staff | Superstition Review

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.

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.

Student Editor-in-chief

Spencer Litman

Spencer Litman is the fiction editor for Issue 23 and the student editor-in-chief for Issue 24. He is a senior at Arizona State University with plans for an MFA in creative writing and eventually a PhD. Spencer is an emerging writer whose fiction and essays appear recently or are forthcoming in Pithead Chapel, The Forge, The Sunlight Press, The Nottingham Review and others.

Student Editors

Alex Tallant

Alex Tallant is the interview editor for Issue 24. She is a senior at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University and is pursuing a bachelor of arts in English Literature. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in the field of editing and publishing, while continuing to write on the side.

Brynn Kowalski

Brynn Kowalski is the current social media manager for Issue 24, where she fosters continual community engagement and interaction on S[r]'s social media. During Issue 23 she worked alongside fellow interns to promote the AWP19 and DNRS events, and in previous work as a Fiction Editor helped compile the work published in Issue 22. Brynn is a senior with Arizona State University, having her major in Creative Writing and is in the process of completing a minor in French. After receiving her Bachelor’s, Brynn plans to pursue an MFA, continuing her passion for writing and pursuing a career in editing and publishing.

Cassidy Horan

Cassidy Horan is the Authors Talk blogger for Issue 23 and blog editor for Issue 24. She is a senior at ASU in Barrett, the Honors College who is majoring in English Literature. She is currently part of the 4+1 Accelerated Masters Program, anticipating a Master’s degree in English Literature in 2021. After graduation, she hopes to join the publishing and editing field.

Ciara Pagels

Ciara Pagels is the Art Editor for Issue 24 of Superstition Review. She is currently enrolled in her final semester at Arizona State University, completing her bachelor's degree in Graphic Information Technology with a minor in English. After graduating she hopes to pursue a career in editing and publishing.

Eddie Shannon

Eddie Shannon is the nonfiction editor for Issue 24. He is a senior studying English with a concentration in Writing, Rhetorics, and Literacies. After graduation, he plans to continue writing and pursue a career in editing and publishing.

Natalie Cortez

Natalie Cortez is the interview editor for Issue 24. She is a junior at Arizona State University majoring in English (Literature) with a minor in Public Relations and Strategic Communication. In her free time, she can be found practicing and performing with her dance team, the ASU Dancing Devils. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in the publishing industry with the hope to one day be a literary agent.

Rachel Hagerman

Rachel Hagerman is the content coordinator for Issue 23 and 24 and the blogger for the summer of 2019. She is studying English (Writing, Rhetorics and Literacies) at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University. She currently works as a freelance writer, teaching assistant, tutor, and ASU Senior Writing Mentor. She is the founding editor of the ASU student-run book blog, The Spellbinding Shelf. Passionate about literature, she plans to pursue a career in editing and publishing after graduation.

Savannah Yates

Savannah Yates is an interview editor for Issue 23 and the poetry editor for Issue 24. She is a senior at Arizona State University, majoring in English Literature with a minor in French. After graduating she hopes to pursue a career in editing and publishing.

Sonja Gosnell

Sonja Gosnell is the fiction editor for Issue 24. She is a senior at Arizona State University working toward her bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. After graduation, she plans to establish herself in the publishing world as an editor while also pursuing a writing career.

Stephen Lupkin

Stephen Lupkin is the Advertising Coordinator for Issue 24 and 25 of Superstition Review. He is a sophomore at Arizona State University and is majoring in Creative Writing. Stephen is also a freelance editor and proofreader and will likely pursue a career in editing after graduation, with hopes of eventually becoming a fiction author.