Masthead

Jupiter Berrysmith is a queer poet from Monterey, California currently pursuing their MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. A recipient of the 2025 Eleanor Denoon Poetry Prize, his work has been supported by fellowships from the Kratz Center for Creative Writing. They were the Editor-in-Chief of Goucher College’s literary magazine, The Preface, for three years. His poems can be found in Unpublished Magazine and Grub Street.

Victoria Chan is a Chinese American poet from Lawrenceville, Georgia. A recent graduate from Georgia Tech, they currently attend the University of Maryland as an MFA student in poetry. Recently, they received second place for the Sadat Poetry for Justice and Peace Prize and have received support from Napa Valley Writer’s Conference and the McCormack Writing Center. Their work can be found at 2River and Poets.org.

Sydney Cimarolli is a poet and educator from St. Louis, Missouri. She has work published or forthcoming in Exposition Review, Phil Lit, Thimble Lit, and The Healing Muse. She is an MFA student at the University of Maryland and can be found on Instagram @sydneycimarolli.

Sara Lieto is a poet. Their writing has most recently appeared in New Ohio Review and Struggle Magazine. They are currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Maryland, where their work was awarded the 2025 Academy of American Poets University Prize.

Wesley Lord is a poet, student of pop, and lover of well-crafted reviews and criticism. His writing is concerned with the many intersections of culture, politics, and queer identity. He is currently in the University of Maryland’s MFA program in Creative Writing.

Katia Matychak is a Pennsylvanian Ukrainian poet living in Baltimore. As a scientist by training, Katia often writes at the nexus of science and the aesthetic. Her work has been featured in Overgrowth Press, Pennsylvania Bards Eastern PA Poetry Review, and more. She is currently earning her MFA at the University of Maryland, and she is reachable at @poet_km on Instagram.

basil payne is a non-binary, lesbian poet from Logan, Utah, now working their way towards an MFA at the University of Maryland. Their work can be found in Sugar House Review, Dunes Review, Oyster River Pages, and, when the time is right, their poetry can be heard among the trees.

Rya Vallabhaneni is a writer and dancer from Albany, New York, currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Maryland. Her work has appeared in Fourteen Hills and the Los Angeles Review. 

Imani West is a proud graduate of Hampton University, and a poet currently in the University of Maryland’s MFA Creative Writing program. In 2022, she was named the Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate, where she spent a year participating in workshops, readings, and panels around the county, even launching a podcast. Her work can be found in The Hampton Renaissance, Poetry X Hunger, and The Journal of Africana Composition and Rhetoric.

Founding Members:
Jupiter Berrysmith, Imani West, Sara Lieto, Victoria Chan, Wesley Lord, Terrell Worrell, Kivel Carson