Executive
Dani Hedlund
Chief Executive & Founder
Helen Maimaris
Chief of Staff
Leadership
Victoria Bruick
Operations & Finance Coordinator
Ejiwa ‘Edge’ Ebenebe
Assistant Creative Director & Impact Lead
JP Legarte
Community and Grant Development Assistant & Junior Editor
Kaitlin Lounsberry
Internship Supervisor & Senior Editor
Nate Ragolia
Communications & Marketing Director
Valerie San Filippo
Education Program Manager
Evan Sheldon
Editorial Director
Senior
Suzie Bartholomew
Senior Editor
Soni Brown
Writing Instructor
Hailey Renee Brown
Art Admin & Support
Megan Casimir
Education Community Liaison
Thomas Chisholm
Senior Editor
Alejandro Fuentes Mena
Education Community Liaison
Race Garber
Senior Editor
Sam Gladstone
IT Officer
Maribel Leddy
Internship Assistant & Junior Editor
Dominic Loise
Content Creator & Staff Writer
Alexander Lumans
Curriculum Developer
Patty McCrystal
Writing Instructor
Matt Peadon
Visual Identity Associate
Anya Prosser
Education Associate
Calvin Shaw
Writing Instructor
Eileen Silverthorn
Senior Editor
Junior
Azalea Acevedo
Junior Editor
Asma Al-Masyabi
Junior Editor
Chase Bailey
Junior Editor
Eliza Browning
Junior Editor
Sam Burt
Junior Editor
Inanna Carter
Junior Editor
Erin Clements
Junior Editor
Jaron Cook
Student Advisor
Zara Garcia
Junior Editor
Ally Geist
Junior Editor
Vishnu Gonzales
Student Advisor
Gina Gruss
Junior Editor
Ann Hickox
Student Advisor
Ari Iscariot
Junior Editor
C. E. Janecek
Junior Editor & Communications Associate
Jazzmin Joya
Junior Editor
Simon Kerr
Junior Editor
Asmaani Kumar
Junior Editor
Haley Lawson
Junior Editor
Marizel Malan
Junior Editor
Sonya Minner
Junior Editor
Jaclyn Morken
Junior Editor
Jadyn Nguyen
Student Advisor
Madden Oliver
Student Advisor
Eva Reish
Student Advisor
Luis Diego Rodriguez
Student Advisor
Sara Santistevan
Junior Editor
Stevi Sargas
Junior Editor
Amber Sullivan
Junior Editor
Aubrey Unemori
Junior Editor
Ciena Valenzuela-Peterson
Junior Editor
Intern
Skyler Boudreau
Intern
Lydia Layton
Intern
Ainsley Louie-Suntjens
Intern
Erxi Lu
Intern
Parker McCullough
Intern
Consultant
Asa C. Garber
Legal Advisor
Zach Howard
Prison Book Art Director & Co-Creator
Drew Nolte
Web Designer
Board
Suzanne Hickox
US Board Member
Jennifer Leong
US Board Member
Ian Leprino
US Board Member
Vivian Marr
UK Trustee
Harriet Moll
UK Trustee
Jon Schindehette
US Board Member
Catherine Stihler OBE
UK Trustee
Jadyn Nguyen
Jadyn believes the key to this universe is being your full self. His experience includes working with leading philanthropic foundations and serving as a founding team member for three Denver-based non-profits.
As the founder of Penkhay J, LLC, he supports organizations with social media strategy and content distribution. When more people know about the great effects of youth development, then more individuals can be positively impacted.
Jadyn is a Denver Public School alumni and serves as a board member for the Colorado Youth Congress. He loves learning, playing card games, and spending time with loved ones. He’s a bigtime fan of the Chainsmokers!
Madden Oliver
Madden grew up in Washington D.C. They are a prior Division 1 athlete who loves hedgehogs, piercings, and Disney. They are an advocate, activist, and student. Their passions include creating connections through shared lived experiences and mental health resourcing. They believe storytelling is a powerful avenue to destigmatize and uplift minority narratives. They create content on social media, write poetry, and enjoy using mixed media to depict life. They are a current volunteer with American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. They love trying new sports, the latest being: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Rock Climbing and Trail Running. They aspire to be an Ironman. As a queer neurodiverse person, who values humor, they hope that sharing stories can capture struggle and highlight hope.
Ann Hickox
Ann is an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder pursuing a BS in Accounting. She is also pursuing a minor in Art History which feeds her love of museums and historic studies. Also an accomplished musician, Ann has received merit awards from the Royal British School of Music and has played in multiple orchestra ensembles and quartets. She enjoys busy college life and looking after her two pampered rabbits. Outside of school, Ann can be found reading historical novels, rock climbing, and finding fun places to eat.
