Kate Luongo, Fiction Panelist Mark Twain once said, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” Last summer, as a birthday gift from my mother, I received the opportunity to…

Hannah L. Desrosiers Nonfiction and Multimedia Panel and Web Designer It was hard enough finding time to do the things I loved in high school, when I was in school from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., then back from 4 to 6 p.m. for cheerleading practices, five days a week….

    Interview conducted by Anna Zarra Aldrich, Blog Editor   Award-winning poet, NEA poetry fellow, and Orion magazine poetry editor Aimee Nezhukumatathil visited the University of Connecticut last month  to give a reading of her work. Nezhukumatathil is a renowned nature writer who has published four full collections of poetry. Her work has…

Christine Byrne Poetry and Translations Panelist Wondering if you have what it takes? Eager to dip a toe into the blue lagoons of classic literature but still traumatized from high school English? Want to make millions!? (of words paper)? Well…                 Welcome to…

Samantha Mason, Fiction Panelist and Fundraising Co-Manager As a self proclaimed movie buff, there’s a good chance that I’ll always be able to passionately participate in a conversation about any film under the sun. That being said, I of course have my favorites – and with favorite movies come favorite…

Lilia Shen Managing Editor The young adult genre is currently one of the most  thriving genres, with hugely successful authors like JK Rowling, Rick Riordan, Leigh Bardugo, Maggie Stiefvater, Marie Lu, and more. Elizabeth Tammi is both a new and old name in the YA world—she got her start in…

Siobhan Dale Co-Editor-in-Chief  Since Ezra Pound’s modernist injunction to “Make it New” in the early 20th century, poets have been experimenting with new forms, stylistic innovations, and bolder content. The modernist imperative seems to suggest that contemporary writers should always look forward at what is new, or predict what is…

Joseph Frare Fiction Panel Editor Recently, I had an amazing phone conversation with well established writer, editor, and publisher Warren Lapine. Warren has had massive success editing and publishing numerous science fiction and fantasy magazines, as well as being the head of Wilder Publications, which has an extensive variety of…

Jonathon Hastings, Chief Copy Editor Friday, February 15 8:30 a.m. I received a text from my brother while preparing for my day. “[Chester] was taken to the animal hospital because he can’t walk.” As this had happened before, I didn’t think much of his message. Besides, boxers are more likely…

Brianna McNish, Co-Editor-in-Chief  Famous authors, especially those heralded in the British and American canon, are rife with idiosyncrasies. Whether it is George Orwell seamlessly “borrowing” the plot of another novel to create 1984 or the fact that Charles Dickens was a member of London’s largest paranormal investigation club (yes, Dickens…