Meet the Staff

Katharine Svehla - Managing Editor, Prose Editor, Art & Design Editor, Layout Editor & Blogger: Katharine is a Senior at Lewis University. She is majoring in English with a concentration in General Writing and double minoring in Film Studies and Economics. In addition to her academic pursuits, she is on the Lewis Women’s Bowling team and a member of the English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta. After graduation, she hopes to earn her master’s degree and aspires to find her place in the film industry, and she plans to publish her personal works. 
Jimena Araiza - Co-Associate Managing Editor, Social Media Editor, Poetry Editor, Prose Editor, Layout Editor, & Blogger: Jimena is a Senior at Lewis University, majoring in English with a concentration in Literature and Language and double minoring in both Creative Writing and Philosophy. In addition to her academic pursuits, Jimena is also the chapter President of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc., as well as the President of Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society. After graduation, she hopes to earn her master's degree and continue her work in Literature and Creative Writing. 
Jada Law - C0-Associate Managing Editor, Prose Editor, & Social Media Editor: Jada is a Junior at Lewis University studying English with a minor in Public Relations. She is currently a Resident Assistant on Campus and works as a Writing Center Mentor, throughout the week. When she is not stressing over school, you can find her being a pilates princess or attempting to cook a recipe she found on TikTok. Some of her written pieces were published in The Lewis Flyer, Follow South Jersey, and The Windows Fine Arts Magazine.
Kate Goranson - Blog Editor & Prose Editor: Kate is a Senior majoring in English with a Literature/Language Concentration. She works at the Writing Center during the week and a banquet hall on the weekends. She has been playing violin since 5th grade and has also picked up guitar and singing. During her free time she likes to go to the movies with her friends, nap with her cat and thrift shop. Some of her favorite authors include Sally Rooney and Madeline Miller.
Nicole Kaminski - Poetry Editor & Art & Design Editor: Nicole is a senior at Lewis University majoring in both English with a concentration in Writing and Applied Physics. When she’s not at school, you may find her working for corporate gains with an empty bank account. Otherwise, she likes reading online comics, eating AYC KBBQ brisket at Mr. Kimchi, and playing video games. She hopes that wherever the wind ends up taking her, she is content with her career choices.
​Mukhabbat Fayzullaeva - Poetry Editor: Mukhabbat is a Junior at Lewis University, majoring in English with a concentration in writing. She aspires to be a writer and has written three novels in Russian. Her favorite hobbies are reading books and writing. She also loves to play piano and dance. She’s driven by literature, and her favorite authors include Joanne Rowling, Dostoevsky, Theodore Draizer, Fredrick Backman, and John Green. Her favorite movies are La La Land and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Brianna Januska - Marketing/Development Editor, Prose Editor: Brianna is a Senior at Lewis University. She is majoring in Digital Media and Journalism with a concentration in Journalism, and minoring in Professional Writing. In addition to her academic journey, she loves being swept into new worlds and adventures by reading fantasy novels, watching Disney films, and writing stories. After graduating, she hopes to pursue a career as a Children’s Librarian. Some of her favorite authors include Shannon Messenger, Kate O’Hearn and K.M. Shea.
Joshua Brown - Prose Editor & Webmaster: Josh is a Senior majoring in Computer Science at Lewis University and hopes to earn a technical writing certificate. During the school year, he works as a mentor at the Lewis University Writing Center. He also helps produce the Writing Center's new podcast "Go With the Flow." He has been playing guitar for nearly 13 years and plays in Lewis's rock band. In his free time, he enjoys playing video games, reading manga, watching anime, and listening to and playing music.
Chloe Torres - Asst. Managing Editor, Prose Editor & Social Media Editor: Chloe Torres is a Junior at Lewis University, majoring in English with a concentration in writing as well as a minor in Peace and Justice Studies. When she’s not on campus, she’s usually working at Bath and Body Works. Chloe loves to read horror stories and watch films in her free time, with her favorite movie being a tie between SLC Punk and American Psycho. 
Delilah Rivera - Prose Editor & Marketing/Development Editor: Delilah is currently a junior at Lewis University majoring in Accounting and minoring in Professional Writing. She plans to use what she learns in her minor to assist her when she becomes an accountant, especially as she communicates complex financial information to clients and/or stakeholders. During the summer she works at her local country club as a golf caddie. In her free time she enjoys reading romance and dystopian novels as well as watching the NFL and going to WNBA games. She is looking forward to being a part of this amazing team at Jet Fuel Review and learning as much as she can. 