Eva Reish
Eva Reish is a student at the University of Colorado Boulder studying Marketing and Creative Technology and Design. She is a Diverse Scholar, a brother of Delta Sigma Pi Professional Fraternity, and member of Business & Engineering Women in Technology. Eva grew up in Aurora where she played basketball, was the president of DECA, and curated recipes for NASA through her high school. She is passionate about discovering the world through travel, cultural immersion and meeting new people. In her free time, she likes to connect with friends and family, participate in outdoor activities like hiking and fishing, improve her graphic design skills, and watch Breaking Bad.
Skyler Boudreau
Skyler Boudreau graduated from the New Hampshire Technical Institute with an AA in English and AS in General Studies. During her time at NHTI, she served as an editor and webmaster for The Eye, NHTI’s student literary journal. In 2023, she produced a digital special edition of The Eye with a focus on literary censorship, which went on to win the first place Change the World award in the New Hampshire Humanities Collaborative’s HUGEmanities contest. She is currently working on her BA in Creative Writing and English with a concentration in fiction at Southern New Hampshire University.
Parker McCullough
Parker is a writer, poet, artist, and DJ. He graduated from the University of Chicago with an MA in Humanities, focusing on African American Literature. Parker is working on a fictional novel centering on healing generational trauma in black families through Hoodoo. His research interests include Zora Neale Hurston, Hoodoo/Voodoo, African Traditional Religion, and somatic work. Parker also enjoys writing short stories and poetry about love, lightwork, being trans, and being black in America. His passions are house music, creative writing, and telling a good story. When Parker is not writing, he desperately seeks Rosemary’s approval, his sassy cat.
Lydia Layton
Lydia Layton is an aspiring novelist and filmmaker pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. Her literary interests include contemporary working-class fiction, narratives of trauma, and depictions of masculinity in media. In her free time, you may spot her jumping waves on the beach, musing over which language to learn next, and attempting to skateboard.
Erxi Lu
Erxi Lu is a graduate of Amherst College with an English and Economics degree. She wrote her senior English thesis about a Chinese-American woman who embarks on a journey to find happiness within white capitalist America. She loves experimental prose that pushes against the boundaries of language and wants to have continual involvement in the publishing industry.
Ainsley Louie-Suntjens
Ainsley Louie-Suntjens (she/her) is a Chinese-Canadian writer, editor, student, and artist from Calgary. She is working towards her undergraduate in English and History at the University of Calgary. Her writing is gothic, horror-inflected, and full of weird women who get up to strange activities. You can find her work in Deathcap, Lida Literary, Wyrd & Wise, Undressed Society, and Nowhere Girl Collective. She is also a passionate dance artist, cinephile, watercolor painter, and avid thrift-shopper. You can find her social media below:
Instagram
Twitter
Letterboxd
Goodreads
Vishnu Gonzales
Vishnu Gonzales is a dedicated professional with a strong foundation in the music industry, particularly as a rap artist known by the stage name “The Sun Vishnu.” At 19, he has already made significant strides in his career, showcasing his talent and creativity through multiple successful releases. With 5 years of experience honing his craft, Vishnu has developed expertise in songwriting, performance, and music production. His professional journey is marked by his ability to connect with audiences through powerful lyrics and dynamic performances. Vishnu’s commitment to excellence and passion for music continue to drive his pursuit of creating impactful art that resonates with listeners globally.
Jaron Cook
Jaron, a dedicated single father of two, is an avid reader passionate about exploring diverse perspectives. He thrives on engaging in conversations, cherishing the opportunity to delve into others’ thoughts. Beyond his love for literature, Jaron finds solace and inspiration in the performing arts.
Luis Diego Rodriguez
Luis Diego was born in Little Rock AR, his family being from Venezuela and Spain. He’s an avid runner, as a part of his high school cross-country team, completing his first marathon at age 15. He has a love for history, especially military history. He interviews veterans and does in depth research into their stories, publishing them in his YouTube channel “Military History Unveiled.” He seeks opportunities for community service—including spending a month in Egypt helping communities have access to water and shelter—and he enjoys attending school and traveling. His other interests include reading, mainly non-fiction and science-fiction, playing classical and electric guitar, and water and snow skiing.
Hailey Renee Brown
Hailey Renee Brown (Ren) is a professional illustrator born and raised in mid Michigan. A former field biologist, they moved across the country from Michigan to Pennsylvania, also moving from science to commercial art. A professionally trained artist, they attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in Dover, NJ, where they were selected the recipient of the 2017 Norman Maurer Memorial Award as well as the 2019 Joe Kubert Jumpstart Project. They have since worked for a variety of clients including scientific publications, comic publishers like Dark Horse Comics and Dynamite Entertainment, and the Brink Literacy Project.
