Meet our staff

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Nicole Zelniker, founder & EIC

Nicole Zelniker (she/they) is the author of several books, including Until We Fall, which was a finalist for the Forward Indie Awards in LGBTQ+ adult fiction. Check out the rest of her work at nicolezelniker.com or keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter at @nicolezelniker.

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Maya Goldman, managing editor

Maya (they/she) is a Disabled attorney and advocate based in Chicago. They work at the intersection of disability justice and decarceration. Maya loves their cats, plants, and fidget cubes. They are on Twitter at @MRoseGoldman.

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Justyn Melrose, associate editor

Justyn Melrose 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, KTLA in Los Angeles, WFLA in Tampa, WGN in Chicago, and the academic journal The Physics Teacher.

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Allison Stalberg Siebens, writer & interviewer

Allison Stalberg Siebens is an indie author and foster cat mom. She is in the process of getting a Masters in Fiction from Southern New Hampshire University.

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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.

Mae Wood, editor

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

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.

Allison DeBusk, editor

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.

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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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.

Abe Kenmore, editor

Abe Kenmore is a journalist currently living in Georgia.

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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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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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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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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.

Alex Bradley, editor

Alex started copy editing at fourteen, when he realized beta reading fanfiction meant he would get updated chapters before everyone else. He’s been actively editing ever since.

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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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Erika Wakabyashi, editor

Bilingual night owl currently working in broadcast journalism!

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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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Chris La Tray, editor

Chris La Tray is a Métis storyteller, a descendent of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North and an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. His third book, Becoming Little Shell, will be published by Milkweed Editions in 2023. His first book, One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large won the 2018 Montana Book Award and a 2019 High Plains Book Award. His book of haiku and haibun poetry, Descended from a Travel-worn Satchel, was published in 2021 by Foothills Publishing. Chris writes the weekly newsletter “An Irritable Métis” on Substack and lives near Missoula, Montana.

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Meg Linehan, editor

Meg Linehan (she/her) is an animal lover, performer, educator, and activist who suffers from POTS as well as many other health conditions. She is a graduate from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Los Angeles, and lives in New Hampshire. You can follow her on Instagram at @meglinehan8 and Twitter at @MegLinehan.

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Jennifer Lee Rossman, editor

Jennifer Lee Rossman (they/them) is a queer, disabled, and autistic author and editor from the land of carousels and Rod Serling. Follow them on Twitter at @JenLRossman and find more of their work on their website jenniferleerossman.blogspot.com.

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Leah Whetten-Goldstein, business consultant

Leah Whetten-Goldstein (she/her) is an attorney and North Carolina native currently living in Chapel Hill. In her free time, Leah loves listening to musicals, trying new foods, and hanging out with dogs.