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Poetry | Flash Fiction | Flash Nonfiction | Fiction
Nonfiction | Stage & Screen | Readers | Advisors
Shyla Shehan (she/her):
Editor
Takes too many pictures of her cats
Shyla is an analytical Virgo from the Midwest. She received an MFA from the University of Nebraska and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Midwest Quarterly, Drunk Monkeys, Gyroscope Review, The Decadent Review, Heartwood Literary, Plainsongs, and elsewhere. Her debut poetry collection, Unsuspecting Cinderella, was released from Finishing Line Press in spring of 2022. All of this and more at shylashehan.com.
Contact: shyla.shehan@thegoodlifereview.com
Tacheny Perry (she/her):
Managing Editor
Loves drinking pickle juice and watching terrible TV
Tacheny received her MFA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has been published by Boys Town press and was a contributor and editor for the Albuquerque Mom’s Blog. She lives in Omaha, NE with her husband, three young boys, and two mostly saintly dogs.
Tacheny is also one of our flash fiction editors.
Annie Barker (she/her):
Associate Editor
Puts “R” sock on right foot; “L” sock on left foot
Annie is a practicing psychotherapist living in Omaha with her husband and their two yellow Labradors, Lola and Jack. She holds a BA in Women’s Studies from Vassar College, a master’s in social work from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), and an MFA in Writing from UNO. When she’s not writing or sitting with clients, she enjoys reading, singing soprano in her local LGBTQ+ chorus, digging in her garden, and putting together complex jigsaw puzzles.
Annie is also one of our flash nonfiction editors.
Cat Dixon (she/her):
Poetry Editor
Cat is the author of Eva and Too Heavy to Carry (Stephen F. Austin University Press, 2016, 2014) and The Book of Levinson and Our End Has Brought the Spring (Finishing Line Press, 2017, 2015), and the chapbook, Table for Two (Poet’s Haven, 2019). She has poems (co-written with Trent Walters) in They Said: A Multi-Genre Anthology of Contemporary Collaborative Writing (Black Lawrence Press, 2018).
Michelle Pierce Battle (she/her)
Poetry Editor
Never met a ball of yarn she didn’t like
Michelle holds an MFA in Writing-Poetry from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her work has appeared in 13th Floor Magazine, Fine Lines, and Taxicab Literary Magazine. She has conducted creative writing workshops for urban youth and Backwaters Press. Her daughters are lifelong supporters on her journey as a writer.
Terry Belew (he/him)
Poetry Editor
Strongly dislikes the word ‘poet’
Terry Belew lives in rural Missouri and is an Instructor at State Technical College of Missouri and a student in the low-residency program at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. His work has appeared in journals such as Storm Cellar, The American Journal of Poetry, The Fourth River, Tar River Poetry, and Split Rock Review, among others. He has been nominated for multiple Pushcart Prizes and also won the Helen W. Kenefick Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets.
Cid Galicia (he/him)
Poetry Editor
Buzz Blog Book Review Editor
Cid Galicia has lived, and taught, in New Orleans for the past twelve years. He is currently studying in his MFA program, through The University of Nebraska Omaha. He is a poetry reader for The Kitchen Table Quarterly. He received honorable mention for the 2021 Academy of American Poets Prize and his most recent work has appeared in the National Poetry Month Issue of The Elevation Review. He is excited to start a new adventure interning at The Red Hen Press this summer.
Annie Barker (she/her):
Flash Nonfiction Editor
Puts “R” sock on right foot; “L” sock on left foot
Annie is a practicing psychotherapist living in Omaha with her husband and their two yellow Labradors, Lola and Jack. She holds a BA in Women’s Studies from Vassar College, a master’s in social work from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), and an MFA in Writing from UNO. Annie writes in all genres but has a special affinity for creative nonfiction. Her work has appeared in Voices From The Plains, a collection showcasing the work of emerging Nebraska writers, and her long form memoir about the search for her biological father is nearing its final stage of development. When she’s not writing or sitting with clients, she enjoys reading, singing soprano in her local LGBTQ+ chorus, digging in her garden, and putting together complex jigsaw puzzles.
Erin Owen (she/her):
Flash Nonfiction Editor
Dorito aficionado
For Erin, the written word has been at the heart of her professional career. Her writing outlets have varied from newspaper articles to television scripts, from blogs to speeches, and from newsletters to tweets, while working at the United States Senate as a press aide, at NBC News as a producer, and at the University of Nebraska as a director of communications. Her newest genre is creative nonfiction, and Erin received her MFA in Writing degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in August 2020. She received her B.S. in business communications from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas.