Alejandro Fuentes Mena
Alejandro Fuentes Mena was born in Valparaiso, Chile and grew up in San Diego, California starting at the age of four. He received a B.A. in Psychology from Whitman College and his Masters in Educational Leadership from High Tech High GSE. Through Teach for America, Alejandro was one of the first two DACAmented teachers in the entire nation and was an educator for a decade. Alejandro also served as the Co-Founder of Radical Arts Academy of Denver set to open as RASA Fall 2024, works as an educational consultant, and is looking for his next passion and adventure. Senator Durbin featured his story on the Senate floor to showcase the transformative impact of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Through a TEDx talk and Motus Theatre’s UndocuAmerica Project, Alejandro seeks to humanize the narrative of undocumented lives. As an artist, Alejandro regularly performs in an a cappella group, the StoryTellers303, sang in the band, the Pink Hawks, and performs improvisational theater with Motus Theater’s Playback theater.
Alexander Lumans
Alexander Lumans is a fiction writer, editor, and teacher. He was awarded a 2018 NEA Artist Grant in Fiction. He was also awarded fellowships to the 2015 and 2024 expeditions of the Arctic Circle Residency His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Paris Review, Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, Gulf Coast, Ninth Letter, American Short Fiction, among others. He’s received assistance to attend MacDowell, Yaddo, The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, among others. He loves Magic: the Gathering, Taylor Swift, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and all things Arctic. He writes in Berlin.
Calvin Shaw
Calvin Shaw is from Jefferson City, Missouri where he graduated from the great HBCU Lincoln University, earning his MBA in the process. He currently lives in Colorado working as a tax planning consultant and accountant. He is the Board Treasurer for the Colorado Black Health Collaborative and has served as both a selector and judge for the Colorado Humanities Colorado Book Awards. He has many works published, with poetry being his preferred literary genre. He loves listening to music, watching sports, and cooking.
Megan Casimir
Megan is a lover of dark chocolate, hip hop, and the ocean. She lives in Denver, Colorado. In 2021, she co-founded Words Beyond Walls, a youth-led organization that practices community care to prevent and intervene in community violence. She is also the Director of a program called Youth Building Legacy Now that supports students across Denver to build and sustain youth-lead programming in their neighborhood communities. She is a trained trauma therapist, educator, abolitionist, mom, reads mostly fiction, and makes a mean breakfast taco. As the Education Community Liaison for BrinkLit, she helps to connect schools and youth communities with BrinkLit programming.
Soni Brown
Soni Brown is a freelance journalist and magazine writer from Kingston, Jamaica. She is the founder and facilitator of the Papine Writing Collective — a DIY, decolonized, writing program for creative writers from the West Indies and its diaspora. Soni is currently working on a memoir of forgetting and remembering when her polydactyl cat, Priscilla Purrsley isn’t sitting on her lap.
Patty McCrystal
Patty McCrystal is an author and editor from Arvada, Colorado. She received her MFA from Regis University. Her work can be found in Joyland Magazine, Epiphany Magazine, Oyster River Pages, JMWW Journal, Atticus Review and more, and on PBS. Her work has won the Slippery Elm Prose Prize and has received a Pushcart Prize nomination, a Best of Net nomination, and a Best American Short Stories nomination.
Patty is the Marketing and Communications Manager at RedLine Contemporary Art Center, a nonprofit arts organization in Denver. She’s also a Volunteer Editor for the Hard Times workshop, a community writing program for those experiencing homelessness and economic hardship.
Patty lives in Arvada with her husband Christopher, dog Bandit, and cat Ghost.
Stevi Sargas
Stevi Sargas is a queer, spec-fic author from Aotearoa New Zealand. She graduated NorthTec: Tai Tokerau Wānanga summa cum laude in 2024 with a Diploma in Creative Writing. Her work can be found in journals such as bad apple and A Part of Me. Stevi edits for F(r)iction and freelances in publishing, where her recent project won the 2023 Australian Game Developer Award (ADGA) for Excellence in Narrative. She is an unflappable welfare advocate, using her experience of chronic illness and neurodivergence to increase accessibility and awareness. Stevi writes about messy little guys new to the human condition—which, honestly—aren’t we all?
Jazzmin Joya
Jazzmin Joya (she/her) is an enthusiastic young writer who is currently attending the University of California, Berkeley pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in English and Media Studies. She enjoys reading short fiction, poetry, and horror/mystery thrillers but is open to all genres. She spent her high school career participating in an organization called WriteGirl where she was published in one of their anthologies, This Moment. She also wrote for her school’s advocacy newspaper and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate two years in a row. She plans to continue her passion in writing and exploring the publishing industry.
Ciena Valenzuela-Peterson
Ciena Valenzuela-Peterson is a graduate student at USC pursuing a master’s degree in Literary Editing and Publishing. She graduated from USC with a BA in English Creative Writing and Political Science with a concentration in Race, Gender, and the Politics of Justice. She is the President of the USC Literary Society, the university’s premier student-led literary organization, and she is passionate about building supportive communities of readers and writers and promoting the literary arts. A lover of all things gothic, Ciena is fascinated by the macabre and the horror genre’s underrated literary merit. Her work has been published by Pornstar Martini Magazine, ARC South Pasadena, and Systems Change Alliance. In her spare time, you can find Ciena doodling in her sketchbook, eating takeout with friends, and building elaborate houses in Minecraft.
