Editor-in-Chief
Margaret Zhang used to go by Mar-gar-gar. She is a three-time Foyle Young Poet and has attended writing workshops at the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio and the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, among others. Read her work in DIALOGIST, Gigantic Sequins, Words Dance, and other journals. Next year, she plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where she will continue to appreciate memes.
Poetry Editor
Elysia Utech is a senior from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and an alumna of the 2015 Iowa Young Writers' Studio. Elysia's work has been commended with multiple honors, including the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and has appeared or is forthcoming in Parallel Ink and Teen Ink. When she's not experimenting with her writing, you can find her reading, dancing, going on adventures, or playing with her beloved puppy.
Prose Editor
Haley Chung is a sophomore from the non-snowy part of Canada. Currently, her writing projects include co-founding her school's first literary magazine and finishing a manuscript about sinophone teens learning to love their own culture. Besides writing, Haley has an obsession for French culture/history, Sylvia Plath, and gingerbread cookies.
Staff Readers
Poetry Readers
Hannah Miao is a student in Arizona. Her work has been published in Burningword Literary Journal and Aerie International and has also been recognized by Princeton University, Gannon University, and Notre Dame-Maryland. She is currently the editor-in-chief of Phosphene Literary Journal. She is interested in the intersection between poetry and science.
Richa Gupta is a seventeen-year-old from Bangalore, India. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Moledro Magazine, and a poetry editor with Phosphene. With an avid interest in writing and journalism, Richa is currently a blog contributor with The Huffington Post, Voices of Youth (a UNICEF-based platform), and Youth Ki Awaaz. Apart from these, she is the editor-in-chief of her school’s newspaper, and is a communications prefect in the student council. She has been published in several literary magazines, such as New Plains Review, Yellow Chair Review, Foliate Oak, Poetry Quarterly, Apeiron Review, and After the Pause, among others. When not writing or reading, Richa can be seen playing the piano or day-dreaming.
Emma Bleker is a 20 year old writer pursuing her English degree in Virginia, and a friend to all gentle things. She has been published, or is forthcoming, in Persephone's Daughters, Skylark Review, Electric Cereal, Yellow Chair Review, and Cahoodaloodaling. Additionally, she released her first collection of poetry, Here's Hoping You Never See This, in November of 2015. She also really likes videos of cute animals doing literally anything.
Shereen Lee is a freshman in high school living in Taiwan. Her work is published or forthcoming in Alexandria Quarterly, The Window, and other magazines, and has been recognized by Laura Thomas Communications and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Natalie Kawam is a sophomore poet at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, PA. Though she has been writing creatively since she was young, she began writing poetry in her senior year of high school. After studying under poets Dilruba Ahmed and J.C. Todd, she received the Academy of American Poets Prize in May, and will be published through the Academy in the fall.
Jacqueline He is a rising junior from the Harker School who has too many things to do and too little time to spare. She runs a study blog on Tumblr under the handle @appblrina and spends her free time binge-watching Dance Moms. Jacqueline is also the founder and Editor in Chief of the Icarus Anthology, as well as a staff member of her school's scientific research publication.
Erin Jin Mei O'Malley is a 17-year-old writer from York, PA. She has attended writing workshops in Virginia and Ohio. Her work has been recognized by Hollins University, Columbia College Chicago, Literature Wales, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and others. She will study abroad in Germany as a Speedwell Scholar this fall and eventually blog about it at www.explorationsoferin.com.
Cindy Song is a high school junior living in Rockville, Maryland. She has loved creative writing and journalism from a young age, and hopes to use words to bring out the simple beauties in life. Her writing has been published or forthcoming in the National Poetry Quarterly, TeenInk, and Tunnel Magazine. When she's not writing, Cindy can often be found playing the viola, going for a walk, or catching up on her favorite shows.
Rachana Hegde is a high school junior who enjoys writing and reading. Her poetry has been published in Alexandria Quarterly, Moonsick Magazine, and Hypertrophic Literary. You can find her blogging at http://rachanahblog.wordpress.com.
Sarah Patafio is a student at Barnard College and is an American Studies major. Her poetry has appeared in the online literary magazines Phosphene and Canvas; she looks forward to more publications in the future as her writing grows and flowers. In her free time, she reads, writes, takes pictures of her cats, knits, drinks tea, and goes on walks in dog parks with the lovely MTD.
Isabelle Jia is a sixteen-year old poet whose work has appeared, or is forthcoming in Glass Kite Anthology, Phosphene Literary Journal, Track Four, Sooth Swarm Journal, and Polyphony H.S. Jia has attended the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio and the California State Summer School of the Arts; she is also a California Arts Scholar, the finalist for the Walt Whitman Poetry Contest, and a recipient of numerous awards from Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. When she is not writing, she's either developing multiple cavities or singing crazily to her boyfriend. She currently resides in San Francisco Bay Area, CA.
