Creative Writing Student Cohorts

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.

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.

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 Karen Russell and Kurt Vonnegut. They are a frequent patron of the Toledo Zoo and the local music scene.

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.

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.

Kelly McElroy is an MFA 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. Her short fiction is published in Flash Frog and Milk Candy Review. She is particularly interested in exploring memory and relationships in her writing, and is drawn toward authors like Charlotte McConaghy 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.

Marina Orr is an MFA student from Buter, Ohio. They hold a B.A. in Film production with a minor in creative writing from BGSU. Their work explores themes of racism, racial identity, queer joy, black joy, and grief. Though poetry is their first exploration of writing, they also write romance, horror, science-fiction, creative non-fiction, and memoir. 

Alexander Wagner is a fiction student in the Creative Writing MFA Program. He attended the University of Michigan where he received his BFA in Creative Writing and Screenwriting as well as two Hopwood awards for his undergraduate portfolios. He is a fan of all things speculative, drawing inspiration from the likes of Brandon Sanderson and Terry Pratchett. His interests include scriptwriting, interactive media, and music performance & composition.

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.

Bean Appleton was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. They graduated with a BA in English from Indiana University Bloomington. They are inspired by modernists, trees, and community.

Tobi Brun is a professional editor, writing educator, and author. They love cuddling with their two cats, putting pesto on everything, digging in the dirt. Their writing flirts with binary oppositions; of human & animal, essentialist & constructionist identity, of the rationale & the absurd. Their debut collection 'Of the Eaten' (2024) considers the human condition from the nonhuman perspective. 

Their work has recently been featured in The Dead Mule Society, Fruit Slice Mag, OKOH Mag, and Grim & Gilded. Brun has been a Writer-in-Residence at Sundress Academy for the Arts & Featured Author by The Dayton Authors Symposium. 

Tobi is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Words Faire Press, an indie print & digital press established to provide a platform for emerging creatives in an over-commercialized industry. Tobi is a MFA candidate in Creative Writing, studying the overlap of writing and psychology

I'm from Lancaster PA, I graduated from Allegheny College in spring of 2026, and I'm super excited to be here! Some of my favorite writers are Franz Kafka, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jessie Van Eerden. I love travelling, collecting vinyl, and being a plant-mom!

Jade Josie is a first-year MFA fiction student from Cleveland, Ohio. She earned her BAs in Creative Writing and Spanish from the Ohio State University. Her writing explores relationships, women, and transformation, typically in the speculative genre. She is a twice recipient of the Gertrude Lucille Robinson Award and her work made appearances in Mosaic Magazine, Coffin Bell, and The Writer’s Workout.

Josh is a first-year MFA student in Fiction. He is from Dayton, Ohio, and got his BFA in Motion Pictures, with a focus on Screenwriting, from Wright State University. He enjoys writing absurdity, magical realism, and science fiction, often employing techniques in comedy and horror.

Brooke Kertai is an MFA student who crawled out of the woods outside of the small town of Bremen, Indiana. She earned her B.A. in Creative Writing and Anthropology from Ball State University and her M.A. in English from Indiana University of South Bend. She has been experimenting with writing since she was but a wee lass, stitching together the pieces of different genres, but the roots of all her writing stem from horror. She draws her inspirations from the the ghost of Mary Shelley, the written words Neil Gaiman and Stephen King, as well as the visual artistry of Guillermo del Toro. She has won 1st and 2nd place at IUSB's Writing Awards for her fiction pieces in 2024 and 2025, and in 2026 she was the editor for IUSB's Graduate Journal. Her fiction and poetry has been published in the student journal Analecta.

Ben McCormack is a first-year poetry student at BGSU. When he isn’t writing, you can find Ben traveling and exploring the outdoors with his rescue dog Billy!

Faith Molino is a first year MFA student in poetry. She holds a B.A. In Literature from Franciscan University of Steubenville, where she was the recipient of the Gerard Manley Hopkins Award in English. Her work traverses the perimeters of grief and mental illness, while exploring the startling beauty of the mundane. 

Annie Shook is a first year MFA fiction student from Springboro, Ohio who just received her BA in English Literature & Creative Writing at Miami University. She primarily writes historical fiction that focuses on womanhood, femininity, and religion. In her free time, she enjoys going to bookstores where she can get an iced chai latte and beating my friends in Mario Kart.

Gavin is a writer from Cookeville, TN, where he earned a B.A. in English, a certificate in editing and publishing, and a minor in education from Tennessee Technological University. His poetry explores themes of folklore, labor, place, and religion. He is fascinated by the stories people inherit, the work they perform, and the myths they build to make sense of where they come from. He is a big fan of the Showa era Godzilla films.

Corinna Christ, née Vlahoyiannis, is a first-year MFA graduate student in fiction. She taught middle school English and Humanities for six years in Baltimore, MD, where she is from. Corinna earned a B.A. in English, Honors from Villanova University in 2019. Corinna enjoys exploring her Greek heritage, history, and relationships in her writing.