Asma Al-Masyabi
Asma Al-Masyabi is a poet, writer, and visual artist based in Colorado. She is a Scholastic Silver Medal Poetry winner and ruth weiss Foundation Emerging Poet Award winner with publications in The Cincinnati Review, Subnivean, the Santa Clara Review, and more. In her spare time, she spends too much money on manga, watches competitive cooking shows with her family, and gets lost on Pinterest while trying to draw all the pretty outfits. She’s pursuing a degree in creative writing at the University of Colorado-Denver and looks forward to a career filled with words and art, her two biggest passions.
Ari Iscariot
Ari Iscariot is a queer, neurodivergent, chronically ill author and artist living in Florida. They recently graduated from Florida International University summa cum laude, with a BA in Literature and a minor in International Communications. Among their many hobbies, they DM for an insatiably chaotic DND group, attend weekly meetings with their (somewhat) less chaotic writing group, “Seaquills,” and regularly fall down research rabbit holes from which they’ve always emerged unscathed. (So far.) But mostly, they write. Their writing centers intense queer relationships, indulges in the power of ravenous love, and explores the transgressive nature of gender-variant bodies.
Zara Garcia
Zara Garcia is a proud Mexican American woman living in Southwest Florida, where she recently graduated with a BA in English and a minor in World Literature. She is an aspiring editor with a passion for magical realism and Latinx literature. When she isn’t reading, she is writing free verse poems in her journal, making fake cakes out of spackle, or cooking vegan food.
Sara Santistevan
Sara Santistevan was born in California, where she grew up around vivid storytellers. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a B.A. in Literature and Legal Studies. During her time at UCSC, Sara received the 2021 Reyna Grande Scholarship for her poetry on the Latina identity. Her forthcoming chapbook, The Root from Which Freedom Blossoms, explores how complicated mythologies, histories, and cultural norms can live on in the internal lives of marginalized individuals. In her free time, Sara enjoys visiting local cafes, petting all her neighborhood cats, and discovering the magic of the written word.
Inanna Carter
Inanna is a recent graduate of Kutztown University with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in English/Professional Writing. She’s currently undertaking an online MFA in Emerson College’s Popular Fiction Writing and Publishing program and freelances for a gaming journalism site. With her two wild cats Remy and Mouse constantly on the run, Inanna’s been doing her best to outline and write her first novel, all while crocheting, reading (more like collecting) any romance books she can find, and happily listening to BTS or Stray Kids.
Aubrey Unemori
Aubrey Unemori graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Creative Writing. She was born and raised on Maui, Hawaii but currently resides in Seattle, Washington. She likes to fill her days with reading, writing, playing games with friends, and pretending to be a coffee snob.
Race Garber
Race has a background in editing, including fiction and non-fiction, scientific and technical papers, professional essays, and legal writing. Regardless of the nature of the writing, a powerful creation stems from strong narrative, approachable language, solid structure, and momentum-building flow. Race enjoys donating his time to Brink to assist new and established authors in suffering through the revision process and celebrating the progress.
Simon Kerr
Simon Kerr is a writer/reader/editor from Colorado. Their home turf is fantasy and sci fi, their passion is queer representation in media, and they have opinions about loose leaf tea.
Haley Lawson
Haley Lawson is a writer and educator, having taught English in the U.S.A., Mongolia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. Currently, she works as a Program Coordinator for AmeriCorps. A lover of all things make-believe and magick, she writes genre fiction under the pen name H. M. L. Swann. Some of her works are published in The Manchester Anthology IX and Quibble Literary. She received her master’s degree in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester in December 2021. When not writing, she can be found reading tarot cards and hiking along the shores of Lake Superior.
Marizel Malan
Marizel Malan was born and raised in South Africa, and recently graduated from the University of Pretoria with an Honours Degree in English Literature. She showcases her poetry on the online platform Substack via her newsletter named I don’t drink gin and tonic. Marizel is currently working as a ghost writer, writing nonfiction books in various niches including history, hobbies and crafts. Whenever she is not reading or writing, you can find her dabbling in a variety of arts and crafts, playing Minecraft, or baking for her family.
Anya Prosser
Anya is a doctoral student of education at Columbia University’s Teachers College focusing on using superhero comics to address issues of mental health in the classroom. She taught language arts at a high school in Denver before moving to New York City to pursue higher degrees in education. Her central pedagogies are Hip Hop Education and dismantling the heteronormative white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Besides her academic work, Anya is a freelance editor. An avid Marvel fan, she will eagerly discuss why Illyana Rasputin and Lorna Dane are the best and why Scott Summers is the worst.