Prose Readers
Nicholas Sum is a 11th grader currently attending Saratoga High School. He enjoys writing and editing other written works, but sadly, he doesn’t finish most things he starts to write. When he is not writing or editing, he usually spends his time listening to or playing music on the piano or violin (or even badly singing along, if no one else is at home), doing homework, playing video games, reading, watching videos, running, or doing whatever else normal 11th graders do. Nicholas currently resides in Saratoga, CA.
William Higgins is a young writer from Southern California, and a senior in high school. He has worked on his school's magazine, Tideline, for three years, where he is currently editor-in-chief. He has also been working for over a year as a photographer, writer, and editor for N2 Publishing. His work has been recognized with a number of honors, including the Scholastic Art and Writing awards. This summer he attended the Iowa Young Writers' Studio. In his spare time, William enjoys spending time with his dogs, playing sudoku (obsessively), and listening to music.
Polina Solovyeva is originally from Moscow, Russia, but is currently a freshman at the New York University in New York City. She attended the New England Young Writers’ Conference at Breadloaf and Iowa Young Writers’ Studio in Iowa City. She was named a 2016 Finalist in Writing by the National YoungArts Foundation in the Short Story category and received a Gold Key for Poetry from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. She was recently nominated as an Honorable Mention for the Adroit Prizes by the Adroit Journal for her short story "Mokita".
Katherine Sun is a sixteen-year-old at Saratoga High School who loves both writing and STEM. She obsessively reads publications like The New York Times and enjoys writing for her school newspaper, The Falcon. Often she writes stories with no endings, sings along to Spotify with her dad, or spends time with her family outdoors.
Sophie Govert is a poet and essayist whose inspiration lies in trees, Rick Riordan, and uplifting sports movies. She likes eating nachos with her parents and making spreadsheets, as well as occasionally lying on the ground and listening to the Good Omens audiobook. Follow her on Twitter @sophgov.
Jasper Fu is currently a senior in Menlo-Atherton High School, all the way in sunny California. In his spare time he reads, writes, and plays far too many video games. He also fences competitively, though not necessarily well, and spends most of the rest of his time asleep. He's also very good at getting lost, in anywhere from his own neighborhood to a plane. He lives in Atherton, CA.
Masfi Khan is a student and writer living in Queens, New York. She is a lover of books, nature, and cats. In her spare time, she bakes cupcakes and doodles pictures of the sky.
Surabhi Iyer is a senior at Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island. She loves to write–she attended the 2015 Bread Loaf Young Writers' Conference–debate politics, learn about biology, act, and experiment in the kitchen. You can find her wherever there are good books (she's a sucker for quality science writing) and endless coffee.
A.A. Reinecke is a writer from Westchester, NY. She currently resides in Lafayette, California where she is a high school junior, writes every morning at 5 AM opposite a print of “View of the World from 9th Avenue” and consumes copious amounts of coffee. Her likes include maple-flavored anything and snow. Her favorite animal is a tiger.
Sandra Chen is a California sophomore (and yes California girls are unforgettable). She loves the obscure things in life, from pens that flow nicely and cost too much to fantasy gymnastics, which she promises is actually a thing. A dreamy-eyed realist, she is unapologetically made of oxymorons. When she is not writing or staring at a blank page in a pathetic attempt at writing, she enjoys ranting, procrastinating, and Tumblring.
Amelia Henry attends Piedmont High School in California. She fills the time she's not reading with writing, roller skating, and playing bass in her band. Amelia also writes for Inqueery, Shameless Magazine, and her school paper, The Piedmont Highlander.
Isabella Li is a high school student from North Carolina. She has been honored nationally by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and has been published in Canvas Literary Journal and Teen Ink Print. When not reading or writing, she enjoys chemistry and biology and Game of Thrones.
Ujwal Rajaputhra is senior at Montgomery High School in Skillman, NJ. He occasionally sneaks out the house just to stargaze, and is a chronic daydreamer. Normalcy is his greatest fear.
Hannah Miao is a student in Arizona. Her work has been published in Burningword Literary Journal and Aerie International and has also been recognized by Princeton University, Gannon University, and Notre Dame-Maryland. She is currently the editor-in-chief of Phosphene Literary Journal. She is interested in the intersection between poetry and science.
Richa Gupta is a seventeen-year-old from Bangalore, India. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Moledro Magazine, and a poetry editor with Phosphene. With an avid interest in writing and journalism, Richa is currently a blog contributor with The Huffington Post, Voices of Youth (a UNICEF-based platform), and Youth Ki Awaaz. Apart from these, she is the editor-in-chief of her school’s newspaper, and is a communications prefect in the student council. She has been published in several literary magazines, such as New Plains Review, Yellow Chair Review, Foliate Oak, Poetry Quarterly, Apeiron Review, and After the Pause, among others. When not writing or reading, Richa can be seen playing the piano or day-dreaming.
