STAFF

Vortex Staff 2021-2022


Editor-in-Chief / Gabrielle Elaine Thurman


Associate Editor / Annie Grimes


Layout Editor / Paige Hooten


Copy Editor / Asher Baldwin


Social Media and Marketing Manager / Lindsey Witting


Art Editor / Ireanna Rogers


Art Judges / Jaxton Johnson, Kayla Roat, Aislinn Camden, Lindsey Witting, Asher Baldwin


Digital Media Editor / Courtney Starlard


Digital Media Judges / Tyberius Real, Lindsey Witting, Asher Baldwin


Fiction Editor / Stephanie Meador


Fiction Readers / Jaxton Johnson, Maci England, Marshall Cunningham, Katy Reagan, Carraig Craun, Haley Riggs, Allison Chamberlain, Alyssa Donato, T Jones, Kayla Roat


Nonfiction Editor / Kristina Jones


Nonfiction Readers / Haley Riggs, Allison Chamberlain, Alyssa Donato, Nathaniel Aleshire


Poetry Editor / Nicole Vincent


Poetry Readers / Faith Gaston, Macklin Luke, Tyberius Real, Maci England, Marshall Cunningham, Katy Reagan, Carraig Craun, T Jones, Aislinn Camden, Kammi Wofford


Script Editor / Cody Tigue


Script Readers / Nathaniel Aleshire


Faculty Advisors / Mark Spitzer and John Vanderslice

Mark Spitzer is a creative writing professor who specializes in poetry, creative nonfiction, and environmental subject matter. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses at UCA and is recognized as an authority on the subject of “monster fishing.” Of the thirty books he has published, recent ones include Investigative Creative Writing: Teaching and Practice (a creative writing pedagogy book published by Equinox Ltd), In Search of Monster Fish (nonfiction, U of Nebraska Press) and Beautifully Grotesque Fish of the American West (nonfiction, U of Nebraska Press). Forthcoming titles include Poetry Land (poetry, Salmon Press), and the edited collection The Best of the Sucks: High-Octane Poetix from the Legendary Toad Suck Review (MadHat). More info at sptzr.net.
John Vanderslice teaches both graduate and undergraduate students in UCA’s Creative Writing program. His teaching interests include fiction writing, travel writing, and playwriting. His stories, essays, poems, and one-act plays have appeared widely in creative journals, including Sou’wester, Seattle Review, Notre Dame Review, South Carolina Review, and South 85. His recent books include a short story collection called Island Fog (Lavender Ink, 2014) and the historical novel The Last Days of Oscar Wilde (Burlesque Press, 2018). He has also had several one-act plays produced onstage. His novel Nous Nous will be published by Braddock Avenue Books in 2021. More information about him can be found at johnvanderslicebooks.com. You can read his blog Payperazzi at payperazzi.blogspot.com.