Masthead
James Rawlings – Editor-in-Chief
James Rawlings (he/his), AKA David Galloway, author of poyms for people (Kelsay Books, 2021), his poetry and essays have appeared in Atlanta Review, Salamander, Gargoyle, Penn Review, Into the Void, Permafrost, and many others. He earned his B.A in English with a Creative Writing Concentration in Poetry from University of Maryland, College Park.
Maria S. Picone – Managing Editor
Maria S. Picone (she/her) is multi-genre writer and artist from Massachusetts and a Korean adoptee. She has been published in Zócalo Public Square, Fractured Lit, and Whale Road Review, among others including Best Small Fictions ’21. Maria is a Kenyon Review fellow and holds an MFA in fiction from Goddard College. She can be found on Twitter at @mspicone, on Instagram at @mspicone, and at mariaspicone.com.
A.R. Arthur – Poetry Editor
A.R. Arthur (FKA A.R. Salandy) is a Black Mixed-race poet & writer who has spent most of his life in Kuwait. His work has been published over 240 times internationally. His flash fiction was shortlisted for the 2022 Dillydoun Flash Fiction Prize. He has 3 published chapbooks, including The Great Northern Journey (2020) and Vultures (2021), plus a novel The Sands of Change (2021). His chapbook Half Bred was the Winner of the 2021 Poetry Question chapbook contest. He is also the EIC of Fahmidan Journal and Review Editor at Full House Literary. Find him on
Twitter/Instagram @ararthurwriter and at arsalandywriter.com.
Ọbáfẹ́mi Thanni – Poetry Editor
Ọbáfẹ́mi Thanni is a poet whose works of poetry and fiction have received Pushcart Prize nominations. An alumnus of the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study’s Writers’ Workshop, he spends his time between the cities of Ibadan and Lucille, making attempts at beauty. Some of which are on his website obafemithanni.com.
Brooke Randel – Prose Editor
Brooke Randel (she/her) is a writer and associate creative director in Chicago. Her writing has been published in Gigantic Sequins, Hypertext Magazine, Jewish Fiction, Pidgeonholes, Smokelong Quarterly, and elsewhere. She can be found on Twitter as @brookerandel and at brookerandel.com.
Nadia Staikos – Prose Editor
Nadia Staikos (she/they) is a writer and editor in Toronto, where she lives with her two children. Her short fiction and CNF can be found in various publications, and she’s working on her first novel. They can be found on Twitter at @NadiaStaikos.
Teresa Snow – Art/Layout Editor
Teresa Snow (she/her) holds a master’s in linguistics from Cornell University, and has over twenty years’ experience in logo design and publication layout. Her interests include mid-twentieth century German lace knitting patterns and researching the original provenance of early internet fan art.
Cass Garison – Assistant Managing Editor
Cass Garison is a poet and artist with an MFA from University of Washington, Seattle. They have work published at Poets.org, in Gulf Coast, Bennington Review, Foglifter, and others. Find them at CassGarison.com.
Rashna Wadia– Associate Poetry Editor
Rashna Wadia is a Parsi poet living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has appeared in Terrain.org, Rust & Moth, Catamaran, Salt Hill Journal and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from VONA/Voices, Open Mouth, and Kenyon Review. Rashna practices restorative yoga and enjoys gardening.
Praise Osawaru – Associate Prose Editor
Praise Osawaru (he/him) is a writer of Bini descent. A Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, and Nina Riggs Poetry Award nominee; his work appears in Agbowó, FIYAH, Frontier Poetry, 20.35 Africa: Volume V, The Maine Review, and Uncanny Magazine, among others. He’s the first-place winner of the 2021 Valiant Scribe Poetry Prize and a finalist for the 2021 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize & the 2021 Dan Veach Prize For Younger poets. He’s a Contributing Editor for Barren Magazine. Find him on Instagram on Twitter @wordsmithpraise. linktr.ee/wordsmithpraise.
