Gayle L. Castle hails from Marion, Ohio, and holds both a Bachelor of Music degree from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in Music Education.  She has been writing with Women Writing for a Change in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 20 years, specializing in poetry.  She enjoys libraries, bookstores, thrift stores, museums, coffeehouses, poetry readings, lectures, theatre, concerts, and nature.

Tyler McDonald is an MFA poetry student from Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in English, where he was the recipient of the Academy of American Poets Prize and the Robinson Essay Prize. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Poets.org, Exposed Bone, and Short Vine. His poetry explores cancer survivorship, queerness, and the complexities of relationships and family.

Mo Orr (she/they) is a first-year MFA student in poetry. She holds a B.A. in Film Production with a minor in creative writing from BGSU and explores themes of grief, racial identity, and queer joy in her poetry. They have a love for embroidery, pop culture, and learning new things.

Annie Williams is an MFA student from Fraser, Michigan. She graduated from Oakland University with her B.A in creative writing, specialization in poetry. Although her first love is poetry, she also enjoys writing horror stories, gothic tales, realistic fiction, and creative nonfiction. She has three poetry collections, her latest being ‘Metal Poetry.’ Her work has also appeared in other publications such as Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine, Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle, Broken Antler Magazine, Flash Phantoms, Nightmare Melodies and many more. When she is not writing she is either rocking out at a concert or staying at home watching a horror movie.

Elijah Woodruff is a writer from rural Ohio. Delighted by the grotesque and weird, he enjoys books from Tenebrous Press and the work of Thomas Ligotti. He spends his time hanging out with his wonderful wife and birdwatching in his landlord’s backyard.

Kiersten Burtz is an MFA fiction student from Indianapolis, Indiana. She received her BFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University in 2023. She has a deep passion for fantasy and representation and often explores LGBTQ+ themes in her speculative fiction writing. She takes inspiration in this realm from her favorite author, T.J. Klune. Her short story "The Ocean" was published by October Hill Magazine in April 2024.

Remy Donald is a first-year MFA fiction student who received their BA in both Creative Writing and English at Sewanee: The University of the South. In their writing, Remy enjoys exploring the many faucets of identity, queerness, family dynamics, and the South as a narrative backdrop. To start a conversation with Remy ask about TTRPGs, crafting, gaming, or most importantly, their dog, Jefferson.

Orion is a fiction writer originally from Michigan and received their BFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. They are fascinated by the strange and the paranormal. In their writing, they focus on themes of gender, queerness, and the unexplainable. Their favorite authors include Anne Rice and Kurt Vonnegut. Since fall of 2024, they have served as the Lead Short Story Editor for October Hill Magazine, before that they served as an Assistant Short Story Editor beginning in autumn of 2022.

Emilea Justice is a first-year MFA fiction student originally from southern West Virginia. She received her B.A in Creative Writing and Literary Studies at Marshall University. Her writing explores gender, mental health, and religion. She enjoys time with family and friends, reading, and crafting.

Kelly McElroy is an MFA fiction student from New Jersey. She studied creative writing and theatre at Hamilton College, where she won the William Rosenfeld Chapbook Prize in Creative Writing for her novella Anymore in 2024. She is particularly interested in exploring complicated family relationships in her writing, and is drawn toward authors like Paul Murray and Celeste Ng as inspiration. She is very fond of checking out more library books than she has time to read and finishing them in the parking lot the day they are due.

My name is Alexander Wagner, and I am a first-year student in the BGSU Creative Writing MFA Program with a focus in fiction writing. I attended the University of Michigan for my BFA in Creative Writing and Screenwriting. I am a fan of all things fantasy and sci-fi, drawing inspiration from authors such as Sir Terry Pratchett and Brandon Sanderson.

Carla (Liz) Barnett received their BFA in Creative Writing at Bowling Green State University in May 2023. In their undergraduate, they were the historian for the Bowling Green State University chapter of Sigma Tau Delta. During this time, Liz minored in Classic Civilizations and studied Latin even after graduating. Something Liz enjoys about writing is adaptation and focusing on how we can take myths, stories, legends, etc. and make them work in today's world. Outside of academics they enjoy drawing, playing video games, and spending time with their cats.

Serenity is an international MFA student from Freeport, Bahamas. She graduated with a BA in English from the University of the Bahamas in 2023. Serenity has a deep love of reading and writing. Her works focus on realistic fiction, speculative fiction, historical fiction, and postcolonial fiction. She also has an interest in creative nonfiction. Serenity enjoys writing about Bahamian life and the importance of relationships. She is also inspired by her Haitian background. Serenity aims to become an English professor and publish her creative works in the future. Her work is forthcoming in Tamarind Journal.

Nathan Fako graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor's in English. After participating in Teach for America in Greenwood, Mississippi, he moved back to Salt Lake City and has been teaching high school Language Arts/IB for the past four years.

Jaden Gootjes is a 2nd year MFA poetry student from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She graduated from Northern Michigan University in 2024 with her B.S. in English and minors in sociology and political science. Her work has appeared in Qua and Literary Veganism, and she won the Legler Memorial Poetry Prize in 2024. She is most interested in themes of Midwest family life, feminism, animal rights, and mental health. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, creating visual art, baking, playing video games, hanging out with friends, and spending time with her beloved cats, Bear and Charlotte.

Hannah Goss is an MFA fiction student originally from Lancaster, PA. She received her bachelor's degree in English Writing from Duquesne University where she also minored in Sociology and Women's and Gender studies. Her writing often deals with family relationships and identity, and she enjoys experimenting with form and point of view. Her work is forthcoming or published in Fiction on the Web and Fractured Lit. When she's not writing, she loves to read, hike, and buy overpriced coffees from local coffee shops.

Sydney Koeplin (she/her) is a writer and editor from northern Illinois. She has a particular interest in speculative fiction, and much of her work explores girlhood and the body. Her writing appears in Moon City Review, Qu Literary Magazine, and Hypertext Review, among others. She graduated with degrees in German Studies and English with a concentration in creative writing from Colby College in 2021, where she won the Elmira Nelson Jones Prize for Creative Writing the same year. In her free time, you can usually find her swimming laps or sitting in coffee shops for hours at a time.

Garret Miller is a native of Northwest Ohio. He received a B.A. in English from The Ohio State University at Lima and writes poetry about people and place. He last placed work in the Lima anthology River and Rust. His interests include winter.

Melayna Pongratz is a poet and visual artist pursuing their MFA in Creative Writing. Their work explores themes like queerness, grief, family, and self-acceptance. Melayna was born and raised in western Pennsylvania and earned their B.A. in English from Robert Morris University.

Anna Vaughn is a first-year MFA student in poetry and holds a B.A. and M.A. in English from Kent State University. Her writing often guides her back to her childhood home near Lake Erie, as she finds the Great Lakes to be filled with literary inspiration. She aims to teach creative writing in the future.