Ashley Espinoza (she/her)
Flash Nonfiction Editor
Ashley is an MFA graduate of the University of Nebraska-Omaha with a focus on creative nonfiction. Her work has been published in The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey and in (Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic, as well as in the Place Where You Live column for Orion Magazine. She is currently writing a memoir of the aftermath of her (step)father’s paralysis while her teenage mother tries to keep custody of her and graduate high school.
Suzanne Guess (she/her):
Nonfiction Editor
Hoards fancy pens
Suzanne lives, writes, and works in Des Moines, IA. She holds an MFA from the University of Nebraska and an MA from Iowa State University. She is the founder of the Raccoon River Reading Series and is also the Associate Nonfiction Editor for the Mud Season Review. Her work has appeared in Essay Daily, The Girlfriend, Brevity Blog, Intercom, and the Collectors Journal. She is currently at work on an essay collection while moonlighting as a project manager for a financial services corporation. When she’s not working or writing, she plays flute respectably but not expertly in a wind ensemble. Suzanne’s online presence includes Twitter, Instagram, and the interwebs.
Debra Rose Brillati (she/her):
Nonfiction Editor
Hobnobs with ghosts
Debra Rose received her BA in Literature from Bard College, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Andover Newton Theology School, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska Omaha. After an initial career in publishing, she worked for over twenty years in trademark law, as a paralegal and manager. Debra Rose and her husband retired in 2015 to an 1820 farmhouse in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of New York. She reads her poetry frequently at “words, revisited” in Auburn, NY, and publishes periodically on her blog Rambling Rose (ramblingrose.info). She is currently working on a composite memoir which weaves together profiles of family members to create the story of her childhood in a small coal mining town in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Debra Rose devotes much of her time to working for racial justice. She is also a certified spiritual director and is active in her Episcopal church where she serves as a lay pastoral minister.
Tacheny Perry (she/her):
Flash Fiction Editor
Loves drinking pickle juice and watching terrible TV
Tacheny received her MFA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has been published by Boys Town press and was a contributor and editor for the Albuquerque Mom’s Blog. She lives in Omaha, NE with her husband, three young boys, and two mostly saintly dogs.
Tana Buoy (she/her):
Flash Fiction Editor
Avid list maker | Trips a lot and not in a fun way
Having spent half of her life in North Central Nebraska, Tana appreciates the allure of low-maintenance roads and towns without stoplights. After ten years of working in a salon, she decided writing was her true passion, and in July of 2021, she received her MFA from the University of Nebraska Omaha. When Tana isn’t tutoring online English, World History, and Geography college courses, she’s jotting down micro fiction on sticky notes, dabbling in photography, and reading scary books to her two cats. She’s also chipping away at the first draft of her horror novel set in the Sandhills. Tana now resides in Lincoln with her husband.
Jake Lawson (he/him):
Stage & Screen
Takes bottom half of cupcake and puts it on top, forming cupcake sandwich
A newscast director by night, a coffee-conversationalist by day, Jake holds a BA in theatre from UNK and an MFA in stage/screenwriting from UNO. Inspired by the works of Anna Deavere Smith and Studs Terkel, Jake is currently working towards creating a collection of documentary theatre plays, ranging in topics between alcoholism, hospice, homelessness, and mass violence. In his free time Jake enjoys black coffee, moderately long nights of gaming (sleep is important), and avoiding existential dread.
Kim Louise (she/her)
Stage & Screen
Kim suspects that she may have been Mothra in a former life
Kim Louise holds an MFA from the University of Nebraska – Omaha, and an MS from Drake University. Her plays have been part of the Metropolitan Community College touring play series, Dia de Los Muertos-Verbal Ofrenda celebration, and produced as part of the Union for Contemporary Art Centering the Margins series. Her play Umarage, was part of a trio of plays nominated for Best Original Play for Omaha Arts and Entertainment Award. She is a resident artist in the Great Plains Theater Commons. Currently, Kim is a contributing playwright in the Pursuing Legacy Series sponsored by the Union for Contemporary Art.
Carina Faz (she/her):
Fiction Editor
If you let her pick what’s for dinner, it will always be tacos!