Valerie San Filippo
Valerie San Filippo is a writer and educator from Long Island, New York. She received her MFA in Fiction from Stony Brook Southampton. Her work has appeared in F(r)iction, PANK, TSROnline, and elsewhere. She is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, and a recipient of George R.R. Martin’s Miskatonic Scholarship. When she isn’t teaching, or writing stories about angry young women, she spends her time playing TTRPGs, embroidering, and caring for her pet moss balls.
Eliza Browning
Eliza Browning is studying for her master’s degree in modernist literature at the University of Oxford. She recently graduated from Wheaton College in Massachusetts with a degree in English and art history. Her poetry and fiction appears in The Adroit Journal, Salamander Magazine, Contrary Magazine, Up the Staircase Quarterly and the Oxford-Cambridge Mays Anthology, among others. When not reading or writing, Eliza can be found painting, embroidering or baking with botanicals.
Sam Burt
Sam is a tutor and proofreader living in east London. Since graduating in 2021 with a master’s in creative writing, he has been a bookseller for Phlox Books and Waterstones, and started the East London Indie Book Club to champion innovative fiction from small presses. Sam is the founder and editor of POINT BLOC, a new online literary journal that will launch later this year, and has edited fiction submissions to Bandit Fiction, An Inkling, and The Manchester Anthology IX. His fiction has appeared in Popshot Quarterly, Bandit Fiction, and Ink, Sweat and Tears, and his essays/reviews in The London Magazine, 3:AM Magazine, and BookRiot. Off the page, he can usually be found baking, volunteering at a local LGBTQ+ charity, or missing shuttlecocks.
JP Legarte
JP Legarte is an alum of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who double majored in Creative Writing and Individual Plans of Study (Science, Health, and Environmental Writing). At Brink and F(r)iction, he researches and develops grant opportunities and partnerships with local and national organizations.
Outside of Brink and F(r)iction, he works as a Community Outreach Worker for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. He is a Summer 2022 Anaphora Arts Poetry Fellow, a Summer 2023 Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference Nonfiction Alum, and a Summer 2023 Kenyon Review Writers Workshop Nonfiction Alum and was a 2023 Jack McCarthy Book Prize Finalist with Write Bloody Publishing.
Azalea Acevedo
Azalea Acevedo grew up in Florida, where she spent her childhood drawing portraits of her favorite characters from the books she read. In high school, she moved to South Carolina. She attended Trident Technical College and graduated from Converse University, where she studied creative and professional writing. She was an editor for The Concept Literary Magazine, the school’s literary journal, which piqued her interest in developing stories in collaboration with an editorial team. Azalea has been published in both The Concept Literary Magazine and Converse Magazine, the university’s annual publication.
Dominic Loise
Dominic Loise lives with his librarian wife Jenna, their rabbits and many books. He met his wife one night over a shared love of reading Ray Bradbury. The rabbits love books too but aren’t readers. As a content creator for F(r)iction, Dominic writes book reviews, does interviews and has a series of personal essays about pop culture and mental health. He is open about and advocates for mental health awareness. Dominic can be found at @dominic_lives on Instagram & Twitter where he shares recently published work.
Victoria Bruick
Combining her love of spreadsheets, penchant for logistics, and close to a decade of experience working with education nonprofits, Victoria coordinates Brink’s operations and finance activities. When she’s not tapping away on her laptop with a coffee in hand, you can find her at conferences and events representing Brink and F(r)iction.
Fascinated by the way we create ourselves through the stories we tell ourselves, Victoria is a published poet and professional podcaster. She co-hosts and produces the show Book Club with Julia & Victoria and is developing a show with the University of Connecticut’s Center for Trauma Recovery and Juvenile Justice.
Asmaani Kumar
Asmaani Kumar is a graduate in Sociology from Delhi University. Brought up in Guwahati, Assam and currently living in Delhi, she works as a writer for a media company. You’ll always find her taking the longer road for walks while blasting music in her ears. A hardcore postcard collector who spends too much time writing letters, reading poetry, gazing up at the skies and daydreaming of being in the mountains or a seaside village, these days she has been trying to learn new things like a language, an instrument, and cooking. What brings her happiness more than anything is stories, seen, read, or heard and she hopes she can spend a lifetime telling stories, sometimes her own but mostly of the people she comes across. She’s always ready to listen.
Gina Gruss
Gina Marie Gruss is an undergraduate student at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of FAU, double majoring in Creative Writing and Visual Art. She’s a born-and-raised south Floridian who hates the heat but loves her home state’s myths and nature. Her works have been featured by Amazon Prime Video, Mensa America, Wattpad, and FAU. She’s excitedly crafting her interdisciplinary senior thesis, which explores different Armageddons while centralizing disabled, queer, and diverse narratives. When not creating, she loves planning events, cooking and baking way too much food for said events, avoiding getting eaten by gators, and spoiling her cat Apollo.