Mark Blackford – Chapbook Editor/Poetry Reader
Mark Blackford graduated from Valdosta State University (2010) with a BA in Creative Writing, and has performed throughout NY’s Hudson Valley ever since. As the first Poet Laureate of Sullivan County, NY, he opened for Arlo Guthrie at the Woodstock 50th Anniversary Celebration. They still have yet to pay him. He can be found on Instagram at @markbpoet.Julia Walton – Website Editor/Prose Reader
Julia Walton (she/they) is a PhD student in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. As an undergraduate, Julia served as Editor-in-Chief for Princeton University’s historic literary magazine, The Nassau Literary Review. Julia’s creative work has been published in COUNTERCLOCK, Figments, Arch&Arrow, The Nassau Literary Review, and The Best Teen Writing of 2016. Follow Julia on Twitter at @julia_walton22.
Sabrina Black – Poetry Reader
Sabrina Black (she/hers) is a poet and translator from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She holds an MFA from the University of Montana, where she served as a poetry editor for CutBank.
Semilore Kilaso – Social Media Coordinator
Semilore Kilaso is a student Quantity Surveyor, writer, and communications enthusiast with interest in user psychology. She can be found on Twitter @ooreola.
Roseline Mgbodichinma – Social Media Coordinator
Roseline Mgbodichinma is a Nigerian writer passionate about documenting women’s stories. Her work has appeared online and in print and are published or forthcoming in Poet Lore, Agbowo, Isele magazine, Swwim, Native Skin, Down River Road, JFA human rights Journal, and elsewhere. You can reach her on her blog at www.mgbodichi.com.Sam Gordon Webb – Social Media Coordinator
Sam is a writer and editor who has lived in Washington D.C, Brussels and London. He resides in the city of Norwich, UK. Sam’s prose has featured in Beyond Words Literary Magazine. Sam is writing his first crime novel as a student of the Faber Academy’s ‘Writing a Novel’ course. He starts his days with oatmeal (and often ends them with it too). He can be found on Twitter as @samofme and at samgordonwebb.com.D.E. Hardy – Senior Prose Reader
D.E. Hardy’s work has appeared in X-R-A-Y Magazine, Sledgehammer Lit, New World Writing, among others. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and can be followed on Twitter at @dehardywriter.
Abie – Poetry Reader
Abie (she/her) is an actress and writer from and living in Los Angeles, CA. She has her MFA in Acting from DePaul University. She is lover of movies, music, travel and coffee shops. Find her on Instagram at @abieirabor.
Shedrack Opeyemi Akanbi – Prose Reader
Shedrack Opeyemi Akanbi (he/him/his) is from Nigeria. A Barrack Boy, believer and dreamer, his writings appear in The Roadrunner Review, Kalahari Review, Chestnut Review, and elsewhere. He tweets @ShedrackAkanbi.
Fran Fernández Arce – Poetry Reader
Fran Fernández Arce (she/her) is a Chilean poet currently living in the intersection between Santiago, Chile, and Suffolk, England. You can find her on Twitter at @dylanblue3 on Instagram at @effie.1995.
Lindy Biller – Prose Reader
Lindy Biller (she/her) is a writer based in the Midwest. Her fiction has appeared in online and print journals, including Longleaf Review, SmokeLong Quarterly, Cheap Pop, Milk Candy Review, and Necessary Fiction. She is the winner of the 2021 Fractured Lit Flash Fiction Contest. She can be found on Twitter at @lindymbiller and on Instagram at @lindymbiller.
paul Bluestein – Poetry Reader
paul Bluestein is an obstetrician (done practicing) and blues guitar player (still practicing). In addition to numerous poems and short stories that have appeared in online and print publications, he has had two full-length books of poetry published by Silver Bow Publishing: Time Passages and Fade to Black. He can be found on Twitter at @paulAlanB63119.
