Meet our staff – Knee Brace Press

Editorial Board

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Mae Wood, editor-in-chief

Mae Wood is a passionate editor and writer, dedicated to positive social change and leaving a lasting impact wherever she goes.

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Justyn Araya DeBusk, managing editor

Justyn Araya DeBusk (he/him) is a writer, editor, and journalist with more than 10 years experience in the news industry. In addition to local news outlets such as FOX8 WGHP and the Greensboro News & Record, his work has been published in The Hill, NewsNation and the academic journal The Physics Teacher.

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Allison Stalberg Siebens, author interview editor

Allison Stalberg Siebens is an indie author and cat mom to Trico and Frisk. She holds a Masters in Fiction from Southern New Hampshire University.

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Sojourner “Hughes” Davidson, poetry editor

Sojourner Davidson a.k.a. Hughes, is a poet, writer, author, and developmental editor. They are the owner of Tending Verses LLC. Hughes is the author of From the Yellow House and On. Their work has appeared in several publications including, South Broadway Ghost Society, New Words Press, and Knee Brace Press. Hughes is planning to publish their sophomore collection in February 2026.

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Abe Kenmore, essay editor

Abe Kenmore is a journalist currently living in North Carolina.

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Jilly Campbell, fiction editor

Jilly (she/her) is a North Carolina based graduate of Guilford College. She loves reading science and historical fiction, and watching horror movies that make her cry.

Karlen Lambert, art & photography editor

Karlen Lambert is a writer, artist and graphic designer in Charlotte.

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Allison Araya DeBusk, social media manager

At her day job, Allison manages social media in higher education, and after work, she cuddles her cat, reads comic books, and makes “must read” lists that she never finishes.

Volunteer Editors

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Aïcha Martine Thaim, editor

Aïcha Martine Thiam is a trilingual/multicultural writer, musician and artist, and might have been a kraken in a past life. She’s been nominated for Best of the Net, The Best Small Fictions, and The Pushcart Prize. She’s the author of At Sea (Clash Books), which was shortlisted for the 2019 Kingdoms in the Wild Poetry Prize, and Burn The Witch (Finishing Line Press). Follow her work at amartine.com.

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Alex Fang, editor

Alex Fang is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School. She writes from a room in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that she shares with her cat.

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Avery C. Castillo, editor

Avery C. Castillo is a Mexican American poet, artist, and editor from South Texas. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She holds a BA in English from Texas Tech University. Follow her work at www.writingsbyavery.com.

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Carson Risser, editor

Carson Risser (she/her) is a copy editor in Cary, North Carolina. She is pursuing a Master of Arts in Theopoetics and Writing from the Earlham School of Religion.

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Cassandra Andresky, editor

Cassandra Andresky is a passionate writer/editor. She loves to read young adult books, drink her tea cold, and spend as much time as possible in her fictional worlds.

Daniela González, editor

Dani (she/they) is a Mexican American writer from the Rio Grande Valley. She loves reading, writing, and watching TV shows in her spare time, as well as spending time with her loved ones.

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Erika Wakabyashi, editor

Bilingual night owl currently working in broadcast journalism!

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Grace Malinee, editor

Grace is a freelance ghostwriter/editor (who also writes the occasional ghost story) living in St. Louis, Missouri. She loves fostering community amongst other writers & loves to amplify other disabled voices.

Haley Schmid, editor

Haley Schmid is studying English at the University of Missouri. She has a passion for creative writing and published her first work through EPIC Literary Magazine in Spring 2022.

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Ian Penny, editor

Ian grew up in Virginia, graduated from Guilford College, and now lives and works in Charlotte, North Carolina. He’s also pretty tall.

Jack Boxhall, editor

My name is Jack, I’m 20 years old, and I’m a small-business tutor from Australia. I have a passion for literature, history and science.

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Jonahs Jones, editor

Jonahs lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two cats. She enjoys spending time outside working in the garden and exploring nearby parks and trails.

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Kenneth Creech, editor

Kenneth is an award-winning author of LGBTQ+ young adult fiction who lives in Texas with his husband, but dreams of seeing the world.

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Luce, editor

Luce enjoys writing, searching for mushrooms in the woods, and various fiber arts.

Lily Lou, editor

Lily Lou is a front-end developer at Rest of World based in Brooklyn, NY. In her free time she likes to write and join book clubs.

Marvin Richards, Jr., editor

Marvin Richards, Jr., is a 2018 graduate of Columbia’s School of Journalism. His works often explore the intersection of domestic politics with race, sexuality, class, and sports.

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Meghana Sai Iragavarapu, editor

Meghana Sai Iragavarapu began her editing journey as the Features Editor for the Guilford College newspaper, The Guilfordian. Since then, she seeks to support any initiatives for encouraging writing as a creative and expressive medium.

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Olivia Neal, editor

Olivia Neal is a writer and artist from Greensboro, North Carolina. She graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2019 with a BA in English and Women’s and Gender Studies. She currently works as a Communications Strategist for the ACLU of North Carolina.

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Petra F. Bagnardi, editor

Petra F. Bagnardi is a writer, a screenwriter, and a poet. She worked for the Italian TV network, RAI, and her poetry was published by various literary journals and magazines including, Masque & Spectacle Literary Journal, Punk Noir Magazine, Poetica Review, Quail Bell Magazine, The Sunlight Press, Blydyn Square Review, and more. She was short-listed in the Enfield Poets’ 20th Anniversary Poetry Competition and won second place in the Wax Poetry and Art Magazine’s poetry contest. She is a bilingual author, English and Italian.

Pilate, editor

Pilate is a tutor and poet with experience in editing a variety of writing forms.

Soul Stough, editor

Soul loves reading, learning new languages, collecting fountain pens and stationary, spreadsheets, and adaptive sports. They are involved in several community organizations, including a local social community for wheelchair users in Texas.