Ragan Hrycyk - Prose Editor & Marketing/Development Editor: Ragan is currently a junior at Lewis University majoring in English with a concentration in General Writing and minoring in PR/Advertising. While studying at Lewis, she hopes to expand her professional writing skills. In addition to her academic journey, she also works at a library. Her hobbies include reading, watching movies, and listening to music. Some of her favorite authors include Suzanne Collins and Emily Henry.
Matthew Czaja - Prose Editor & Blogger: Matthew is a Senior at Lewis with a major in English and a concentration in writing. He is a hardworking, determined individual who loves to help others in any way he can. Whenever he is not in school or working, he likes to partake in hobbies such as drawing, listening to music, collecting trading cards, and writing poetry. This is his second semester as a prose editor as well as an assistant blog editor for Jet Fuel Review.
​​Juno Tyne - Poetry Editor, Layout Editor, Asst. Webmaster: Juno Tyne is a Junior at Lewis University majoring in Computer Science with a concentration in Game Design and a minor in Creative Writing. She has always been enthralled by video games, inspired by the way so many elements come together to create such in depth stories. Ever since learning she had a passion for programming, making her own video games has been her aspiration. Even in her free time, she is always surrounded by video games, whether it's playing them or brainstorming ideas for her own. Juno has a keen eye for storytelling, and a dream to share it with others.
Dean Shamah - Asst. Layout Editor, Asst. Art & Design Editor, Asst. Prose Editor: Dean is currently a Junior at Lewis University, majoring in English and minoring in Graphic Design. He plans to use what he learns while at Lewis to become an author post-graduation, and intends to gain experience with publishing through Jet Fuel Review. In his spare time, he enjoys consuming a variety of media to inspire his own writing, including television, movies, books, video games, music, and art. ​
Katie Melzer - Asst. Prose Editor, Asst. Art & Design Editor: Katie is a Junior at Lewis University, double majoring in General Studio Art and Painting with a minor in Creative Writing. In addition to her academic pursuits, she is an athlete on the Lewis cross country and track team. She is a two-time Stephany Schlachter Award finalist, Presidents Art Show winner, and has several publications in the Windows Fine Arts Magazine. In her free time, she creates content on TikTok under the name @Katiecistus.
Katelyn Perritano - Asst. Blog Editor, Asst. Poetry Editor: Katelyn Perritano is a junior at Lewis University. She is majoring in English with a concentration in literature and language and a minor in film studies. She is also a member of the English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta. Outside of class, Katelyn can be found working at a music studio teaching kids piano and guitar. During her free time she enjoys reading, listening to music, and binge watching her most recent TV obsessions, including many crime dramas and comedies.  
Meda Brazas - Asst. Prose Editor: Meda Brazas is currently a sophomore at Lewis University, with a major in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a minor in General Writing. She plans to become certified as a speech-language pathologist or an audiologist, for she is very passionate about communication, expression and fair accessibility for all of her patients. She is also bilingual, where she speaks English and Lithuanian fluently and is currently practicing American Sign Language and Spanish. While studying at Lewis, she hopes to gain professional writing skills for researching, as well as editing and advertising for future marketing. Her hobbies include reading, journaling, going on hikes and to the gym, baking, and spending time with friends. One of her dream goals is to travel to all seven continents, to indulge herself into various cultures, foods and traditions. Her favorite authors are Ruta Sepetys, Freida McFadden, and Jenny Han. This is her first semester with Jet Fuel Review, and she looks forward to acquiring new skills, learning and growing, as well as working with an amazing team.
Do Dingshoff - Asst. Prose Editor, Asst. Social Media Editor: Do is a junior at Lewis University. She is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Athletic Coaching and Creative Writing. She is on the Lewis Swimming team, part of the e-board of the Gender Sexuality Alliance, social media manager of the Psychology club, officer of the E-sports club and works at the University library. In her free time she likes to play video games, solve puzzles and spend time with her girlfriend. Do is very excited for her first semester in Jet Fuel Review.
​​Mary Egan - Founder: Mary founded Jet Fuel Review during her senior year at Lewis University. Since graduating, she has ventured into the publishing world. Mary currently works at Goodheart-Willcox Publisher, where she is an Associate Editor in the Health and Health Sciences department. On a typical day, Mary spends at least six hours fiddling with and correcting other people's words, and that's the way she likes it. She still helps to maintain and edit the Jet Fuel Review's blog.  This is Mary's sixth year with Jet Fuel Review and she is proud of the team managing the journal now. When she's not at work, Mary enjoys whittling down the numbers of unread books on her shelves, participating in National Novel Writing Month, watching Gilmore Girls over and over, and enjoying the time-suck that is the internet.