Zuali Bungsut – Poetry Reader
Zuali (She/Her) is a 19 year old poet located in Aizawl, Mizoram. When she isn’t writing poetry for her Creative Writing courses, she’s devouring a novel or looking for stray cats to pet. @zualicore
Jasmine Butler – Poetry Reader
Jasmine (they/them) is a southern queer writer, environmental educator, and afrofuturist abolitionist whose fiction has appeared on Inherited Podcast. They’re an Outreach Editor at Apogee Magazine where they correspond with and publish incarcerated writers, and they’re a full-time climate justice organizer. They can be found on Instagram at @jasmrenea. See their work at Jasmine-Butler.com.
Carlos Contreras – Prose Reader
Carlos Contreras (they/them) is non-binary, Guatemalan, and a multimedia artist who wants to do a bit of everything. They are the lead fiction editor of Alien Magazine, and their recent publications can be found in Complete Sentence, The Lumiere Review, Chestnut Review, and Passages North. They also exist on Twitter @cafaco
Subhravanu Das – Prose Reader
Subhravanu Das is an Indian writer living in Bhubaneswar. His work has been published in Gordon Square Review, Atlas and Alice, Chestnut Review, AAWW’s The Margins, among others, and included in Wigleaf’s Top 50.
Devaki Devay – Poetry Reader
Devaki Devay is an Indian writer of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. You can find their work at Okay Donkey and Barren magazine, and follow them @DevakiDevay on Twitter.
Ejiro Elizabeth Edward – Prose Reader
Ejiro Elizabeth Edward is the winner of the the ANTOA Poetry Contest 2021. She has been published in HOAX, down river road, and Isele Magazine amongst many other magazines. She has many other works upcoming, and she is also a co-founder of the Benin art and book festival. She can be found on Twitter at @Ejiroedward552 and on Instagram at @ejiro_elizabeth_edward.
Carmen Dolina – Poetry Reader
Carmen Dolina (she/her) is a Filipino computer science graduate and game development student with a minor in creative writing. In 2023, she received a Loyola Schools Award for the Arts for her poetry. Her poems have appeared in HAD, horde, TLDTD, and Sweet Tree Review, among others.
Julia Eldred – Prose Reader
Julia Eldred writes about femininity and millennial identity. From her home in Pittsburgh, she is currently developing a linked collection of short stories titled Paperdolls. She earned an MFA from Chatham University. Her work has appeared in Juked and Rag Queen Periodical. She enjoys photography, building eclectic Spotify playlists, and taking long road trips to visit family. She can be found at juliaeldred.com.
Andrei Fuentebella – Poetry Reader
Andrei Fuentebella (they/them) is a 3rd year undergraduate student at De La Salle University-Manila, taking up International Studies, major in Chinese Studies, minor in Economic Studies. In 2022, Andrei received their first national fellowship from the Silliman University National Writers Workshop. They are currently a poetry staffer of Malate Literary Folio. @anfuentebella
Bronwyn Galloway – Prose Reader
Bronwyn Galloway (she/her) is a writer and tutor in Chicago. Her work focuses on food sustainability and culture. She graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A. in Russian Language, Literature, and Culture.
Jacob Ginsberg – Prose Reader
Jacob Ginsberg (he/him) is a writer and tutor living in Philadelphia, PA. He earned his MFA at Temple University. His work has appeared in HAD, Tiny Molecules, Entropy, Rejection Letters, and Boudin, the online home of The McNeese Review. He can be found on Twitter at @JacobGinsberg1.
Joan Kwon Glass – Poetry Reader
Joan Kwon Glass (she/her) is the Korean American author of NIGHT SWIM (Diode Editions, 2022). She serves as Editor-in-Chief for Harbor Review & teaches at the Hudson Valley Writers Center & Brooklyn Poets. Her work has been published in or is forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, AAWW, RHINO, Dialogist & elsewhere. Twitter: @joanpglass. Instagram: @joan_kwon_glass.
