Faculty Editors
Kathleen Graber
Kathleen Graber, faculty editor, is the author of three collections of poetry and a recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Jessica Hendry Nelson
Jessica Hendry Nelson, faculty editor, is the author of Joy Rides Through the Tunnel of Grief (University of Georgia Press, 2023), a memoir-in-essays and the winner of the AWP Sue William Silverman Prize in Creative Nonfiction. She is the author of the memoir If Only You People Could Follow Directions (Counterpoint, 2014), which was selected as a best debut book by the Indies Introduce New Voices program, the Indies Next List by the American Booksellers’ Association, named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Review. She is also coauthor of the textbook and anthology Advanced Creative Nonfiction: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology along with the writer Sean Prentiss (Bloomsbury, 2021). Her work appears in the anthology Bending Genre, edited by Nicole Walker and Margot Singer (Bloomsbury, 2023), as well as the Threepenny Review, Prairie Schooner, Tin House, the Los Angeles Review of Books, North American Review, the Rumpus, the Carolina Quarterly, Columbia Journal, Painted Bride Quarterly, Crab Orchard Review, PANK, Drunken Boat, and elsewhere. She is assistant professor of creative writing at Virginia Commonwealth University and also teaches in the MFA program at the University of Nebraska in Omaha.
Senior Editorial Staff
Caroline Richards
Managing Editor
Caroline Richards, managing editor, is a second-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds a BA in English and anthropology from Trinity College, Hartford, where she worked as poetry editor for the Trinity Literary Magazine.
Waverley Vesely
Managing Editor Emerita
Waverley Vesely, managing editor emerita, is a third-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Their poetry has appeared in Academy of American Poets, Blackbird, and Grub Street Literary Review. They hold an MA in creative writing from the University of North Texas and a BS in English from Towson University.
Genre Editors
Julia St. John
Lead Copyeditor
Julia St. John, lead copyeditor, is a second-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University and the poetry editor for the Washington Review of Books. She holds a BS in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh.
Josh Galarza
Art Editor
Josh Galarza, lead art editor, is a second-year MFA student in fiction and creative nonfiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the author of The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky (Henry Holt and Company, 2024). His creative nonfiction has appeared in FOLIO and elsewhere. He holds a BFA in art and a BA in English from the University of Nevada, Reno, and is a multidisciplinary visual artist specializing in printmaking, book arts, and sculpture.
Christopher Shaw
Fiction Editor
Chris Shaw, lead fiction editor, is a second-year MFA fiction and nonfiction student at Virginia Commonwealth University. His work has appeared in the Santa Ana River Review, Press Pause Press, and the Matador Review. He also holds a BA in English, a BFA in creative writing, and an MA in English from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Allison Weissman
Creative Nonfiction Editor
Allison Weissman, lead creative nonfiction editor, is a second-year MFA student in fiction and creative nonfiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. They hold a BA in English from West Chester University of Pennsylvania with minors in creative writing and graphic design, and they are assistant art editor for Split Lip Magazine.
Dina Folgia
Poetry Editor
Dina Folgia, lead poetry editor, is second-year MFA student in poetry and fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Foglifter, Ninth Letter, the minnesota review, and elsewhere. She holds a BA in writing arts from Rowan University.
Jack Brisson
Media Editor
Jack Brisson, lead media editor, is a writer from Vermont who has received support from Breadloaf Writers’ Conference and Breadloaf Translators’ Conference. His fiction is forthcoming in the New England Review.
Associate Editors
Camryn Claude, associate art and fiction editor, is a second-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned her BA from the College of William and Mary with a major in classical studies and a minor in creative writing.
Maureen Morris, associate poetry editor, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds a BA in creative writing with a minor in environmental studies from Fairfield University.
Hana Rehman, associate fiction editor, is a first-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her fiction appears in Longleaf Review. She holds BAs in English and comparative literature from the University of Georgia, where she interned for the Georgia Review.
Jessica Corrado, associate nonfiction editor, is a first year MFA student in fiction and nonfiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds an MA in English from VCU as well as a BA in English with minors in Creative Writing and Asian Studies from SUNY New Paltz.
Sarp A. Demiral, associate fiction editor, is a first-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia.
Matt Schroeder, associate poetry editor and lead photo editor, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. His poems appear or are forthcoming in Poet Lore, Grist, Invisible City, Qwerty, and elsewhere.
Charles Meyer, associate nonfiction editor, is a first-year MFA nonfiction and poetry student at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he earned his BA in English.
Interns
Abby Asimos, fiction intern, is a senior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her short story, “Flowers That Smell of Nothing,” won the Undergraduate Fiction Award at VCU for 2023. She will graduate in the spring of 2024 with a BA in English and a minor in media studies.
Isabelle Vann, fiction intern, is a sophomore undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will graduate in the spring of 2026 with a BA in English.
