Ella loves words above all else. Previously studying English and Spanish as an undergraduate, she is currently pursuing an M.A. in Writing in San Diego, California. She previously served as a head editor for The Aerie. She writes nonfiction of all types, but primarily focuses on family history, spiritual wrestlings, her favorite female writers, and product guides (an abrupt shift she knows).

Ella Hachee (she/her)

Editor-in-Chief

Rebecca Li (she/her)

Managing Editor

Rebecca is pursuing an M.A. in Writing with an emphasis on theological fiction. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English as well as a music minor. She previously served as managing editor for her college publication, The Horizon. She delights in Jesus, good words strung together, and the flower section of Trader Joe’s.

Natalee Borum (she/her)

Managing Editor

Natalee Borum is a San Diego native and a firm believer in driving with the windows down. After studying English and Creative Writing at Pepperdine, she decided to continue her studies down the coast of California and is now pursuing her M.A. in Writing at PLNU. You will probably find her at her local TJ Maxx or sitting in the sun and photosynthesizing.

Lexi Bullock (she/her)

Associate Editor

Lexi is intent on writing her own fantasy young adult series in the next couple years. She writes poetry but has a focus on the fiction genre and has previously been published in Colorado Christian University’s creative fiction magazine Paragon. She enjoys flowers, laughing, cool words, learning languages and collecting seashells on the beach.

Sara van Niekerk (she/her)

Associate Editor

Sara completed a B.A. in English Literature and a B.A. in Spanish at Gonzaga University and is now a poet in her first year of the M.A. in Writing program at Point Loma Nazarene University. She is a PNW native who has easily adjusted to the California girl lifestyle and is always surfing, enjoying the sunset, at a yoga class, or spending time with her plants. Sara loves checklists, any Shakespeare play, and fruit salad.

Kharis Rutherford (she/her)

Fiction Editor

Kharis is an Afro-Caribbean Christian writer, artist, and synesthete currently based in San Diego, CA. She has her bachelors in English creative writing and spent a handful of years teaching ESL and editing for Relief Journal. She’s working toward her masters in writing and has a fondness for Bible fight scenes and stories about people stuck in poorly lit places.

Allis Nash (she/her)

Fiction Editor

Allis is a first year M.A. in Writing student with a passion for the natural world and environmental activism. She enjoys reading and watching fantasy, science fiction, and anything with a strong female main character. Her hobbies include foraging for fruit and free furniture in her neighborhood, thrifting, and writing in pretty notebooks.

Mel Bredow (she/her)

Fiction Editor

Mel Bredow is a writer and reader of fiction. She earned a B.A. in English from Westmont College where she was Writing Editor for The Phoenix Literary Magazine and a guest writer for The Horizon newspaper. Her other hobbies include creating incredibly specific Pinterest boards, buying overpriced iced coffee, and saying, “I love this song!” after every song on her own playlist.

Sarah Southern (she/her)

Nonfiction Editor

Sarah is a nonfiction writer exploring themes of wonder, place, and pilgrimage. She is a first year graduate student pursuing an MA in Writing, and also publishes a monthly Substack newsletter called Wild & Waste. Sarah enjoys traveling, baking sourdough focaccia, hiking, and exploring where she lives (currently San Diego).

Aliah Fabros (she/her)

Nonfiction Editor

Aliah Fabros is a writer of creative nonfiction and poetry. She has been published in Arkana Magazine and Non-Binary Review and performed her work at the San Diego Festival of Books. In 2024, she received an Honorable Mention from the AWP Intro Journals Project for her poem “The Burden of Representation.” In her spare time, she is either making black lemon tea, listening to stand up comedy, or scouring her local thrift store for vintage dresses with pockets.

Emma Grace Weber (she/her)

Poetry Editor

Emma Grace is a first year M.A. in Writing student at P.L.N.U who has a deep love for justice, mercy, and social change. Since earning her undergraduate degree in English and Business Communication, Emma Grace spends much of her time curating Spotify playlists, enjoying the beach, and continuing the process of learning about the world around herself in order to leave spaces better than she finds them.

Jane “Jay” Naranjo (she/they)

Poetry Editor

Jay is a M.A. writing student at Point Loma Nazarene University with a B.S. in psychology and a minor in physics. In her spare time she writes poetry, listens to experimental music, and works part time at JOANN’s Fabric. She enjoys topics on inclusion, LGBTQ+ issues, and feminism.