Steve Hopkins – Prose Reader
Steven R. Hopkins (he/him) graduated from Knox College with a degree in Creative Writing in 2010. In addition to reading for Chestnut Review, he has also published with them under the name Robert S. Hillery. He looks forward to continuing to ditch the pen name. Twitter: @S_Hopkins312
Rahma O. Jimoh – Prose Reader
Rahma O. Jimoh (she/her) is a Nigerian writer with works published or forthcoming in Salthill Journal, Ake Review, Tab Journal, Agbowo, Lucent Dreaming, Feral, Olongo Africa, and Stanchion Zine among other places. She won the 2022 Lagos-London Poetry contest and was shortlisted in the Abubakar Gimba Short Story Prize. She is the Poetry Editor for Olumo Review. A lover of sunsets and monuments, she hopes her works leave footprints on the sands of time. She can be contacted via Twitter @dynamicrahma.Shannon Kucaj – Poetry Reader
Shannon Kucaj (she/her) is a writer and editor who holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, with minors in Professional & Public Writing, Psychology, Communication Studies, and Classical Studies from IUPUI. Throughout college, she interned within publishing, worked at IUPUI’s literary & art magazine, and had poems published.
Stephen Guy Mallett – Poetry Reader
Stephen Guy Mallett is the author of the full-length poetry collections Disparate Logoi (Alien Buddha Press) and Sunolon (forthcoming from Vraeyda Media) and the chapbooks A Brief History of Scarecrows (Back Room Poetry) and Markov Chainmail (forthcoming from Cactus Press).
Trevor Moffa – Poetry Reader
Trevor is poet and former coal miner, park ranger, bookseller, and sandwich artist from Pittsburgh, PA. His work appeared as an honorable mention in Nimrod’s 2020 Francine Ringold Award for New Writers, and recent poems can be found in Sleet, Chautauqua, Sampsonia Way Magazine, and Roanoke Review.
Ron Morgan – Prose Reader
Ron Morgan is a writer and wine professional based in New York City. He co-authored a graphic novel titled The Book of Jesse and is working on his first novel at Stanford University’s Online Novel Writing Certificate Program. He can be found online at thebookofjesse.com.
Nicole Mousicos – Poetry Reader
Nicole Mousicos has recently graduated with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. She works as a prose writer and editor for Outlander Zine, and as a poetry reader for Chestnut Review. Her work has been published in Outlander Zine and her university’s magazine. @nicolemousicos, @nicolemousicos_
Brian O’Sullivan – Poetry Reader
Brian O’Sullivan (he/him) teaches English and is chair of core seminars at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. His work has been curated by or is forthcoming in such journals as Rattle, ONE ART, The Galway Review, and HOWL New Irish Writing. @bposullivan
Michelle Panik – Prose Reader
Michelle Panik is a writer and teacher who lives on the edge of California, in Carlsbad, with her husband and their two amazing kids. Her short stories have appeared in The Dodge, Terrain, and Fictive Dream. Find her on Twitter at @MichellePanik and also at michellepanik.com.
Shella Parcarey – Prose Reader
Shella Parcarey is a Filipino writer working on her first novel with Stanford’s Online Writing Certificate program. Her work as a journalist has been published in the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Citizen, Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and Minneapolis Star Tribune. She is a graduate of Yale University. She can be found on Instagram at @shella_parcarey and at shella74.com.
Max Pasakorn – Prose Reader
Max Pasakorn (he/she/they) is a queer, Thai-born, Singapore-based essayist and poet. Max’s writing, predominantly about their identities, has been published in Chestnut Review, Freeze Ray Poetry, Strange Horizons, Defunkt Magazine, EXHALE: an anthology of queer Singaporean voices, and more. www.maxpasakorn.works, @62purcenthomo, @maxpsk_writes.
Annie Schoonover – Prose Reader
Annie Schoonover is a Minnesota native who recently graduated from Oberlin College with a major in Creative Writing and minors in English and Theater. Her work appears in Barnstorm Journal, Thimble Literary Review, Mycelia, and more. She can be found on Twitter at @AnnieSchoonover and on Instagram at @atcoolannie.
