entering poetry competitions, she now spends her time annotating poems simply for the joy of pulling apart each line.

She is fascinated by the way history and literature mirror each other, whether through Shakespeare’s political undercurrents, the emotional depth in Hosseini’s novels, or the raw introspection of Plath’s poetry. Kulthum is also deeply drawn to religious-themed texts, works that explore faith, devotion, doubt, and the human search for meaning across time.

She is especially moved by writing with emotional weight and historical context, where feeling and form work hand in hand. She reads widely, from classic fiction to contemporary essays, always in search of work that stirs something real. Outside of words, she finds comfort in cats, quiet corners, and anything that stretches the imagination. [Back to Top]

Amber Terranova is a grad student, writer, and editor from Long Island. As a proud New Yorker, she loves a good BEC (if you know, you know), the use of excessive hand gestures while talking, and walking at a maximum speed everywhere she goes. She is currently earning an MFA from Lindenwood University in Missouri and expects to graduate in the spring of 2026. When she’s not preoccupied with writing workshops and seminars, she’s usually walking her cats or shopping for antiques. She also, unapologetically, is obsessed with all things quintessentially British: sarcastic humor, afternoon teas, The Great British Bake Off, Jane Austen, Downton Abbey, Elton John, and Premier League football (Go, Chelsea!). Amber is an assistant editor for The Lindenwood Review for the 2024/2025 school year. In addition, she has done freelance writing and content creation for her local library, mainly on environmental, culinary, and cultural topics for K-12 educational activities and events. [Back to Top]