Nadeen Maida (she/her)

Open Genre Editor

Nadeen Maida obtained a Bachelor’s in English and a love for boba at UCLA in the lost year of 2020. She has since completed a Residency program at Real Life Church where she was infected with a passion for Jesus (and must warn you that it is contagious). Nadeen is both a first generation student and Syrian. She is currently obtaining her Master’s in Writing with a focus on fiction.

Mary Dean Brannan (she/her)

Open Genre Editor

Mary Dean Brannan is an Arkansan living in California with her husband, cat, and dog. She has her BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders, but somehow she ended up in an MA in Writing program. She can usually be found making coffee, practicing Muay Thai, or reading.

Anna Wang (she/her)

Social Media Manager

Anna Wang has been writing in her first language, Chinese, for 30 years. Her ambition to write in English brought her to Point Loma Nazarene University’s MA in Writing program. Prose is her home; poetry is her adventure; social media are her canvas for spontaneous expression.

Sierra Hill (she/her)

Social Media Manager

Sierra has been on many academic pursuits. Having started undergrad at a college for horse training, obtaining her B.A. in Music Education, and now working towards her M.A. in Writing at PLNU, she is trying to figure out exactly what her passion is—or better yet, how to combine all of them into one. She’ll probably end up writing a book about cowboys and musicians.

Alan Parmeter (he/they)

Art & Web Designer

Alan has a B.S in Environmental Science with a minor in Writing. Now pursuing a M.A in Writing, Alan loves to live and write at the intersection of biology and the humanities. Perhaps predictably, they can be found most often reading sci-fi or non-fiction and poetry that engages with science.

Soren Schramm (he/him)

Art & Web Designer

Soren Schramm is originally from the Twin Cities but now lives in San Diego. He was once a field mouse who knew how to play the trumpet. He studied visual art in undergrad and is now working towards a MA in creative writing at PLNU. He likes to write auto-fiction and literary memoirs about the strange interactions he has found himself in. He loves driving around roundabouts.

Madison Zuñiga received a B.A in Creative Writing and a B.A. in Studio Art in her undergraduate studies, and is working toward an M.A. in Writing from Point Loma Nazarene University. She intends to spend her life steeped in the humanities, and explores her Christian faith through the lens of history. When she’s not writing poetry and short-form fiction, she’s sewing vintage dresses, scrapbook journaling, sculpting figures from clay, knitting socks, or spinning fiber with a drop spindle.

Madison Zuñiga (she/her)

Editor-in-Chief

Morgan Charrette (she/they)

Poetry Editor

Rachel Henderson (she/her)

Nonfiction Editor

Rachel is obsessed with books, dedicating her undergraduate studies to English Literature, and now her graduate studies to pursuing an M.A. in Writing. She typically writes poetry in repetitive forms, dealing with an array of topics from OCD to Medieval legends. You can find her work in Driftwood, and perhaps find her in the forgotten shelves of your local library with her nose in a book..

Morgan is currently pursuing an M.A. in Writing, focusing on an experimental poetry collection about medieval women. She enjoys reading about folklore, the natural world, and feminist horror. When she’s not writing, she can be found hoarding notebooks and spending time with her horses.

Editorial Advisory Board

Breeann Kyte Kirby

Robbie Maakestad

Holland Prior

Margarita Pintado Burgos

Katie Manning is a poet, professor of writing, and founding editor of Whale Road Review. She's the author of eight poetry collections, including Tasty Other, which won the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award, and The Gospel of the Bleeding Woman, which she's enjoyed promoting in her Jesus costume. She also enjoys books, beaches, baked goods, board games, and alliteration. Find her online at katiemanningpoet.com.

Katie Manning (she/her)

Publisher

Editor-in-Chiefs

Jessie Taylor

Managing Editors

Sophie Cornwell

Associate Editors

Emma McCoy

Ell Huang

Fiction Editors

Meghan Coley

Nonfiction Editors

Abigail Franklin

Poetry Editors

Jaden Goldfain

Open Genre Editors

Tony Le Calvez

Social Media Managers

Denise Magloire

Art & Web Designers

Josiah (Chip) Roberts

Previous Staff