Masthead
Emily is a Philadelphia native and adopted San Diegan, pursuing her M.A. in fiction writing at PLNU. She enjoys contemplating the ocean, curating playlists for every season, and junk journaling. Her work has appeared in 30North and her Substack newsletter, Et Marginalia.
Emily Mooney (she/her)
Managing Editor
Erin Reisler (they/she)
Associate Editor
Erin is from Maryland and currently an M.A. student at Point Loma Nazarene University. With a lifelong fondness for fiction, she loves exploring character-driven narratives in strange and otherworldly settings. If she isn’t writing or reading, she’s probably trying to make a reference no one would ever get. Her work appears in Horror From the Highdive: Volume II, Darkness 101: Lessons Were Learned, The Swinging Bridge Magazine, The Peregrine Review, LURe, and Perigean Tide.
Jess Petrencsik
Associate Editor
Jess has a B.A. in English literature and journalism, and she’s presently working on a master’s in writing. Her nonfiction work has appeared in several magazines, and she performs often in the San Diego storytelling community. Jess has lived and taught in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and upstate New York. She loves photographing ghost towns, backpacking the Eastern Sierra, and hanging with her man, four teenagers, and dog.
Ryan Woodall (she/her)
Nonfiction Editor
Ryan’s home is Fort Collins, Colorado, but since going to college and now grad school in San Diego, she considers herself a surfer now (do not ask for proof). She enjoys writing essays observing the world around her through a poetic/psychoanalytic lens, attempting to understand human’s behaviors, dynamics, and complex minds. In her free time, she enjoys writing letters to her friends around the world, playing volleyball, and winning at fast-paced card games.
Christine McCoy (she/they)
Nonfiction Editor
Christine got her B.A. in English writing from George Fox University in her home state of Oregon. Though she misses the mountains, she is enjoying sunny San Diego as she gets her M.A. in writing at Point Loma Nazarene University. A poet by trade, she has been writing ever since she was able to hold a pen, and when she’s not writing she enjoys analyzing other people’s stories, singing, drawing, swing dancing, and talking, talking, talking.
Josie Hammar (she/her)
Poetry Editor
Josie is from the Bay Area and came down to sunny San Diego to get her M.A. in poetry writing at PLNU. She loves to read and write in her free time. She also enjoys going on outdoor adventures and spending time with friends and family. One of her biggest goals is to travel as much of the world as she can, and drink tea from each place she visits.
Lillian Robinson (she/her)
Poetry Editor
Lillian is returning to her childhood stomping grounds in San Diego to pursue her M.A. in writing at PLNU. After studying biology in undergrad, she occasionally finds herself derailing conversations with the impulse to grab lizards. If you happen to see her, there’s a good chance she’s birdwatching, peoplewatching, watching people birdwatching, or watching birds watch people birdwatching.
Toby Franklin (he/him)
Fiction & Open Genre Editor
Julia is a first year student in PLNU's M.A. in writing program and works full-time as the Student Services Coordinator for Mission Valley's data team. With a third-culture kid background, Julia is drawn to narratives centering around home, identity, and found family. She has now been to twenty-four countries, but she can say San Diego's beaches at sunset are some of her favorite sights in the world.
Julia Bryant (she/her)
Fiction & Open Genre Editor
Toby is a writer, editor, and reader of many genres, but especially fiction (the weirder the better!). He is pursuing his M.A. in writing at PLNU and works full-time as the senior copy editor for the university’s marketing office. He also has a deep love of comic books, film, humor writing, video games, and midcentury media.
Isabel Amarí Burgos-Santoyo (she/her)
Social Media Manager
Isabel Amarí earned her BA in Writing and Literature from Point Loma Nazarene University, and is currently getting her M.A. in Writing there as well. She has poems published in Driftwood Magazine and Celestial Confetti, and was a short fiction nominee for the 2020 AWP Intro Journals Project Award. If she’s not at her desk writing, drawing, or scavenging through Pinterest, don’t worry. She’s probably just getting her fourth cup of coffee.
Madison 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
Editor-in-Chief
Jackson Ziegler (he/him)
Web Designer
Camarae Good (she/her)
Social Media Manager
Camarae is pursuing an M.A. in writing at Point Loma Nazarene University. After growing up in a small town in Wisconsin near all of her family, she took the journey out to San Diego and has loved getting to enjoy the ocean over the snow. Now her family reaps the benefits of coming to visit. She loves trying to understand the world around her, through a cup of coffee and conversation. Her poem, “Green Blue and Papa You” was awarded second place by Driftwood.
Jackson is a first year M.A. in writing student at PLNU, focusing on fiction. Originally from the Bay Area, he got his B.A. in writing at UCSD and now considers San Diego home. He likes to cook, eat, splash around in the ocean, and think about Spider-Man. One of these days he will get around to publishing a book.
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
Editors-at-Large
Natalee Borum
Mary Dean Brannan
Mel Bredow
Morgan Charrette
Aliah Fabros
Sierra Hill
Kharis Rutherford
Soren Schramm
Sara van Niekerk