Meet the Staff
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Samuel McFerron - Managing Editor, Poetry Editor & Webmaster: Samuel is a Senior at Lewis University. They are double majoring in English Literature and Philosophy. Some authors they recommend are Kaveh Akbar, Sigrid Nunez, Navarre Scott Momaday, Emma Goldman, and Mikhail Bulgakov. Their poetry appears in The Kudzu Review, Beyond Thought, Rappahannock, Red Cedar Review, and elsewhere.
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Katharine Svehla - Asst. Managing Editor, Prose Editor, Art & Design Editor, Layout Editor & Blogger: Katharine is a Junior at Lewis University. She is majoring in English with a concentration in General Writing and minoring in film studies. In addition to her academic pursuits, she is on the Lewis Women’s Bowling team and loves to work out, read, watch movies, and write contemporary fiction. After graduation, she hopes to get her master’s degree and aspires to find her place in the film industry and publish personal works. Some of her favorite authors include Markus Zusak, Michael Chrichton, and Alexandra Bracken.
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Catherine Fatigato - Prose Editor, Layout Editor & Blogger: Catherine is a Senior at Lewis University majoring in English with a concentration in writing. She aspires to have a career within the publishing field once she completes her Bachelors degree. When she's not in class she can be found reading one of the many books on her to-be-read list; with some of her favorite authors including, Gayle Forman, Rebecca Ross, and Jeneva Rose.
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Kate Goranson - Blog Editor & Prose Editor: Kate is a Junior 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.
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Nicole Kaminski - Poetry Editor & Art & Design Editor: Nicole is a Junior transfer student from Luther College. She is majoring in English with a concentration in writing. If she’s not working, she spends her free time reading webnovels, listening to music, playing video games, getting bullied by her cat, and reading manhwa. Her major goal is to become a video game writer and spread creativity through her beloved medium. Some of her favorite authors include Rick Riordan, MXTX, and Gwon Gyeoeul.
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Arista Brozovich - Poetry Editor & Blogger: Arista is a Junior at Lewis University. She is currently working towards obtaining her Bachelor’s degree in English Studies, with a concentration in general writing. From there, she wishes to continue her studies into a Master’s degree, and hopefully earn a career in editing. She hopes to improve upon her writing and editorial skills while at Lewis to apply in her future career. When not in class, she can be found listening to music, reading, or writing, or at her job as a barista!
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Sami Poyner - Poetry Editor & Blogger: Sami is a junior at Lewis University majoring in English with a concentration in Writing. While studying at Lewis, she hopes to expand her creative and professional writing skills. When she isn’t at school, she works part time at her local Menards. She also enjoys painting, listening to Harry Styles, and watching movies and tv. Some of her favorites to watch are That 70’s Show, Good Will Hunting, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
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Jimena Araiza - Prose Editor, Layout Editor, Social Media Editor & Blogger: Jimena is a junior at Lewis University majoring in English with a concentration in Literature and Language. She has a passion for creative fiction and is working to pursue a career in publishing. Outside of school, she works part-time as a cashier at Aldi. Her free time is spent watching movies and is currently into reading lots of dystopian novels. In addition to being a huge bookworm, she has a love for running and participates in road races.
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Mukhabbat Fayzullaeva - Prose Editor & Blogger: 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.
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Molly Gustafson - Asst. Poetry Editor & Blogger: Molly is a senior studying English (General Writing) and Theatre at Lewis University. In addition to her academic disciplines, Molly enjoys music and vocal performance, as well as dance. After graduation, she hopes to begin a career in acting and performance, as well as continuing her passion for writing.
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Brianna Januska - Asst. Prose Editor: Brianna is a second year student at Lewis University. She is majoring in Digital Media and Journalism with a concentration in Journalism, and minoring in Creative 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 get her Master’s in Library and Information Science and pursue a career as a Children’s Librarian. Some of her favorite authors include Shannon Messenger, Kate O’Hearn and K.M. Shea.
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Joshua Brown - Asst. Prose Editor & Asst. Webmaster: Josh is a Junior 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 Writing Center. He has been playing guitar for nearly 13 years and plays in his university’s rock band. In his free time, he enjoys playing video games, reading manga, watching anime, and listening to and playing music. |
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Cassian Lee - Asst. Poetry Editor: Cassian Lee is a junior majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Lewis University. He has six published poems through both the American Library of Poetry and McHenry County College's Voices Literary Magazine. Some authors he looks up to are Orson Scott Card, William Goldman, and Jandy Nelson. In his free time, he works on a full-length novel, plays the bass clarinet and fences sabre.
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Clare Carey - Asst. Poetry Editor & Blogger: Clare Carey is a 25-year-old senior transfer student from Moraine Valley Community College where she studied Early Childhood and Paraprofessional Education. Her major is English Writing. Clare wants to be a writer of short stories and believes in lifelong learning.
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Ragan Hrycyk - Asst. Prose Editor: Ragan is a Sophomore 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. Besides school, she also works at the Romeoville library. Her hobbies include reading, watching movies, and listening to music. Some of her favorite authors include Suzanne Collins and Emily Henry.
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Jada Law - Asst. Prose Editor & Asst. Social Media Editor: Jada is currently a sophomore at Lewis University studying English with a minor in Public Relations. She works at the Writing Center throughout the week and writes for The Lewis Flyer in her spare time. 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.
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Matthew Czaja - Asst. Prose Editor, Asst. Blog Editor & Blogger: Matthew is a Junior 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, there are various hobbies he likes to partake in such as drawing, listening to music, collecting trading cards, and even reading a lot of Science fiction books. He is a fiction editor as well as a blog editor for Jet Fuel Review.
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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.
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Faculty Advisor
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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
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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.
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Patricia Damocles - Reader & Consultant: Patricia Damocles is a Filipinx American writer based in the Chicago suburbs. She graduated from Lewis University with a B.A. in English Language & Literature/Creative Writing and is currently an Associate SEO Specialist at Dealer Inspire. She is a 2019 Wolny Writing Residency fellow, a member of Sigma Tau Delta, a consultant for Jet Fuel Review, and a poetry reader for Memorious. Her work has been published in Poet Lore, Lewis Voices, Jet Fuel Review, and elsewhere. In her free time, she enjoys reading poetry and memoirs, watching documentaries, weightlifting, spending time with family, and lounging around with her two cats, Misty and Maxxie.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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
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
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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, 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, Daniel Fiorio, Tim Fitzpatrick, Cassidy Fontaine-Warunek, Sarah Ford, Emilio Franchini, Kandace Garcia, Sam Gennett, Mandy Gieseler, Miguel Gonzalez, 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, 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, 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