Matt Peadon
Matt Peadon is a character artist and art director working in film and video games. As the only blonde Australian that can’t surf, he pivoted and opted for a more digital medium. He was part of productions like Game of Thrones, Aquaman, Underworld, and Ghostbusters and has collaborated with organisations like Weta Workshop, NASA, KikkiK, Epic Games, and Magic Leap. Matt pursues his interest in photography and Hedlund’s quips by camera-slinging for Brink.
Nate Ragolia
Nate Ragolia is an author, editor, publisher, and podcaster. He’s published three books, There You Feel Free (2015), The Retroactivist (2019), and One Person Can’t Make a Difference (2022). Nate co-hosts Debut Buddies, a podcast about firsts, and is co-founder of the indie press Spaceboy Books. At Brink, he leads communication and marketing, writes grants, and collaborates with the leadership team on a wide variety of projects and programs. He has also dabbled in webcomics, e-zines, and music blogging, and worked in community wealth development and nonprofit strategy. When he’s not doing the things listed above, Nate is a husband and a dog dad.
Erin Clements
Erin Clements is an Ohio-based knower of things and sender of emails. Armed with a graduate certificate in Publishing from New York University and a summa cum laude BA in English, she does a bit of everything: outside of her work with Brink, she works as the Author Coordinator and Personal Assistant to the CEO at Lucinda Literary, as a freelance Publicity Assistant and Community Manager for a few publishing small businesses, and as an editor.
She loves everything literary, from Shakespeare to the newest fantasy and romance bestsellers, and she’ll happily tell you her opinions on everything. When she’s not working, she’s probably buying more books than she could ever read, making travel plans, talking about how she previously worked for bestselling author John Green, or getting emotional over cute dogs.
Amber Sullivan
Amber Sullivan is probably hiding in a dark corner somewhere. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English Writing at the University of Colorado in 2018. Her work at Brink includes editing for F(r)iction and F(r)iction Log, reviewing submissions, and other miscellaneous assignments. Her writing can also be found in F(r)iction Log. Fortunately for Amber, Brink is mostly remote, as she usually smells a bit like canned fish after her cat drags her shoes into his food bowl. She spends her time outside of Brink training her apartment demon, working a day job, and feeling like a secret agent while writing fanfiction under an alias.
Harriet Moll
Harriet worked for fifteen years as a TV journalist for Bloomberg, CNBC and MTV in London and in Italy before returning to her home country of Scotland to take up a fundraising role with a housing charity. Now, as Creative Director at Charlotte Street Partners, she works with businesses and charities from around the world to help them tell their stories so that everyone can understand. She is a proud bookworm, mum of two boys, Iyengar yogini, and novice mountain biker.
Ally Geist
Ally is a quirky little Canuck living in Toronto, Canada (yes, they do have a lot of maple syrup up there!). She graduated with a BA in Theatre Studies (specializing in Playwriting and Dramaturgy) from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. She also has a post-grad certificate in Publishing from Ryerson University. When Ally is not reading, crying over cute puppy videos on the internet, defending the merits of the Oxford comma, or watching reruns of Schitts Creek, she is most likely lip-synching for her life in her bedroom, pretending she is one of the fabulous Drag Race queens.
Jaclyn Morken
Jaclyn is an aspiring writer and editor from Saskatoon, Canada, where she completed an MFA in Writing and BA Hons in English at the University of Saskatchewan. Her work can be found in antilang no. 1, Dually Noted (March 2019), and River Volta Review of Books. Jaclyn writes fantasy and speculative fiction.
C. E. Janecek
C. E. Janecek is the internal newsletter wizard of the Brink team, keeping the staff up to date on happenings, deadlines, and projects each month. C. E. recently got their MFA in poetry at Colorado State University and is now a freelance editor and writer—having work featured in Poetry , Booth , Gulf Coast, and elsewhere. Online at www.cewritespoems.com.
Catherine Stihler OBE
Catherine is the Chief Executive Officer of the Open Knowledge Foundation, a global not for profit advocating for a fair, free, and open future.
For 20 years she represented Scotland in the European Parliament where she was recognized for her digital policy leadership and as an ambassador for public libraries, accessibility, and citizens rights.
In 2014 she was elected unopposed as the 52nd Rector of the University of St Andrews, being awarded an honorary doctorate in 2018.
Ejiwa ‘Edge’ Ebenebe
Ejiwa ‘Edge’ Ebenebe is a Nigerian-Canadian artist based in BC, Canada. Edge serves as Assistant Creative Director for F(r)iction, working alongside the Creative Director to craft the vision and artistic direction for each issue, as well as assisting the Managing Editor with circulation and fulfilment logistics. As Data Lead for Brink, Edge also assists the team in tracking and analyzing the varying points of information needed to ensure Brink’s impact is as focused and effective as possible.
