staff

Founding Editor

Patricia Colleen Murphy
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
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
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
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
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.

Sarah Viren
Sarah Viren

Interview Advisor Sarah Viren is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and author of two books of narrative nonfiction. Her essay collection Mine won the River Teeth Nonfiction Book Prize and the Great Lakes College Association New Writers Award, was longlisted for the Pen Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay and was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award (as well as being named one of LitHub’s favorite books of 2018). Her second book, To Name the Bigger Lie: A Memoir in Two Stories, out from Scribner in June 2023, was called "a book for our times" by the New York Times. Sarah is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a Fulbright Student Grant to Colombia. She teaches in the creative writing program at Arizona State University. 

Student Editor-in-chief

Rachel Hagerman
Rachel Hagerman

Rachel Hagerman is the Student Editor-in-Chief for Issue 25 of Superstition Review. 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, 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.

Student Editors

Andrew Hatch
Andrew Hatch

Andrew Hatch is the Nonfiction Editor for Issue 25 of Superstition Review. He is a senior at Arizona State University majoring in Creative Writing. After graduation, he plans to continue writing while pursuing a career in the literary world.

Devyn Carmen
Devyn Carmen

Devyn Carmen is the Interview Editor for Issue 25 of Superstition Review. He is also the Student Editor-in-Chief at Canyon Voices. Devyn is majoring in English Literature with a certificate in Creative Writing. After graduation, he plans to pursue a career in teaching and publishing creative writing.

Kelsey Kerley
Kelsey Kerley

Kelsey Kerley is the Social Media Manager for Issue 25 of Superstition Review. She is a sophomore at Arizona State University double majoring in Creative Writing and Secondary Education (History) while also pursuing a Minor in Art History. She is a member of ASU's Gospel Choir and next to reading, her favorite pastime is music. After graduating, she plans to pursue her passion for both teaching and writing and hopes to eventually publish a poetry collection of her own.

Lucas Selby
Lucas Selby

Lucas Selby is a Creative Writing major at Arizona State University, currently working towards his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees through Barrett, the Honors College. Lucas has worked as a reader for Hayden’s Ferry Review and is currently the Fiction Editor for Issue 25 of Superstition Review. He enjoys literary fiction but has been known to dip into science fiction and performance poetry in his spare time. He loves Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, and just about every other author he reads these days.

Mindy Jaffar
Mindy Jaffar

Mindy Jaffar is a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer from Anchorage, Alaska. She has a BS in Healthcare Management, a MA in HR Development, and is currently working on a second Masters in Narrative Studies. She writes periodically on her blog, Dear Mindy, and is near completing her first book, She Had a Name; a true crime memoir detailing the events of her mothers murder and how restoration is possible if we choose to attain it. She is dedicated to sharing women’s stories of tragedy and resilience. She conducted this interview as part of her MA in Narrative Studies program. 

Payton Kline
Payton Kline

Payton Kline is the Content Coordinator for Issue 25 and 26 of Superstition Review. She is a senior year at Arizona State University completing her Bachelor's in English with a Minor in Art History. Payton is a co-founding editor of The Spellbinding Shelf Book Blog, as well as a freelance branding copywriter. She has been published by Blessed Is She, Ever Eden Literary Magazine, and Sweet Blue Bird Design Company. She looks forward to continuing her career as a branding copywriter for creative business owners.

Stephen Lupkin
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.

Talia Bristo
Talia Bristo

Talia Bristo is the Art Editor for Issue 25 of Superstition Review. She is a junior at Arizona State University and is majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in publishing and editing.

Tess Prendergast
Tess Prendergast

Tess Prendergast is the Poetry Editor for Issue 25 of Superstition Review. She is a senior at ASU studying English with a Creative Writing concentration and Economics. She has also been a fiction reader for Hayden's Ferry Review. After graduating, she hopes to work for a few years before pursuing graduate school.

Thomas McCarthy
Thomas McCarthy

Thomas McCarthy is the blog editor for Issue 25 of Superstition Review. He is a senior at Arizona State University and is majoring in Creative Writing. After graduation, he plans to work in editing/publishing as well as someday publish his own books.