The Crew

Eneida P. Alcalde

Eneida immigrated to the United States as a child, transplanting her Chilean-Puerto Rican roots into Pennsylvanian soil. A Pushcart Prize-nominated writer and a finalist for the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize, her poems and hybrid pieces have appeared in literary outlets such as Epiphany, Gulf Stream Magazine, TAB Journal, Poet Lore, and Huizache. She draws inspiration for her writing from her migrant family and ancestors, her young daughter, and the places she has called home—from Valparaíso and Cochabamba to Washington, DC and Singapore. Eneida’s first poetry chapbook is forthcoming from Ethel.

Creative Nonfiction Editor

Brian Borchard

Brian’s college apartment was crowded with antique typewriters — a testament to his English major. As a recent Skidmore College graduate, he was the head tutor at the writing center, where he edited student essays and creative pieces. He also brought his semantic and syntactic know-how to the reader’s reports he wrote during his yearlong internship at the InkWell Management literary agency. Simultaneously, he crafted an award-nominated thesis on queer refugee poetics while sitting as president of the honors forum and serving as captain of the varsity swim team. Today, he works as a managing editorial assistant at Penguin Random House and is interested in creative nonfiction that examines generational impacts on the psyche and highlights marginalized perspectives.

Olivia Delgado

Olivia is a writer based in her home state of South Texas, where she finds inspiration in poetry and memory. Her work has been published in Harness Magazine, Penmen Review, Pearl Press, and Voicemail Poems. Her debut chapbook, Girl Bred from the 90’s, was released in 2022 by Querencia Press. For the past two years, she has served as the poetry editor for Honeyguide Literary Magazine and co-editor for The Field Guide Poetry Mag. Recently, Olivia took on a new role as a literacy tutor, where she shares her passion for reading with children while continuing to pursue a career in publishing.

Alaa El Fadel

Alaa is a world traveller who has spent many years in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education from Kingston University (United Kingdom). Alaa is also a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy. She is a freelance writer and editor in Singapore and is currently writing a fantasy trilogy and science fiction novella series. Alaa is the coordinator of the Singapore Writer’s Network.

PASSANT ELTAREK

Passant is currently a double major in English and Comparative Literature and Marketing at the American University in Cairo. The most magical experience in her life remains having learned how to hold a pen at the age of three. She has never stopped writing since, and her work has lately appeared or is forthcoming in Ligea and The Courtship of Winds, and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. An avid reader and a language nerd, she's always just a good translated book away from fully indulging in learning a new language.

Jonathan Freeman-Coppadge

In people, as in books, Jonathan (he/him) values those who simultaneously take us out of ourselves and give us permission to be fully ourselves. A graduate of St. John's College and Bread Loaf School of English, he writes and edits on the shores of the Delaware Bay. His work appears or is forthcoming in What We Didn’t Expect (Melville House, 2020), Italian Americana, More Queer Families (Qommunicate Publishing), Embark Literary Journal, and Hippocampus Magazine. He is represented by Chris Kepner.

Hannah Hirano

Since one summer working alongside artists facilitating Idyllwild Arts’ seasonal programming, Hannah (she/her) has loved to connect with and learn from artists and their singular voices through their individual and community practices. Her background in traditional and new media combined with her Editing Certificate from the University of Washington allows her to practice viewing and querying for understanding an artist’s intent and overall practice, while staying open to ambiguous meaning. She is excited by all media and in witnessing the relationships of power, interplay of gazes, and personal stories art can enter into and transform through expressive choices. Hannah is based in the unceded traditional lands of the Duwamish People past and present, the first people of Seattle.

Kylie Hoy

Kylie is a Colorado native currently studying English and Business Administration at Coe College. Her great joy in life is a dead-even tie between the first time she read Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and the time she ate that carmelized onion torta from Ci Siamo in New York City. Kylie's love of reading from a young age has evolved into her passion for working with authors to bring powerful stories into the spotlight. She serves as a manuscript reader for The Pearl, Coe College's literary magazine, and has worked with the Prison Writing Project at the University of Iowa. She has recently found a new love of writing her own work as well, which has won awards in The Pearl and been recognized by the Ladies' Literary Club of Cedar Rapids. Whether it's reading through submissions, navigating life as a newly minted adult, or trying something new at a restaurant, Kylie's philosophy is to joyfully put her best foot forward and learn along the way.

Anna Jordan Romanelli

Anna (she/her) spends the majority of her time traveling the world and collecting gems, hiking, camping, connecting friends, or on her beloved road bike. A small-town girl (the same small town that Jonathan grew up in), she has called fifteen places home over her forty years; she now lives in Dallas with her partner and their two rescue dogs. Born, raised, and educated in Pennsylvania, she holds a BA from Gettysburg College and an MS from Shippensburg University. These formative experiences have instilled in her an irrational love of the Keystone State. She is a technology consultant by day.