As an immigrant, they wrestle with concepts of community and identity, both within themself and their artwork, and strive to create representation for voices (particularly Black and/or LGBTQ+ folks) who are often pushed out of positive, empowering narratives. Their artwork echoes a love for the ethereal, fantasy stories they grew up with with vibrant colours and ornamentation that weaves Edge’s experience throughout each piece they create.
They have worked with clients including Scholastic, Wizards of the Coast and Marvel. Their work has also featured in publications such as ImagineFX Magazine, Infected By Art, and Brink’s very own F(r)iction.
Chase Bailey
Chase Bailey is a baker living in Columbus, OH. He holds a BA in Professional Writing from Miami University and he enjoys learning about the evolution of colloquial language. Chase is a fiend for any book with magic or queer characters—don’t even get him started on queer characters with magic. When he’s not spamming your feed with F(r)iction-related content, Chase enjoys listening to the birds, sharing apples with his dog, and doing yoga. Eventually—eventually—he will put together a chapbook of poetry.
Vivian Marr
Discovering words and language and finding out what words mean and how they are used in multiple languages, have fired Vivian’s career. She was involved in dictionary-making for nearly three decades, working for some of the world’s most iconic dictionary publishers, with most of her time spent at Oxford University Press.
Starting out as an editor on bilingual dictionaries for the print market, she moved firmly into the digital world, leading a team of lexicographers and editors who were responsible for creating and acquiring lexical content for use in the wide and diverse range of technologies that seek to bring universal human communication ever closer.
Proud of her Scottish roots in an Aberdeenshire farming family, she is now based in Edinburgh and loves taking advantage of all the many cultural and social opportunities the city offers.
Asa C. Garber
Like many writers, Asa spends most of his time writing drafts, then editing to the point of loving, then hating, then loving what he’s written. A select few read and appreciate his work; the general public either ignores or does not understand it. But such is the life of a lawyer. Asa is the founder of Reason Legal, LLC, providing legal services and consultation to businesses and entrepreneurs. He is a proud supporter of Brink’s many good works.
Zach Howard
Zach Howard is a freelance professional illustrator of seventeen years. His most notable employers include Marvel, Disney, DC, Warner Bros., Image, IDW, Boom, Simon & Schuster, Webtoons, and Steve Jackson Games. Zach’s most popular projects are Wild Blue Yonder, Shaun of the Dead, Spiderman, Wolverines, GI Joe, The Cape, and Detective Comics. He has been nominated for an Eisner award, multiple Indie awards, and received an Amazon Book of the Month selection for Wild Blue Yonder. In addition to his professional work, Zach is passionate about supporting young artists and has dedicated much of his time to helping nurture the next generation of creators.
Drew Nolte
Drew Nolte is a professional designer who decided to take time off work and get an MFA in poetry. Using his web and design knowledge, he looks for projects and opportunities to help the literary world anyway he can. He has been a marketing designer, college web designer, partner in a ruby on rails company, and now leading design for a luxury travel company.
Kaitlin Lounsberry
Kaitlin Lounsberry graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a minor in fiction writing. She also earn her master’s degree in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University with distinction. While working towards her master’s, Kaitlin was a managing editor for The Garica Boy, published through Big Shoulders Book. She has bylines in The State Journal-Register, The Columbia Chronicle, Pop’Stache, and Chicago Talks. Kaitlin is currently working on her revising first novel, learning Hangul, playing Uno, and attending live concerts in the Chicago area.
At Brink and F(r)iction, Kaitlin leads the Publishing Internship Program, serves as a senior editor, and copyedits/proofreads upcoming F(r)iction issues.
Thomas Chisholm
Thomas Chisholm is a freelance editor, creative writer, and an alumnus of The Evergreen State College. He received a year of formal copyediting training from the University of Washington’s editing certificate program, though he especially enjoys cracking a story open and getting into developmental edits. Originally from suburban Detroit, he’s called Seattle home since 2009. His creative work has appeared in Inkwell, Drizzle Review, and Vanishing Point Magazine.
Jennifer Leong
Jennifer is a Calirado native (a person born in California that now lives in Colorado) who leads a Fortune 100 global marketing team by day and sits on Brink’s Board of Directors, also by day (her days are long). She’s passionate about creating community and bringing people together for a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Her obsessions include rock climbing, coffee, traveling, and storytelling.
Ian Leprino
As a graduate from the Denver School of the Arts, Ian Leprino has been impacting the Denver art scene from a young age. Since then, he’s gone on to develop a career in business, dance, and philanthropy. With more than eleven years of experience in business management and development, Ian owns and operates Ovation Academy of Dance and works as the COO of Leprino Home Inc. In his free time, he contributes his expertise to an array of Denver-based nonprofits (though Brink is his favorite), fighting for the importance of art in our community.
Jon Schindehette
Jon is a veteran of the marketing, gaming and publishing industries. Through the years, he has worked with clients such as: Disney, Fox Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, ThinkGeek, Harley-Davidson, Microsoft, Kodak, Price Waterhouse, Atari, Activision, Nintendo, Pokémon, Sony Entertainment, CBS, Bioware, Bethesda SoftWorks, Crystal Dynamics, and many more. In his spare time, Jon creates lots of sawdust while building fun woodworking projects.