Emma Bleker is a 20 year old writer pursuing her English degree in Virginia, and a friend to all gentle things. She has been published, or is forthcoming, in Persephone's Daughters, Skylark Review, Electric Cereal, Yellow Chair Review, and Cahoodaloodaling. Additionally, she released her first collection of poetry, Here's Hoping You Never See This, in November of 2015. She also really likes videos of cute animals doing literally anything.
Shereen Lee is a freshman in high school living in Taiwan. Her work is published or forthcoming in Alexandria Quarterly, The Window, and other magazines, and has been recognized by Laura Thomas Communications and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Natalie Kawam is a sophomore poet at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, PA. Though she has been writing creatively since she was young, she began writing poetry in her senior year of high school. After studying under poets Dilruba Ahmed and J.C. Todd, she received the Academy of American Poets Prize in May, and will be published through the Academy in the fall.
Jacqueline He is a rising junior from the Harker School who has too many things to do and too little time to spare. She runs a study blog on Tumblr under the handle @appblrina and spends her free time binge-watching Dance Moms. Jacqueline is also the founder and Editor in Chief of the Icarus Anthology, as well as a staff member of her school's scientific research publication.
Erin Jin Mei O'Malley is a 17-year-old writer from York, PA. She has attended writing workshops in Virginia and Ohio. Her work has been recognized by Hollins University, Columbia College Chicago, Literature Wales, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and others. She will study abroad in Germany as a Speedwell Scholar this fall and eventually blog about it at www.explorationsoferin.com.
Cindy Song is a high school junior living in Rockville, Maryland. She has loved creative writing and journalism from a young age, and hopes to use words to bring out the simple beauties in life. Her writing has been published or forthcoming in the National Poetry Quarterly, TeenInk, and Tunnel Magazine. When she's not writing, Cindy can often be found playing the viola, going for a walk, or catching up on her favorite shows.
Rachana Hegde is a high school junior who enjoys writing and reading. Her poetry has been published in Alexandria Quarterly, Moonsick Magazine, and Hypertrophic Literary. You can find her blogging at http://rachanahblog.wordpress.com.
Sarah Patafio is a student at Barnard College and is an American Studies major. Her poetry has appeared in the online literary magazines Phosphene and Canvas; she looks forward to more publications in the future as her writing grows and flowers. In her free time, she reads, writes, takes pictures of her cats, knits, drinks tea, and goes on walks in dog parks with the lovely MTD.
Isabelle Jia is a sixteen-year old poet whose work has appeared, or is forthcoming in Glass Kite Anthology, Phosphene Literary Journal, Track Four, Sooth Swarm Journal, and Polyphony H.S. Jia has attended the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio and the California State Summer School of the Arts; she is also a California Arts Scholar, the finalist for the Walt Whitman Poetry Contest, and a recipient of numerous awards from Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. When she is not writing, she's either developing multiple cavities or singing crazily to her boyfriend. She currently resides in San Francisco Bay Area, CA.
Prose Readers
Nicholas Sum is a 11th grader currently attending Saratoga High School. He enjoys writing and editing other written works, but sadly, he doesn’t finish most things he starts to write. When he is not writing or editing, he usually spends his time listening to or playing music on the piano or violin (or even badly singing along, if no one else is at home), doing homework, playing video games, reading, watching videos, running, or doing whatever else normal 11th graders do. Nicholas currently resides in Saratoga, CA.
William Higgins is a young writer from Southern California, and a senior in high school. He has worked on his school's magazine, Tideline, for three years, where he is currently editor-in-chief. He has also been working for over a year as a photographer, writer, and editor for N2 Publishing. His work has been recognized with a number of honors, including the Scholastic Art and Writing awards. This summer he attended the Iowa Young Writers' Studio. In his spare time, William enjoys spending time with his dogs, playing sudoku (obsessively), and listening to music.
Polina Solovyeva is originally from Moscow, Russia, but is currently a freshman at the New York University in New York City. She attended the New England Young Writers’ Conference at Breadloaf and Iowa Young Writers’ Studio in Iowa City. She was named a 2016 Finalist in Writing by the National YoungArts Foundation in the Short Story category and received a Gold Key for Poetry from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. She was recently nominated as an Honorable Mention for the Adroit Prizes by the Adroit Journal for her short story "Mokita".
Katherine Sun is a sixteen-year-old at Saratoga High School who loves both writing and STEM. She obsessively reads publications like The New York Times and enjoys writing for her school newspaper, The Falcon. Often she writes stories with no endings, sings along to Spotify with her dad, or spends time with her family outdoors.