Meredith MacLeod Davidson

Meredith MacLeod Davidson is a poet and writer from Virginia, currently based in Scotland. Meredith's poetry is published or forthcoming in The London Magazine, Puerto del Sol, The Boiler, Dialogist, trampset, antiphony, and elsewhere, with critical writing in The Adroit Journal and North American Review. In 2023, Meredith graduated from The University of Glasgow with a Master's in Creative Writing, awarded with distinction. Meredith is the co-founder, -host, and -editor of crisp packet poetry, a Glasgow-based poetry project providing publication opportunities, workshop programming, and a monthly open-mic night oriented toward queer, disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically-ill poets and performers in Glasgow and beyond.

Akash Mattupalli

Currently working in semiconductors with a mechanical engineering background, Akash started to write at fifteen to understand his identity. Now living in the U.S., he has also lived in India, Singapore, England, Saudi Arabia, and Spain. Through his work, he hopes to reflect on the intersection of the immigrant Indian identity and the environments that he has lived in.

Jack McSweeney

Jack (he/him) is a poet and songwriter living in Brooklyn. He studied creative writing in his home state at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has attended poetry workshops at Naropa University. His work explores the power of mundane and artificial forms that make up our modern world. Currently serving as a transcriber for the Prison Journalism Project and a content manager for the Mista Pat Project, his commitment to social liberation is at the heart of his passion for the written word.

Abigail Svetlik

Abigail is a recent college graduate with a dual degree in English literature and art history. She is especially interested in the combined power of word and image to tell stories, teach, and incite empathy. As an undergraduate student, Abigail was involved with Skidmore College’s on-campus contemporary art museum, where she assisted with research and planning for public events, curatorial projects, and publications. During her senior year, she completed a thesis paper that combined personal narrative and literary analysis to explore epistolary and diaristic forms in fiction and nonfiction. Abigail is a native Washingtonian currently living on Capitol Hill.

Michelle Tanmizi

Michelle is a second-generation Chinese born in Indonesia. She has travelled extensively and lived in the United States, France, Hong Kong and Tanzania. Singapore is currently her home. Respect for self and others is a guiding value in her life, and the human spirit in their various forms is her passion. Michelle has an MA in Creative Writing, achieved with Distinction from Lancaster University (United Kingdom). Her speculative fiction novel, Late Dawn, was an Amazon bestseller. She writes all forms of fiction, including climate fiction, which reflects her concern about the environment and the planet. Her work has appeared in Porch Literary Magazine and Imprint 2023 (the annual anthology of Women in Publishing Society of Hong Kong), and is forthcoming in Imprint 2024 and Score (Hong Kong Writers Circle Annual Anthology).

Fiction Editor

Carolyn Wilson-Scott

Carolyn is a Midwesterner by way of the West Coast and Hiroshima, Japan. A former high school creative writing teacher, she now lives in Michigan with her family. Her work has been recognized by Stanford University's Bocock/Guerard Fiction Prize; published by ORP, Aquila Review, Valparaiso Fiction Review, and Foreword Books; and is also forthcoming in Main Street Rag.

Oyster River Pages gratefully acknowledges these former staff members for their invaluable contributions:

Jay Aja (Visual arts intern, 2024)
Beatrice Bugané (Fiction intern, 2019)
Maivy Bui (Visual arts intern, 2019)
Amir T. Chaudry (Visual arts intern, 2020)
Haylee Chavanne (Poetry intern, 2018)
Ebony Chinn (Emerging Voices poetry intern, 2021)
Emily DeMaioNewton (Poetry intern, 2019)
Nicholas Dharmadi (Fiction intern, 2022)
Stephanie Fluckey (Guest editor — Emerging Voices in fiction, 2022)
Robin Gow (Poetry intern, social media coordinator (2018–2021)
Zoey Gulden (Creative nonfiction intern, 2021)
Brigid Higgins (Development intern, 2024)
Meggyn Keeley (Emerging Voices fiction intern, 2020)
Ari Koontz (Creative nonfiction intern, 2019)
Izumi Kuroda (Poetry intern, 2020)
Devin Lewis Green (Fiction intern, 2024)
Montéz Louria (Fiction intern, 2021)
Abigail Michelini (Founding board member, poetry editor, 2016–2024)
Jimmieka Mills (Creative nonfiction intern, 2018)
Mofiyinfoluwa O. (Creative nonfiction intern, 2022)
Arlene Opio (Fiction intern, 2020)
Micah J. Ruelle (Poetry intern, 2021)
Saoirse (Guest editor — Emerging Voices in poetry, Internship director, 2021–2022)
Wenxin Tang (Emerging Voices in poetry intern, 2021)
Manar Tomeh (Fiction intern, 2021)
Stephanie Trott (Guest editor — Emerging Voices in fiction, 2021)
Yamilette Vizcaíno Rivera (Creative nonfiction intern, 2020)
Lindsay Walter (Visual arts intern, Soundings editor, 2022–2023)