Hollins MFA

Qurrat ul ain Raza Abbas A Pakistani writer and academic, Q crafts creative nonfiction centered on illness narratives, collective amnesia, and matrilineal histories. With dual degrees and 18 years of teaching, she leads the Ravi South Asian Writers’ Collective. Formerly a voiceover artist, she expresses love through cooking biryani and has earned two prestigious teaching awards.

Rachel Beal is a poet born in Augusta, Georgia. She enjoys creating collages and found poems that address consumerism, digital waste, and sensory bombardment.

Swade Best

Chloe Bryan is a poet and editor who most recently lived in Brooklyn, NY. She grew up in the Midwest and holds a B.A. from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. She enjoys reading, hiking, watching the Mets, and spending quality time with her dog, Pete.

Cam Cowger is a poet, horror movie enthusiast, and amateur cryptozoologist–though not necessarily in that order. She earned her B.A. in creative writing at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she primarily sat in the woods and admired the sword ferns.

Alice Dai

Lizzie deBrabander is a fiction writer. She’s written since she was ten, though hopes she has improved since then. She has a semi-impressive Virginia Woolf collection and enjoys 80s music and hijinks with her friends.

Gillian Lionberger is a writer who grew up in Roanoke and received her BA from Clemson University. Her writing expresses thoughts on memory, comfort, coping, and language exploration. In her free time, she is passionate about trying new coffee, learning Japanese, and fencing, though she has yet to complete all three at once.

Sophia Tone is primarily a poet who grew up between Montreal and Atlanta. She co-founded and edits PEACHFUZZ Journal. In her free time she likes to smell paper, admire cars, and make animal noises with her friends.

B. Luke Wilson is a fiction writer and poet from Virginia. He is the poetry editor at Chestnut Review and previously read for Blackbird Journal. Luke spends most of his time gradually ingratiating himself to the Roanoke deer population. One day, he will join them.