Suzanne Hickox
Suzanne’s real estate career began in the late 80s, when she started buying distressed properties, renovating, and reselling for a profit. Suzanne has also managed large REO portfolios for Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Chase, Wilshire Capital, Ocwen and Barclays. She has also served on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Advocacy Center in Colorado Springs, and is currently on the Business Development Committee for the Rocky Mountain MS Center. Suzanne also has a BS degree from the University of Northern Colorado, is married to the wonderful Steve, and has several incredible children along with many amazing family members.
Eileen Silverthorn
Eileen is a senior editor at F(r)iction, working on both journal submissions and the occasional review or article for F(r)Log. She loves both fiction and poetry: In fiction, Eileen looks for stories with character-driven narratives blended with detailed writing and speculative genre elements. In poetry, Eileen is drawn to imagery-heavy pieces that are unafraid to experiment with form, line breaks, and language.
Eileen is also a bookseller at the Tattered Cover in Denver, Colorado. She graduated from Colorado State University with a BA in English Creative Writing and minors in History and Women’s Interdisciplinary Studies. Inspired by her work with CSU’s undergraduate literary magazine Greyrock Review, Eileen decided to explore a career in publishing through the Denver Publishing Institute. She enjoys spending her time traveling, editing her friends’ fanfiction, reading ten books at once, spending her whole paycheck at her place of employment, and cuddling her cats whilst writing bios about herself in the third person.
Helen Maimaris
Helen joined Brink in 2016 as an intern, soon rising to the rank of Chief of Operations, a position she held for nearly 5 years before becoming Brink’s Chief of Staff in 2023. As Chief of Staff, Helen heads up all things staff-related, from the development of new education programs, staff culture practices, and staff management, to the legal and logistical needs of running a nonprofit. When she’s not madly consuming any comic she can get her hands on, she also serves as the Managing Editor of F(r)iction, overseeing the submission pipeline, senior editor team, volunteer training, and production of the journal.
Helen lives in Bristol, UK, and travels extensively, with past adventures including training as a professional scuba diving guide, participating in scientific fieldwork with humpback whales in Ecuador, and one particularly incredible eye-contact encounter with a wild male orangutan.
Dani Hedlund
Dani Hedlund founded Brink Literacy Project to champion new and diverse stories. As CEO, she creates the vision for the organization, manages fundraising and advocacy, spearheads new initiatives, and teaches far more than the board would like. She is also the editor-in-chief of Brink’s critically-acclaimed publication, F(r)iction—one of the world’s fastest growing literary magazines—and the lead creator of products like our hit Literary Tarot campaign.
Dani speaks at events all over the world on the importance of literacy and education reform, supporting emerging creatives, and getting people excited about the next generation of literature. In addition to university lectures and conference panels, she shares Brink’s mission to spur cultural and political change via major media outlets, including the Times, the Sun, KOA radio, CW, Channel 4, Fox 31, and many others.
Sam Gladstone
Sam gave up studying English at the age of sixteen and would never have guessed that he would end up involved with an organization like Brink! Instead, he specializes in the languages of machines, working as a full stack developer by day and helping Brink with any tech-related queries at all times in between. He graduated with a Master of Mathematics from the University of East Anglia and is a passionate diver, helping to introduce people to the underwater world at a local club in Norfolk, UK.
Suzie Bartholomew
Suzie Bartholomew hails from Indiana and works for the Indianapolis Public Library. She earned her BA in English from Purdue University North Central (now Northwest) and her MFA in Creative Writing from Butler University. Having fully embraced her inner grandma, she loves to crochet, embroider, and live off of tea while cuddling with her cat. When she’s not working or being crafty, Suzie is focused on writing stories and indulging in serial killer documentaries.
Maribel Leddy
Maribel Leddy graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in Writing Seminars. She’s originally from Buffalo, New York, but she now lives in Chicago where she works as an Associate Content Strategist at Yakkety Yak, a digital marketing agency. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and eating.
Evan Sheldon
Evan lives in Denver, CO and is a graduate from the Denver Publishing Institute. He is the author of Shed the Midnight (Ghost City Press, 2019). His creative work has appeared in over forty different publications and has been translated into Russian. When he is not writing or editing, he is most likely reading to his young daughter or studying the history of weird literature and fairy tales.
Sonya Minner
Sonya Minner is a self-proclaimed writer from western Pennsylvania. She successfully graduated from California University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing in 2015. Since then, she’s bounced around from place to place. She currently works in an office by day and writes YA fiction (and sometimes hockey articles) by night. If she’s not writing, she’s probably tweeting. One day, she hopes to pay off her student loan debt and publish a best-selling YA novel, just maybe not in that order.