Sophie Govert is a poet and essayist whose inspiration lies in trees, Rick Riordan, and uplifting sports movies. She likes eating nachos with her parents and making spreadsheets, as well as occasionally lying on the ground and listening to the Good Omens audiobook. Follow her on Twitter @sophgov.
Jasper Fu is currently a senior in Menlo-Atherton High School, all the way in sunny California. In his spare time he reads, writes, and plays far too many video games. He also fences competitively, though not necessarily well, and spends most of the rest of his time asleep. He's also very good at getting lost, in anywhere from his own neighborhood to a plane. He lives in Atherton, CA.
Masfi Khan is a student and writer living in Queens, New York. She is a lover of books, nature, and cats. In her spare time, she bakes cupcakes and doodles pictures of the sky.
Surabhi Iyer is a senior at Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island. She loves to write–she attended the 2015 Bread Loaf Young Writers' Conference–debate politics, learn about biology, act, and experiment in the kitchen. You can find her wherever there are good books (she's a sucker for quality science writing) and endless coffee.
A.A. Reinecke is a writer from Westchester, NY. She currently resides in Lafayette, California where she is a high school junior, writes every morning at 5 AM opposite a print of “View of the World from 9th Avenue” and consumes copious amounts of coffee. Her likes include maple-flavored anything and snow. Her favorite animal is a tiger.
Sandra Chen is a California sophomore (and yes California girls are unforgettable). She loves the obscure things in life, from pens that flow nicely and cost too much to fantasy gymnastics, which she promises is actually a thing. A dreamy-eyed realist, she is unapologetically made of oxymorons. When she is not writing or staring at a blank page in a pathetic attempt at writing, she enjoys ranting, procrastinating, and Tumblring.
Amelia Henry attends Piedmont High School in California. She fills the time she's not reading with writing, roller skating, and playing bass in her band. Amelia also writes for Inqueery, Shameless Magazine, and her school paper, The Piedmont Highlander.
Isabella Li is a high school student from North Carolina. She has been honored nationally by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and has been published in Canvas Literary Journal and Teen Ink Print. When not reading or writing, she enjoys chemistry and biology and Game of Thrones.
Ujwal Rajaputhra is senior at Montgomery High School in Skillman, NJ. He occasionally sneaks out the house just to stargaze, and is a chronic daydreamer. Normalcy is his greatest fear.
Internship Manager
Noel Peng is a writer and musician from the Bay Area. A National Scholastic Medalist and California Arts Scholar, her works have appeared or are forthcoming in The Cadaverine, and Best Teen Writing of 2016, among others. She is 17 years old.
Interns
Abigail Pearson is a 20-year-old writer of novels and poetry. She has two black cats that she loves to cuddle with while she drinks tea and reads Dostoevsky. She blogs at https://whimsywriter3.wordpress.com.
Wabil Asjad is a student at McNair Academic High School in New Jersey. Although slightly new to writing outside of academics, she has always loved reading. In middle school, Wabil worked at her school's newspaper. In high school, she volunteers at the local Boys and Girls Club and works with elementary school students on their writing. At GKA, Wabil hopes to help improve the magazine and work on her own writing skills.
Valerie Wu is a student at Presentation High School in San Jose, California. She has previously studied writing at Stanford University's pre-collegiate program and Interlochen Center for the Arts, as well as conducted research for Questioz: The International Journal for High School Research. Her work has been featured and/or recognized by Susan Cain's Quiet Revolution, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the Huffington Post, Teen Ink, and various local publications. Outside of school, you can find her either watching TED videos or correcting someone's grammar.
Wabil Asjad is a student at McNair Academic High School in New Jersey. Although slightly new to writing outside of academics, she has always loved reading. In middle school, Wabil worked at her school's newspaper. In high school, she volunteers at the local Boys and Girls Club and works with elementary school students on their writing. At GKA, Wabil hopes to help improve the magazine and work on her own writing skills.
Valerie Wu is a student at Presentation High School in San Jose, California. She has previously studied writing at Stanford University's pre-collegiate program and Interlochen Center for the Arts, as well as conducted research for Questioz: The International Journal for High School Research. Her work has been featured and/or recognized by Susan Cain's Quiet Revolution, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the Huffington Post, Teen Ink, and various local publications. Outside of school, you can find her either watching TED videos or correcting someone's grammar.
Past Staff
Lisa Zou, Andy Tu, Ashley Campbell, Kalyn Josephson, Kusha Gupta, Gwen Cusing, Sam Jensen, Leanna Campos, alexis janakiraman, Arya Natarajan, Michelle Xu, Isabella Wang, Scott Stevens, Riya Mirchandaney, Hairol Ma, Stephanie Stott, Stephanie Lu, Reini Lin, Steven Chung, Raymond So, Faith Wappat