​Faculty Advisor

Simone Muench - Chief Faculty Editor & Advisor: Simone Muench is the author of six full-length books including Lampblack & Ash (Winner of the Kathryn A. Morton Prize; Sarabande, 2005), Orange Crush (Sarabande, 2010), Wolf Centos (Sarabande, 2014), and Suture, a collaborative book of sonnets written with Dean Rader, (Black Lawrence Press, 2017). Her chapbook Trace received the Black River Award (Black Lawrence Press, 2014). Some of her honors include a 2013 NEA fellowship, two Illinois Arts Council fellowships, the Marianne Moore Prize for Poetry, and residency fellowships to Yaddo, Artsmith, and Vermont Studio Center, where she also served as a Visiting Writer in 2016. In 2014, she was awarded the Meier Foundation for the Arts Achievement Award, which recognizes artists for innovation, achievements and community contributions. She received her Ph.D from the University of Illinois and is Professor of English at Lewis University where she teaches creative writing and film studies. Currently, she serves as chief faculty advisor for Jet Fuel Review, as a poetry editor for Tupelo Quarterly, as the poetry editor for JackLeg Press, and as the founder and host of the HB Sunday Reading Series.​ A vegetarian and life-long horror film fan, you can find her at www.simonemuench.com

Consultants
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Jackie K. White - Reader & Consultant: Jackie K. White is an Associate Professor at Lewis where she regularly teaches Introduction to Poetry; Early U.S. Literature; Latino, Latin American, Native American Literature; and Teaching Young Adult Lit. She has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago where she specialized in Creative Writing (Poetry) with concentrations in Hemispheric-American Studies and Women’s Studies. A former editor of the literary journal RHINO for nine years, Dr. White also has published numerous poems and translations in such journals as ACM, Bayou, Fifth Wednesday, Spoon River Poetry Review, Third Coast, and online at seven bridges, shadowbox, and prosepoem. com. Her first chapbook, Bestiary Charming won the 2007 Anabiosis Award and her second chapbook, Petal-Tearing & Variations, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2008. A third chapbook of poems, Come Clearing, was published by Dancing Girl Press in March, 2012. Dr. White is also the co-translator of Cesar Miguel Rondon’s History of Salsa and is currently working on a translation of Sherezada Vicioso’s Algo que decir: Essays on Feminist Caribbean Literature.
Rebecca Morgan Frank – Faculty Advisor: Rebecca Morgan Frank is the author of four collections of poems: Oh You Robot Saints! (Carnegie Mellon UP, 2021), Sometimes We’re All Living in a Foreign Country (Carnegie Mellon UP, 2017), The Spokes of Venus (Carnegie Mellon, 2016), and Little Murders Everywhere (Salmon Poetry, Ireland, 2012), a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Her poems and stories have appeared such places as The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Joyland, Prairie Schooner, Catapult, The Kenyon Review, American Poetry Review, and The Slowdown Show, and her collaborations with composers are performed widely. She is the recipient of such honors as the Poetry Society of America’s Alice Fay di Castagnola Award and the Meier Foundation for the Arts Achievement Award, as well as fellowships from such places as the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Mississippi Arts Commission, and Brandeis University. Frank received her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and her M.F.A. from Emerson College, and she is co-founder of the online magazine Memorious, which she edited for nearly twenty years. She writes a review column for Lit Hub and is an elected member of the Board of Directors of the National Book Critics Circle. She is an assistant professor at Lewis University, where she serves as editor of the in-house magazine, Windows.
Patricia Damocles - Reader & Consultant: Patricia Damocles is a Filipina-American writer based in the Chicago suburbs. She graduated from Lewis University summa cum laude with a B.A. in English Language & Literature/Creative Writing and is currently a Local SEO Specialist at Cars Commerce. She is a 2019 Wolny Writing Residency fellow, a member of Sigma Tau Delta, a consultant for Jet Fuel Review, and a volunteer for the Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE Chicago). Her work has been published in Zócalo Public Square, Poet Lore, Windows Magazine and elsewhere. In her free time, she enjoys reading poetry, watching true crime documentaries, weightlifting, and lounging around with her two cats, Mystical and Maximilian. ​
Andrea Y. Rodriguez - Consultant: Cleveland native Andrea Y. Rodriguez is an Afro-Latina writer based in Chicagoland. She graduated in Fall 2021 with her BA in English from Lewis University. Rodriguez is a 2022 Best Small Fiction nominee and has been featured in Cider Press Review, Gnashing Teeth Publishing,  FEED,  Jet Fuel Review, Ghost Heart Literary Journal and elsewhere. Rodriguez currently works as a Human Resource Specialist for her local library. ​