Carina is an award winning screenwriter/filmmaker residing in Brooklyn (NY), but originally from Dallas, Texas. She received her BA in Radio/Television Production from Texas A&M University at Commerce, and is currently finishing her MFA in Fiction at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Carina spends her time traveling back and forth between the Lone Star State and the Big Apple. When not working to pay the bills, Carina enjoys watching films directed by Robert Rodriguez, baking fresh Mexican pastries, and buying just one more book.
Emily Marvin (she/her):
Fiction Editor
Cat wrangler
Emily holds a BA in English, Creative Writing, and Publishing from the University of Iowa and is a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska’s MFA Writing program. Her work has appeared in Entropy Magazine, the single-issue University of Iowa magazine VII, and she was a finalist for the Reedsy Creative Writing Scholarship in 2018. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, bullet journaling, knitting, and compulsively collecting books.
Ciara Hoff (she/her):
Fiction Reader
Plays too much Sims, eats too much cheese
Ciara Hoff is a fiction writer, freelance editor, and undergraduate creative writing instructor with an MFA in Writing from the University of Nebraska. Her early short fiction has appeared in 13th Floor Magazine, and she is currently working on her first novel. When not writing, editing stories/essays, or explaining how to use Microsoft Office to college students, she is either walking her dog or playing The Sims 4 (often while eating cheese).
Christine Nessler (she/her):
Fiction Reader
Interviews & Buzz Blog Interview Editor
Overly empathetic baker of cookies with an affinity for mouthy gingers
Christine Nessler is an experienced Public Relations Manager with over 20 years background as a writer, website manager, and relationship builder. She is pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska and is currently crafting biographical pieces for Southern Minnesota publications including River Valley Woman Magazine, North Mankato Magazine, Today Magazine and Connect Business Magazine. Her pastimes include reading, teaching yoga, hiking, lake time and chauffeuring her three kids to their various activities.
Patrick O’Dell (he/him):
Nonfiction & Fiction Reader
Avid shoe wearer
Patrick grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he was raised on 80’s cartoons and French cooking. He now lives in Blair, Nebraska, where he is pursuing his MFA at the University of Nebraska Omaha. He spends his spare time chasing after his two daughters and trying to convince his wife to let him buy more books than he needs.
Kisha Nicole Foster (she/her):
Poetry Reader
Love yourselves at all times
Kisha Nicole Foster is the recipient of the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize for Emerging Artist in Literature. Foster is an alumnus of Cleveland State University-BA English and is in the MFA-Poetry program at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Amy Crawford (she/her):
Flash Fiction and Stage & Screen Reader
Tea Connoisseur & Rescue Cat Mom
Amy has been writing since she was thirteen, and enjoys travelling around the country and abroad whenever possible to meet new people. When she’s not spending her time writing or in school, Amy’s trying to perfect her gluten free buttermilk biscuit recipe, collecting fossils, and trying new types of tea.
Julia Sample (she/her):
Nonfiction Reader
Julia graduated from the University of Riverside, California in 2020, with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. She is currently enrolled in the Masters of Fine Arts in Writing program at the University of Nebraska Omaha and expected to graduate in Summer 2023. She has experience in writing fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles.
Advisory Board: Tom Paine, Kate Gale, Kevin Clouther, Matt Mason, & Liz Kay
Pamela Brodman (she/her):
Spanish Translation Consultant
Has 5 adopted dogs and plans to sneak a few more home
Michelle Kimberly (she/her):
Design Consultant
Part Cat
TGLR Editor/Teammate Hall-of-Fame:
Edward Vogel (he/him)
Co-Founder and Editor Emeritus
Joel Clay (Flash Fiction Editor) – Issues 1 through 9
Linda Young (Intern) – Autumn 2022
Julia Sample (Intern) – Autumn 2022
Allison Guenette (Poetry Editor) – Issues 1 through 8
Joe Atkinson (Stage and Screen Editor) – Issues 3 through 7
M.A. Boswell (Fiction Editor) – Issues 1 through 6
Michelle Kimberly (Fiction Editor) – Issues 1 through 6)
Trelana Daniel (Fiction Editor, Social Media + Podcast Guru) – Issues 1 through 6
Mike Keller-Wilson (Flash Fiction Editor) – Issues 1 through 5
Stepha Vesper (Poetry Editor) – Issues 1 through 5
Luna Blue (Translation Editor) – Issues 1 through 3
Kelsey Bee (Nonfiction Editor) – Issues 1 through 3
