Staff

Founding Editor

Patricia Colleen Murphy

Patricia Colleen Murphy founded Superstition Review at Arizona State University, where she teaches creative writing and magazine production. She won the 2019 Press 53 Award for her poetry collection Bully Love and the 2016 May Swenson Poetry Award for her poetry collection Hemming Flames. Her writing has appeared in many literary journals, including The Iowa Review, Quarterly West, and American Poetry Review, and most recently in Black Warrior Review, North American Review, Poetry Northwest, Third Coast, and Natural Bridge. A chapter from her memoir in progress was published by New Orleans Review. She has received awards from the Associated Writing Programs and the Academy of American Poets, The Madison Review, Glimmer Train Press, The GSU Review, and The Southern California Review. She reviews books on Goodreads.

Faculty Advisors

Becky Byrkit

Nonfiction Advisor Rebecca (Becky) Byrkit received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Arizona in 1992. Her poems, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in Best American Poetry, Best of Exquisite Corpse, Crazyhorse, Ploughshares, Rolling Stone, Arizona Highways, the Sonora Review, and Black Warrior Review. She is a founding faculty member of the ASU Masters of Liberal Studies program, and teaches creative writing workshops with the ASU English department.

Betsy Schneider

Betsy Schneider is a photo-based artist and educator. Her artistic concerns range from trying to understand time, decay and the body, to exploring childhood, culture, and relationships and looking very closely at strange visceral things such as candy, placentas and the mouth. She uses a variety of photographic tools including APS, digital, medium format and view cameras and digital and computer generated video. Her work manifests itself through exhibitions of rectangles on the wall, video installations and books. Her work is in several private and public collections including that of actor Jamie Lee Curtis, Museet for Fotokunst in Denmark, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. She has taught and lectured across the US, Scandinavia and the UK. She is a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow and an Associate Professor in the School of Art at Arizona State University.

Claire Lauer

Web Advisor Claire Lauer teaches courses in visual communication, multimedia composing, and technical communication as an assistant professor in the Multimedia Writing and Technical Communication program at Arizona State University Polytechnic. She is a certified Webmaster and has taught workshops in Web design and writing for the Web.

Kristin LaCroix

Fiction Advisor Kristin LaCroix teaches creative writing at Arizona State University. She is the recipient of the 2001 Katherine C. Turner Award in Poetry from the Academy of American Poets. Her community outreach projects include working with Alzheimers patients through poetry, and teaching in the Tempe Community Writers Project. She worked as an Education Specialist on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Reservation where she taught creative writing workshops and led the community children in producing a literary journal of their poems, stories, and artwork.

Mark Haunschild

Poetry Advisor Mark Haunschild teaches contemporary literature, creative writing, and composition at Arizona State University’s downtown Phoenix campus, where he also coordinates the F2F Writers’ Studio. His recent poetry appears in Waxwing, Watershed Review, and The Drunken Boat.

Melanie Pitts

Interview Advisor Melanie Pitts is a Lecturer in English and Interdisciplinary and Liberal Studies for Arizona State University's School of Letters and Sciences. She received her PhD in Literature from the University of Miami (Coral Gables, Florida) in 2003. Her areas of specialization and research interests include English and Italian Renaissance literature, women's literature, and interdisciplinary approaches to identity and subjectivity.

Student Editor-in-chief

Brooke Passey

Brooke Passey is the student editor-in-chief of Issue 11 and advertising editor for Issue 10. She is a senior at Arizona State University, and will graduate this semester with a degree in Creative Writing. She is also currently working on two nonfiction books and several smaller works of fiction. When Brooke is not writing she can be found outside training horses and teaching her riding students. After graduation she hopes to combine these two passions with a career where she can write during the day and teach riding lessons at night.

Student Editors

Amanda Harvey

Amanda Harvey is a social media editor for Issue 11. She is a senior studying English Literature. Amanda has had a passion for literature and reading, and an eye for spotting grammatical errors, since she was young. After graduating in May 2013, she hopes to continue gaining experience in the publishing field, whether in print or online. When she is not working or doing homework, she enjoys relaxing and reading with her pug, Cooper, and her boyfriend, Lelund.

Amanda Strusienski

Amanda Strusienski is a social media editor for Issue 11. She is a senior at ASU and will complete her BA in English, with an emphasis in creative writing, upon graduation in May 2013. She is currently completing her thesis for Barrett the Honors College, a compilation of short stories on sense of place and environmental and familial connections. Previous literary experience includes working as a staff editor on the Gila River Review, a literary journal for Chandler-Gilbert Community College; and a staff writer on the San Tan Sun News. After graduation she desires a career in publishing and to complete her first novel.

Angelica Varnju

Angelica Varnju is a blogger for both Issue 10 and Issue 11. She is an Arizona native. She is an undergraduate at Arizona State University, and will complete her BA in English Literature in May. After graduation, Angelica is interested in pursuing a job either in editing or writing for a magazine. This is her second semester interning for Superstition Review.

April Hanks

April Hanks is the interview editor for both Issue 11 and Issue 12. She is currently a junior at Arizona State University. She is pursuing concurrent degrees in English literature and communication as a student in Barrett, the Honors College. After completing her undergraduate degrees in the spring of 2015, April hopes to either earn a master’s degree or launch directly into a career as an editor.

Bianca Peterson

Bianca Peterson is the content coordinator for Issue 11, Issue 12, and Issue 13. She is a senior at Arizona State University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. This is her third and final year as an intern with Superstition Review. A paper she wrote on folklore and tabletop gaming was accepted into the Southwest Popular and American Culture Association’s (SWPACA) academic conference in New Mexico in February 2014. After graduating this semester, she hopes to find a career in the editing or publishing field while she works on writing her first novel. She is also making arrangements to utilize her skills to be a freelance editor and proof reader.

