Masthead

Meet the passionate individuals driving our mission to showcase imaginative literature and diverse voices.

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Kurt Edward Milberger is an Assistant professor of English at Kennesaw State University. He teaches publishing, professional writing, and literature and studies editorial theory and history, British literature, and poetry.

HIGH-BEAMS SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR
Sarah Shamaya is in her third semester of the master’s program in Professional Writing at Kennesaw State University. Born the youngest of seven children into a Catholic patriarchy, Shamaya learned early that stories shape reality. Her fiction focuses on the embodied sovereignty of the Feminine. You can find her chanting with the fairies in the North Georgia mountains or practicing Welsh on Duolingo. Bendithion!

MANAGING EDITOR
Sarah Subero is a graduate student at Kennesaw State University, pursuing their master’s degree in Professional Writing. In addition to writing, she enjoys jogging and sampling teas from around the world.

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Kayla Stinson is a graduate student at Kennesaw State University, pursuing her master’s degree in Professional Writing. She received her undergraduate degree from Kennesaw State University in Textiles and Surface Design in 2023. In her free time, she can be found designing, reading, writing, or spending time with friends.

Readers

GUEST POETRY EDITOR (Vol. 3)
Abhijit Sarmah is a poet and researcher specializing in Indigenous literatures. He holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil.) degree from Dibrugarh University, India and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Georgia in Athens GA, USA. He is also a UGA Arts Lab Graduate Fellow (2022-25) and has received such honors as the Ruth Pack Scholarship from the Institute of Native American Studies and Michael G. Moran Graduate Student Award from the Department of English at UGA. His work has been published in a range of print and online journals, including Poetry, The Margins, Lunch Ticket, Glassworks Magazine, Porter House Review, and The Lincoln Review. Sarmah was a finalist for the prestigious Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships for two consecutive years (2023 and 2024) and has received nominations for the Best of the Net and The Pushcart Prize.

GUEST FICTION EDITOR (Vol. 3)
Mary McMyne is a novelist and poet who is fascinated with the stories behind stories. She is the author of the novels The Book of Gothel and A Rose by Any Other Name. Her fairy tale poetry chapbook, Wolf Skin,won the Elgin Chapbook Award. A graduate of the New York University MFA program, she has received the Faulkner-Wisdom Prize for a Novel-in-Progress and a grant from the Sustainable Arts Foundation, among other honors. She is the poetry editor for Enchanted Living.

GUEST POETRY EDITOR (Vol. 2)
A poet and food writer from southern California, Gregory Emilio is the author of the poetry collection Kitchen Apocrypha (Able Muse, 2023). His poems and essays have appeared in Best New Poets, Gastronomica, North American Review, [PANK], The Rumpus, Tupelo Quarterly, and Southern Humanities Review, among other journals. A mean home cook and avid cyclist, he lives in Atlanta and teaches at Kennesaw State University.

GUEST FICTION EDITOR (Vol. 2)
Melanie Sumner is the author of four books of fiction, How to Write a Novel, The Ghost of Milagro Creek (New Mexico Book Awards 2010), The School of Beauty and Charm, and Polite Society, a collection of West African short stories. She is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Whiting Award, a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and the New Mexico Book award. Her recent novel manuscript is set in a fictional town in Alaska.
Melanie’s publishing history includes short fiction and creative nonfiction in numerous journals and anthologies including The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The New York Times, and Atlanta Magazine. She has appeared on NPR and Georgia Public Radio. Currently she lives in Taos, New Mexico, and teaches at Kennesaw State University.

Tyra Douyon

Sam Casto

Ky Huddleston

Dominic Ligon

Justin Briley

Crystal Wilkins

Jenny Rissen

Ashley Shaw

Katie Metzger

Giselle E Reid

Cherish Collins

Janika Jackson

Trevor Hague

Laura Metzger

Hannah Newman

Fern Conte

Tennant Ross

Beth Hill

Steve Parker

Mariam Janad

Brittany Files

Antwan Bowen

Veronica Pérez

Sydnee Newsome

Mariana Gibson