Em Nation, media intern, is a junior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will graduate in the spring of 2025 with a BA in English and a minor in professional writing.
Nadia Bryant, copyediting intern, is a junior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will graduate in the spring of 2025 with a BA in English and a dual minor in professional writing and editing and creative writing.
Jesse Anderson, nonfiction intern, is a senior undergraduate student studying English, professional writing, and creative writing at Virginia Commonwealth University. They are the current literary editor for Amendment, a student-run art and literature journal. They also serve as the prose editor for Annum Arcanum, a debut anthology of arcane art and literature.
Mallory Sorber, fiction intern, is a senior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will graduate in the spring of 2024 with a major in English and a minor in creative writing.
Peake Webb, media intern, is a junior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a staff member for Ink Magazine, Virginia Commonwealth University’s student-run alternative magazine, and is studying media production with a minor in creative writing.
Callum Amend, poetry intern, is a junior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. He will graduate in the fall of 2024 with a BA in English and a minor in creative writing. His work is forthcoming in Amendment, a student-run literary journal at VCU.
Zoë Gittings, fiction intern, is a senior undergraduate and first-year graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will graduate in the spring of 2024 with a BA in English and a minor in creative writing. She will graduate again in the spring of 2025 with an MA in English.
Renee Whitley, fiction and media intern, is a junior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is editor-in-chief of Virginia Commonwealth University’s undergraduate literary anthology, plain china. She will graduate in the spring of 2025 with a BA in English and a minor in creative writing.
Bennet Tambellini, copyediting intern, is a senior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. He will graduate in the spring of 2024 with a BA in English and a minor in creative writing.
Ash Cambra, copyediting intern, is a junior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University pursuing a BA in English and a minor in creative writing. She will graduate in the fall of 2024.
Zachary Phillips, fiction intern, is a senior undergraduate in the English department at Virginia Commonwealth University set to graduate this spring.
Thao-Vy Nguyen, copyediting intern, is a junior undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will graduate in the spring of 2025 with a BA in English and a minor in professional writing and editing as well as a minor in statistics.
Edwin Schoenborn, poetry intern, is a sophomore undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University and will graduate in the winter of 2025 with a BA in urban and regional studies/planning.
Kaitlyn Nowotny, poetry intern, is a sophomore undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will graduate in 2026 with a BA in English and a minor in creative writing.
& Many Thanks
to all the editors, staff members, interns, and volunteers who made Blackbird’s second flight, volume twenty-two, number two possible.
Special thanks to Jessica Hendry Nelson for her unwavering commitment to uplifting and supporting this team. Her endless energy, creativity, and positivity made this Flight a delight to create.
Thanks to Waverley Vesely for their efforts as managing editor emerita, for their continuous support in all respects, their ongoing patience and close attention to tradition and professionalism.
To Julia St. John for leading our copyediting team with deftness, intelligence, patience and diligent organization. And to the copyediting interns Ash Cambra, Thao-Vy Nguyen, Nadia Bryant, and Bennet Tambellini for their hard work writing blurbs and their razor-sharp attention to detail.
To Chris Shaw, our fearless fiction leader, whose dedication, contagious energy, and good humor were tantamount to this flight’s success. And to the fiction interns Abby Asimos, Zoë Gittings, Mallory Sorber, Isabelle Vann, Renee Whitley, Zachary Phillips, Hana Rehman, Sarp Demiral, and Camryn Claude for their incredible work and close attention.
To Allison Weissman, our nonfiction editor, for their patience, wisdom, and kindness. And to the nonfiction interns Jesse Anderson, Peake Webb, Charles Meyer and Jessica Corrado for their incredible hard work writing solicitations and scouting for quality work.
To Dina Folgia for her energy and good spirits in the face of a seemingly endless poetry queue. And to the poetry interns Matt Schroeder, Maureen Morris, Callum Amend, Ben Harper, Katie Nowotny, and Edwin Schoenborn for all their time and attention.
To Josh Galarza, our art editor, and Camryn Claude, for doing it again. Their wonderful work on this artistic project demonstrates vision, passion, and ambition. Thank you for sharing these incredible artists with us.
Thanks to Jack Brisson for his work to uplift our social pages, and for his creativity and ingenuity in all things media related and otherwise.
Special gratitude to Em Nation, Renee Whitley, and Hana Rehman for their wonderful work creating the beautiful visuals for our social media pages, and for generally bringing creativity and energy to advancing Blackbird’s online presence.
Special thanks to Matt Schroeder, dedicated photo editor, for his willingness to take on extra work with enthusiasm and energy.
Special thanks once again to Ashley Brewer and Cody Whitby who helped us work out this new website, your patience and hard-work are beyond appreciated.
And to all others—Thom Didato, Greg Patterson, our contributors, our sincere appreciation. Your dedication, ingenuity, and good spirits make it all possible.