Brian Foster

Brian Foster is the fiction editor for Issue 11. He is a senior at Arizona State University and will be graduating in May with a B.A. in English. He is moving to Chicago after graduation where he plans to pursue a job in editing. In addition to his current internship at Superstition Review he continues to work on his collection of short stories, a number of dramatic plays, and several novels.

Carly Corderman

Carly Corderman is the poetry editor for both Issue 10 and Issue 11. She is an Arizona State University undergraduate majoring in Creative Writing, with a concentration in Poetry. When it comes to poetry, she tends to prefer lyrical, contemporary styles that experiment with form and sound. In general, she thoroughly enjoys poetry's intense, simultaneous focus on intricate details and the larger meaning of life. After completing her degree, she aims to eventually acquire an editorial position within a magazine publication. Until then, she plans to continue developing and experimenting with her writing, while hopefully dabbling in various writing-related fields. This is her second semester as a poetry editor with Superstition Review.

ChristiAnne Lunsford

ChristiAnne Lunsford is the poetry editor for Issue 10. She is a Creative Writing major at ASU with a concentration in poetry and a minor in Philosophy. She enjoys both the aesthetics of language and it's existential exploration. This is her second semester with Superstition Review as Poetry Editor. One of the aspects that she enjoys most about her position with the magazine is the opportunity it has provided to interact with contemporary literary authors. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in editing or teaching creative writing workshops.

Colleen Stinchcombe

Colleen Stinchcombe is a social media editor for Issue 11. She is is a senior who will get her BA in Creative Writing—Fiction in May 2013. She has been blogging since it was called “online journaling” and loves social media. She wants to stay connected to the literary world, writing her own stories and blogging for literary magazines while she pursues a career in publishing, eventually hoping to work in London.

Dominique Brigham

Dominique Brigham is the art editor for Issue 11. She is currently a senior at ASU and will be graduating with a BA in English Literature this May. After graduation she will be moving to Florence, Italy to work with the Institute of International Studies as their social networker and newsletter editor. In the future, Dominique plans to pursue her MA or MFA at a university in either the UK or Ireland.

Hannah Althof

Hannah Althof is the art editor for Issue 10. She is a senior at Arizona State University. She will graduate this semester with a degree in English (with a concentration in Literature), a minor in psychology, and a certificate in LGBT Studies. After graduation, Hannah hopes to begin working as an editor, preferably in a publishing house for books.

Harrison Gearns

Harrison Gearns is the nonfiction editor for both Issue 10 and Issue 11. He is a senior at Arizona State University's Creative Writing program in poetry. His poetry has appeared in local chapbooks. Harrison's interest in literature started early with books like Harry Potter and Watership Down. He also has a strong background in performance. In 2009, he took first place in local slam poetry competition Voices of Youth, also took semifinals in ASU's Southwestern Championships in Poetry Interpretation. Though poetry is his love, he finds himself constantly drawn into the realm of nonfiction. After graduating, Harrison hopes to find a job editing, but is also considering graduate school.

Leann Higbee

Leann Higbee is the advertising editor for Issue 11. She is a senior at Arizona State University. She will graduate this semester with a degree in English Literature and a certificate in LGBT studies. After graduation, she plans to further her education with an MFA in writing for Young Adult. Additionally, she hopes to continue her passion with literature and writing by having a career in the publishing industry. This is her first semester with Superstition Review.

Mai-Quyen Nguyen

Mai-Quyen Nguyen is the fiction editor for both Issue 10 and Issue 11. She is a junior at Arizona State University, majoring in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing (Fiction) and earning a certificate in Technical Communication. After graduation, she hopes to become a book and/or fiction editor while working on publishing works of her own. She also plans to further her education by pursuing an MFA in Fiction. Her poem, “Sand Path for the Hopeless," is published in ASU's Lux Undergraduate Creative Review. This is her second semester with Superstition Review.

Monica Petersen

Monica Petersen is the interview editor for both Issue 11 and Issue 12. She is a junior at Arizona State University. As a student in Barrett, the Honors College, she is currently pursuing a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in business from the WP Carey School of Business. She has been recognized as an Outstanding Writer by the National Council of Teachers of English. After graduating in May 2015, she plans to pursue a career in publishing management with the hope of one day opening her own independent bookstore. This is her second semester as Interview Editor with Superstition Review

Rhys Kenney

Rhys Kenney is the content coordinator for Issue 11. He is an Arizona State University undergraduate majoring in English Literature. Upon receiving his BA degree in 2014 he hopes to pursue a career in publishing. He has a passion for traveling and plans to spend his senior year studying literature at the University of Bristol in England.

Rikki Lux

Rikki Lux is the advertising editor for both Issue 11 and Issue 12. She is a senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English Literature with a minor in Communications. She hopes to work as an editor or in advertising once she graduates in May 2014. This is her second semester as an advertising intern with Superstition Review.

Sydni Budelier

Sydni Budelier is the student editor-in-chief of Issue 12 and blogger for Issue 11. She is an English Creative Writing major with a concentration in fiction. As student editor-in-chief of Superstition Review she is responsible for planning and promoting intern events, keeping interns up to date with news and tasks, and carrying out all the small gestures that go into building a team. She is also the vocalist and lyricist of Emeth, a local, independent four piece which draws influence from jazz and folk genres. After obtaining a degree in Creative Writing, Sydni plans on making her way into the publishing world with the dream of working for a magazine focused on fashion, music, literature, and art.

Submitted by pcmasuedu on Fri, 04/05/2013 - 12:50