Brink is an independent literary nonprofit validating unconventional narratives on and off the page
A nonprofit founded in Iowa City in 2020, through our publications Brink Literary Journal and Brink Books, and cross-genre events such as Day Party, we publish hybrid writing and produce experiential art events alongside writers and contributors from around the world.
At Brink, we actively work to engage, promote, and expand the reach of voices from diverse groups and communities. We seek out work from creatives of all races and ethnicities; genders and gender identifications, especially trans writers; and those in various stages of their career, from emerging to established and a wide range of ages.
Hybrid writing often includes multiple mediums such as visual and written elements that together accomplish a result impossible to achieve alone. Text-based hybrid writing harnesses form and content in singular ways to create dynamic work primed to offer new perspectives, voices, and ideas. Hybrid writing is not experimental or ekphrastic. Instead, it is a style that prioritizes the combination of multiple literary and artistic elements to produce a readable, engaging piece of work.
BRINK LITERARY JOURNAL MASTHEAD
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Hannah Bonner || she/her
Hannah serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Brink as well as the Film Editor for TriQuarterly, and her writing has been supported by the Breadloaf Environmental Writers' Conference, the Vermont Studio Center, among others. She is the author of Another Woman (EastOver Press 2024) and Bree: An Autobiography (Sticking Place Books 2026). She is always on the brink of wanting to do without language altogether and take a modern dance class.
MANAGING EDITOR
Mariah Eppes || she/her
Mariah Eppes (she/her) is a writer based in New York City. By day, she is a managing editor on books for psychotherapists. She likes to spend her time reading, writing, walking, and practicing various ways of making her work exist. She is always on the brink of signing up for a too-expensive indoor pool membership.
CREATIVE NONFICTION EDITOR
Joshua Thermidor || he/him
Joshua Thermidor is a writer and photographer of the Haitian diaspora. He believes in the dissolution of empire and the total liberation of all oppressed people. His photos have appeared in TIME, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, NBC News, and his writing has appeared in River Styx and The Seventh Wave. He is an MFA Candidate in Poetry at The Iowa Writers Workshop. He is always on the brink of dropping everything to watch deer.
FICTION EDITOR
Erinrose Mager || she/her
Erinrose Mager is the author of Hot Fruit (Fonograf, 2026). Her work appears in Prelude, The Poetry Project's The Recluse, DIAGRAM, jubilat, Fence, and elsewhere. Erinrose earned her MFA from Washington University in St. Louis and her PhD in Literary Arts from the University of Denver. She teaches at The Brooklyn Writers Foundry MFA at St. Joseph's University in New York. Erinrose is always on the brink of neglecting to take Lactaid.
POETRY EDITOR
Cory Hutchinson-Reuss || she/her
Cory Hutchinson-Reuss is the author of Triptych (Milk & Cake Press, 2025) and a collaborative chapbook of poems in conversation with the visual art of Giselle Simón (Prompt Press Gallery Series, 2022). Her poetry and hybrid writings have appeared in LIT Magazine, antiphony journal, Cherry Tree, the Offing, and elsewhere. Originally from Arkansas, she holds a PhD in English from the University of Iowa and lives in Iowa City, where she teaches in both university and community settings. On the elevator or down the aisles or in the kitchen, Cory is always on the brink of dancing.
ASSOCIATE POETRY EDITOR
Lisa Summe || she/her
Lisa Summe is the author of the poetry collection Say It Hurts (YesYes Books, 2021). Her second collection, How To Make The Day Longer, was a finalist for the 2024 Write Bloody Publishing Jack McCarthy Book Prize. Lisa earned a BA and MA in literature at the University of Cincinnati, and an MFA in poetry from Virginia Tech. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Bat City Review, Foglifter, Muzzle, Salt Hill, Underblong, West Branch, and elsewhere. You can find her running, playing baseball, or eating vegan pastries in Pittsburgh, PA. She is always on the brink of going back to school.
ARTS EDITOR
Stephanie DeMer || she/her
Stephanie Dowda DeMer is a lens-based and expanding media artist born in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, she is the Iowa Idea Visiting Artist and Visiting Assistant Professor in Photography at The University of Iowa. DeMer received her MFA in Photography + Film from Virginia Commonwealth University and BA in Philosophy from Georgia State University. Her forthcoming textbook, Material Encounters, will be published in 2021. Her first book, Oblivion Seekers, was published with Ultraterrestrial.xyz. DeMer is a Vermont Studio Center Fellow, Golden Dome Fellow, Hambidge Fellow, and Cabin Time Alumni. Her work and writing have been featured in Dialogue, Numbers Inc., Oxford American, Bad at Sports, ArtsATL, and BurnAway. Her solo exhibition, Sandbagging, premiered at WhiteSpace Gallery and at Eve Drewelowe Gallery. She is co-founder and organizer of The Letters Festival, a contemporary literary arts event. DeMer was the Artist in Resident for Biomimicry Project with ASU’s Electrical Engineer and Fungal Topography research collaboration. In 2020, Practice x Practice launched as a nimble curatorial initiative collaboration with Rachel Cox seeking to elevate womxn’s artistic research. Stephanie is always on the brink of creating a farm sanctuary and artist residency.
ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR
clayton scofield || they/them
Intermedia artist and poet, e clayton scofield (they/them) facilitates play- and process-based collaborations. They create multimedia work that threads poetic narrative, performance and moving image. clay’s work has been featured in publications including Number and Wussy. They have performed and exhibited nationally and held residencies with Cucalorus and The School of Making Thinking (SMT). They have MFAs in digital art (Indiana University, Bloomington) and poetry (the Iowa Writers’ Workshop) and serve on the board of directors of SMT. clay is always on the brink of over-caffeination.
VIDEO ESSAY EDITOR
Sarah Minor || she/her
Sarah Minor is a writer and interdisciplinary artist and the author of Bright Archive (Rescue Press) and Slim Confessions: The Universe as a Spider or Spit (Noemi Press). She teaches writing at the University of Iowa. Sarah is always on the brink of professionalizing the role "hype man."
DESIGNER
Stacia Rain Stonerook || she/her
Stacia Rain is a Graphic Designer and Illustrator living in Iowa City. Stacia attended the University of Iowa where she earned a degree in Psychology while also serving up pancakes for Iowa City's finest breakfast diners. In addition to freelancing, Stacia has spent several years in the nonprofits arts community. In that time, she has served as the Graphic Designer at both The Englert Theatre and Riverside Theatre. Currently, she is the Marketing Manager for FilmScene, a nonprofit arthouse cinema. As an illustrator, Stacia creates hand-drawn work that is abstract, colorful, and organic. Find more of her work at staciarain.com. Stacia is always on the brink of adopting a pile of ferrets.
NONFICTION EDITOR AT LARGE
Sarah Haas || she/her
Sarah Haas' debut book, Jealousy: A Memoir, is forthcoming from Catapult (November 2026). Her essays and criticism appear in Lit Hub and Longreads, among others. She is always on the brink of eating a snack.
POETRY EDITOR AT LARGE
Spencer Williams || she/her
Spencer Williams is the author of TRANZ (Four Way Books, 2024). Her work has been featured in Poem-a-Day, American Poets Magazine, Muzzle, and Lithub. She is currently a PhD candidate in poetics at SUNY, Buffalo. She is always on the brink of throwing her phone off a very tall building.
FICTION EDITOR AT LARGE
Rachel Yoder || she/her
Rachel Yoder is the author of the novel Nightbitch (Doubleday, 2021). Raised on a Mennonite commune in Appalachia, she now lives in Iowa City. With Mark Polanzak, she is the founding editor of draft: the journal of process. A former Iowa Arts Fellow and Trias Writer-in-Residence at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Rachel currently serves as Assistant Professor of Screenwriting in the Cinematic Arts Department at the University of Iowa. She is always on the brink of getting three kittens.
PUBLISHER
Nina Lohman || she/her
Nina Lohman is the author of the book The Body Alone (University of Iowa Press, 2024), a lyrical nonfiction inquiry into the experience, meaning, and articulation of pain. Originally from California, she lives in Iowa City and is the founder and publisher of Brink. Nina is always on the brink of cutting off all of her hair.
Jamila Osman
Mason Hamberlin
Em Gray
Philip Runia
PAST EDITORS
READERS
Fiction
Nonfiction
Poetry
Abby Bishop
Madeline Riske
Ben Ahlrichs
Mackenzie Pitcairn
Kenna Prottsman
Carly Reynolds
Meredith Siemsen
Alyssa Villasenor
Sarah Rogers
Adam Witte
Stephanie Krzywonos
BRINK BOOKS MASTHEAD
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Alisha Jeddeloh || she/her
Alisha Jeddeloh is a writer and editor based in Iowa City. As a writer, she explores community, belonging, and the fault lines in the stories we tell each other and ourselves. As an editor, she enjoys being surprised by characters and prose. She is always on the brink of starting a new book when she's already reading several others.
EDITOR
Christina Wood || she/her
Christina Wood is a fiction writer with short stories appearing in The Paris Review, Granta, McSweeney’s, The Sewanee Review, and other journals. Her story “The Astronaut” won the 2018 Shirley Jackson Award for short fiction and her nonfiction appears in the Los Angeles Review of Books. She earned an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis and is now a PhD candidate in English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia. In the past, she worked as the assistant editor of Dorothy, a publishing project, and she’s a current graduate editor for The Georgia Review. She is always on the brink of buying an old farmhouse, sight unseen, in Sweden.
MARKETING + OUTREACH
Jess Sullivan || she/her
Jessica (Jess) Sullivan is a writer and reader based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her work has appeared in decomp review, Fiction Writers Review, and elsewhere. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at American University. She has worked as a bookseller, marketing and event coordinator, and editorial assistant, and is passionate about connecting books with readers. In her free time, she is usually reading, starting another hobby, or staring at the sky. Jess is always on the brink of borrowing another book from her local library.
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Alexandra Rae || she/her
Alexandra Rae is a feminist writer, editor, and re-visionist from Ohio. She obtained her BA in Creative Writing with a minor in Public Relations, Advertising & Social Media from Point Park University. Her experience within independent publishing and literary magazines includes working for The Young Writer's Initiative, Ken Sherman & Associates, Spiritus Mundi Review, Pie Press Publishing, and Narratively. As a hybrid writer interested in breaking genre and gender boundaries with the power of the pen, her work is rooted in unnatural feminist narratology, so much so that she presented her research on this branch of literary criticism at the 2025 National Conference of Undergraduate Research. Her writing is published or forthcoming in Spiritus Mundi Review, The Mag Practicum, Same Faces Collective, Queer Gaze Magazine, Zines & Things, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, and Daughter Zine. She is always on the brink of saying yes.
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