Kasia Wolny - Consultant: Kasia graduated from Lewis University with a B.A. in English, Literature and Language Concentration, and a creative writing minor. Kasia loves to read literature from around the world and across genres; some of her favorites are Toni Morrison, Khaled Hosseini, Wojciech Kuczok, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Diana Gabaldon. In her writing, she likes to focus on short story and essay composition, and on Polish-English translation. Kasia is a mom of two teenagers who, being bilingual, regularly poke fun at her for mispronouncing English words. In her free time, she likes to hike, cook, tend to her garden, visit art museums, and drink tea with friends.  Kasia is the recipient of a 2019 Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award, thus becoming a Student Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois. She's currently getting her graduate degree in English at UIC-Chicago and is the founder of the Wolny Writing Residency.
Zakiya Cowan - Consultant: Zakiya Cowan graduated from Lewis University with her B.A. in English & Spanish Language and Culture. She is a former editor for Jet Fuel Review, a 2019 Wolny Writing Residency fellow, and a 2020 Brooklyn Poets Fellowship recipient. Her work is published or forthcoming in Hobart, Split Lip Magazine, Windows Fine Arts Magazine, Spoon River Poetry Review, and You Flower/You Feast: A Harry Styles Anthology. Some of her favorite writers include Toni Morrison, Roxane Gay, Eve Ewing, and Safia Elhillo. In her free time, she enjoys listening to crime podcasts, writing, and discovering new bookstores and restaurants to visit in her hometown of Chicago. She is a reader for Memorious, an intern for Sundress Publications, and the interview editor for the new BIWOC run Honey Lit.
Stephanie Karas - Reader & Consultant: Stephanie Karas graduated in the Spring of 2021 with a BA in both Psychology and English Studies. She has had poems and creative work appear in Disquiet Arts, 30 N, The Shore, Peach Fuzz Magazine, Quirk, Wrongdoing Magazine, The Antigonish Review, and others. She was the recipient of the English Studies Departmental award at Lewis University in 2021. In Fall 2024, she earned her MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Currently, she works as a sexual assault counselor at Guardian Angel Community Services. Outside of her academic work, Stephanie enjoys reading, painting, baking, and caring for her frogs and chameleon. 
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​Zachary Klozik - Reader & Consultant: Zachary is a filmmaker, writer, poet, photographer, actor, educator, and artist from Chicagoland. He has been published in the Windows Fine Arts Magazine and the Writer’s Block Magazine and he was showcased in the Alumni Showcase at the Chicago Southland International Film Festival. He is also a Wolny Writing Residency fellow. Klozik received his MFA in independent filmmaking at Governors State University and graduated with his BA in English Studies from Lewis University. He currently works as an adjunct professor teaching film courses at Governors State University and is always looking to jump on new gigs in the Chicago indie film scene. 
Kandace Garcia - Reader & Consultant: Kandace Garcia received her BA in English Studies with a general concentration in Literature and Language in the Spring of 2024. Currently, she is a graduate student and assistant at Loyola University Chicago, where she will receive her MA and PhD in English Studies.  Her research interests include modern and contemporary African American black literature, legality, and movement during the Great Migration, Jim Crow segregation, and beyond.  When she is not writing papers, you can find her watching horror films, exploring escape rooms, and working on creative projects.
Lauren Lotarski - Reader & Consultant: Lauren Lotarski graduated from Lewis University in May 2024 with a BA in both Psychology and English Studies with a concentration in Literature and Language. They are currently working at Fountaindale Public Library as a Cataloging Specialist where they get to view all incoming new releases and flip through books to their heart's content. In their free time, you can find them reading through their massive physical TBR, starting a new creative hobby, picking up an old crochet project, or walking all over town with their dog, French Fry.
Carrie McGath - Faculty Advisor for Fall 2021: Carrie McGath is the author of a full-length poetry collection, Small Murders, as well as several handmade, limited-edition poetry chapbooks including Dollface, So Sorry to See You Go, Ward Eighty-One, Ohio Lonely, and The Chase. She is currently at work on her second full-length poetry collection, The Luck of Anhedonia. Her poems have appeared in The Tahoma Literary Review, The Chariton Review, The Hiram Poetry Review, Barrow Street, and others and she has worked as an art critic in the city of Chicago since 2009. Her art criticism has appeared in Brut Force, Chicagoist, Newcity, and Third Coast Review and she is the Art Editor for Lovers Eye Press. Carrie is listed on VIDA’ s ‘anti-list’ of Under-Acknowledged Women Writers. Carrie received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago where she teaches composition and creative writing. Before working toward her doctorate, Carrie received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (poetry) from Western Michigan University before moving to Chicago to earn a Masters in New Arts Journalism and Art History from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Carrie lives in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago with her sassy tuxedo cat, Sophie.