Maddison Sellers – Poetry Reader
Maddison Sellers has an AA degree from Tacoma Community College and was a Student Editor before she became a reviewer for Chestnut Review. She is a writer and lives in Washington State in a little apartment filled with books. Her work can be found online at maddimsellers7.wixsite.com/portfolio.
Katherine Shehadeh – Poetry Reader
Katherine Shehadeh is a poet, artist & attorney, who resides with her family in Miami, Florida. Her poetry appears/is forthcoming in Amsterdam Quarterly, Beechwood Review, Drunk Monkeys, Saw Palm & others. Find her on Twitter (for now!) @your_mominlaw, Instagram @katherinesarts or on the www at katherinesarts.com.
Cosima Smith – Poetry Reader
Cosima Smith (his/hers) is a lifelong reader, writer, and yogi who loves to dissolve into the world around them, having found homes in 5 countries in as many years. Now, find them hiking Virginia’s mountains, or follow them on instagram @simareading for reading/writing adventures & @cronesima for yoga fun!
Alison Thung – Poetry Reader
Allison Thung (she/her) is a poet and project manager from Singapore. Her poetry has been published in Chestnut Review, ANMLY, Heavy Feather Review, and elsewhere, and her debut poetry chapbook is forthcoming with kith books. Find her on Twitter @poetrybyallison or at www.allisonthung.com.
Paula Turcotte – Poetry Reader
Paula Turcotte (she/her) loves her dog, your dog, and Raisin Bran. She reads voraciously and writes poems, which are published in various places online and in print. paulaturcotte.weebly.com/
Sharon Clemmons Thomas – Prose Reader
Sharon Clemmons Thomas is an aspiring author working on her first memoir. She enjoys reading fiction and especially creative nonfiction. She lives in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with her husband, Bill Thomas, and together they have five children, 11 grandchildren and two very spoiled pups.
Colby Vargas – Prose Reader
Colby Vargas writes short stories, has a copy of his novel right here in this satchel that you can look at, and teaches and lives with his family in the Chicagoland area. He can be found on Twitter at @Colby_Vargas.
Najya Williams – Poetry Reader
Najya Williams (she/her) is a Black woman and multidisciplinary artist from DC. Her work has been accepted and/or featured by numerous entities, including but not limited to POETRY magazine, Black Girls in Om and The Global History of Black Girlhood Anthology.
Jong Yun Won – Poetry Reader
Jong Yun Won (he/him) is a Gyopo currently teaching English in Korea. His poems have been published in Peregrine, Stoneboat Literary Journal and Waccamaw journal. In the summer he is mostly a tree planter and/or sleeping. @jjjongwwwon
Joel Worford – Prose Reader
Joel Worford is a writer and musician from Richmond, Virginia. His work appears/is forthcoming in TriQuarterly, trampset, The Laurel Review and more. Joel is a three time Pushcart nominee and received a Best of the Net nomination in 2019. He enjoys music, literature, and tennis. Find him on Twitter and Instagram.
Christina Yoseph – Prose Reader
Christina Yoseph is a writer of Assyrian and Greek descent. Her essays and poems have appeared in Apricity, Rogue Agent, The Rumpus, and more. Her writing can be found at christinayoseph.com.
Mohammed U. Yusuf – Poetry Reader
Mohammed U. Yusuf is a writer and editor from North-Central, Nigeria. His works have recently appeared—or are forthcoming—in Frontier Poetry, RoseyRavelston Books, Lunaris Review, The Lumiere Review, Olongo Africa Journal, KonyaShamsrumi, among others. He is an Associate Editor at Zoetic Press and tweets @Unyomo.
Xueyi Zhou – Prose Reader
Xueyi Zhou was born and raised in Foshan, a city of manufacturing in Guangdong, China. She is currently pursuing her MFA at UNLV. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in X-R-A-Y, Waxwing, Passages North, Chestnut Review, Pithead Chapel, JMWW, Atticus Review, Tahoma Lit Review and AAWW. She can be found on Twitter at @xueyizhou and at xueyizhou.com.
Readers not pictured: Hemmy So