​​In Memoriam: JFR Editor Steven T. Seum (July 19, 1978 - December 29, 2017)
Visit here for the Tribute Page 
​

Picture
​Graduate 
     Dedicated to Steven Seum

If i could make time stop
I'd freeze the moment before you graduated.

Crystal figures in a curio-cabinet metronome 
close to the edge, so i fear they may topple.
I can't catch them, because i run in slow
motion and these soles have no friction.

I slow down time.
I can't stop the confetti
before it ashes in your eye.
But i can watch it, in slower

            and slower



                         and slower motion. 
 
 
 by Rae Powell

​​
​In Memoriam: JFR Editor Lucas Boelter (Sept 23, 1990-Sept 24, 2015)
Visit here for the Tribute Page

back of my van

the back of my van and the smoke
is ghosts of white, ephemeral flowers
that puff and sink and we're all here
singing Sunday Morning Coming Down
and Lenny with the nose that holds
a white earring shaped into the word
BANG!, exclamation mark and all,
he says he’s joining the navy
after the trip only if they sing
In The Navy when on the boat
and his pops used to beat the shit
out of him and his sister and collie
too and he once told me
I could look into my daddy's
eyes and see two ghosts fightin'
each other and the ghost wit'
the red back always winnin'
but it’s all right now because he’s
with Margaret now and with his friends
and we're in the back of our van
smoking and singing Sunday Morning
Coming Down
 
 
 by Lucas Boelter

Previous Editors

Bianca Apato, Ryan Arciero, Lauren Barnes, Liz Baudler, Jordan Benes, Brittany Bishop, Katelyn Bittke, Joseph Block, Lucas Boelter, Arista Brozovich, Madeline Brzeczek, Gianna Capperino, Alecea Cardillo, Jillian Carlberg, Melissa Carrington, Mary Carroll, Alexciana Castaneda,  Ashley Castillo, Kayla Chambers, Angela Ciarlette, Caitlin Connelly, Melissa Cortez, Michael Cotter, Zakiya Cowan, Brittany Crosse, Amber Curl, Mateusz Czubinski, Sean Darke, Patricia Damocles, Nicholas DeBello, Dominique Dusek, Mike Egan, Henrietta Eghan, Payton Emond, Katie Esposito, Catherine Fatigato, Daniel Fiorio, Tim Fitzpatrick, Cassidy Fontaine-Warunek, Sarah Ford, Emilio Franchini, Kandace Garcia, Sam Gennett, Mandy Gieseler, Miguel Gonzalez, Molly Gustafson, Audrey Heiberger, Andrea Holm, Kammeran Hughes, Mark Jacobs Sanders, Jake Johnson, Jess Jordan, Jeff Jurinek, Jakob Kagay, Nicole Kaminski, Stephanie Karas, Alyssa Khuffash, Zachary Klozik, Joshua Kostecka, Kari Krajniak, Monika Kois, Kyle Kotas, Lydia Kozlowski, Michael Lane, Haley Leon, Emily Lif, Stephanie Lipinski, Lauren Lotarski, Jason Ludtke,  Kelly Lyons, Mike Malan, Theresa Marten, Nicole Martinez Harn, Alexandra Martinez, Salvador Martinez, Grant Mazan, Ashley McCann, Deirdre McCormick, Symone McCoy, China McDonald, Samuel McFerron, Tina McKee, Zachary Meredith, Samantha Moffett, Gabby Muir, Dina Nashed, Jacqueline Nelson, Julie Nettles, Caeley O'Connor, Doug Overbeck, Stephen Papesh, Sabrina Parr, Chris J. Patiño, Kyle Paup, Brandon Peck, Madelyn Pedersen, Chris Pelech, Tonya Peterson, Lauren Pirc, Carrera ‘Rae’ Powell, Sami Poyner​, Caitlyn Quinlan, Olivia Radakovich, Stephanie Raga, Nicole Reidy, Haley Renison, , Andrea Yvette Rodriguez, Donatas Ruzys, Samantha Rydberg, Harper Saglier, Bree Scott, Christine Sellin, Steven Seum, Lucas Sifuentes, Noah Slowik, Hannah Smrcka, Miguel Soto, Michelle Staje, Ashley Stajura, Rachel Steele, Linda K. Strahl, Reno Stramaglia, Quinn Stratton, Eryn Stochelski, Roslyn Summerville, Sylvia Szewczyk, Keanu Taylor, Armon Thurmond, Selena Tomas, Jovaughn Williams, Kasia Wolny, Victoria Vega, Dennis Vargas, Ashley Zizich
​