About

Editor-in-Chief: Siwar Masannat

Siwar is a third-year poet at George Mason’s MFA program and the recipient of the Thesis Poetry Fellowship for 2011-2012. She is the contributing editor of Poetry Instigator, a poetry prompt blog. Her poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in Gargoyle, Hayden’s Ferry Review and Eleven Eleven, among others.

Managing Editor: Marissa Mack

Mack is a third-year poetry student in the MFA program in Creative Writing and an instructor at George Mason University. At GMU, Mack is heavily involved with the LGBTQ Resources office, including hir role as a trainer in the SafeZone program. Ze also works with the Northern Virginia Writing Project, an organization focused on the teaching of writing.

Assistant Managing Editor: Kate Partridge

Kate is a second-year student in the MFA program at George Mason, where she works in the Writing Center. She blogs for So to Speak and Poetry Instigator, and her poems have appeared in Prime Number and Blast Furnace.

Poetry Editor: Alyse Knorr

Alyse Knorr is a third-year MFA candidate in poetry at George Mason, where she teaches undergraduate English. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in RHINO, Salamander, Cold Mountain Review, The Minnesota Review, Lumina, Weave Magazine, New Delta Review, and the online anthology Poetry Ark, among others.

Nonfiction Editor: Warren Ciabattoni

Warren Ciabattoni appreciates weaving his bicycle through traffic and mowing the lawn. He ventured southward from the hills of Western Pennsylvania to pursue an MFA in Nonfiction at George Mason University.

Fiction Editor: Atossa Shafaie

Atossa Shafaie graduated from George Washington University with a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in Biological Anthropology.  She is currently a graduate student in the MFA program for Creative Writing at George Mason University.  Born in Tehran, Iran, her fiction centers around bridging the gap between the differing worlds of East and West.  She has had several short stories published and lives in Sterling, VA.

Assistant Poetry Editor: Sheila McMullin

Sheila McMullin spent the last few years traveling and teaching English as a foreign language in Prague and China.  She will be settled in Virginia for the next couple of years at GMU’s MFA poetry program where she also teaches undergraduate English Composition.  Her work has appeared in Gentle Strength Quarterly, on Poetry Instigator and So to Speak‘s blog of art and culture.

Assistant Fiction Editor: Dan Hong

Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Chrissy Widmayer

Staff Bloggers:

Blog Co-Editor: Alyse Knorr

Alyse Knorr is a third-year MFA candidate in poetry at George Mason, where she teaches undergraduate English. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in RHINO, Salamander, Cold Mountain Review, Lumina, The Minnesota Review, Weave Magazine, New Delta Review and the online anthology Poetry Ark, among others.

 

Blog Co-Editor: Sheila McMullin

Sheila McMullin spent the last few years traveling and teaching English as a foreign language in Prague and China.  She will be settled in Virginia for the next couple of years at GMU’s MFA poetry program where she also teaches undergraduate English Composition.  Her work has appeared in Gentle Strength Quarterly, on Poetry Instigator and Counter Example: Poetics.

 

Sarah Marcus

Sarah Marcus is a feminist currently pursuing her MFA in poetry at George Mason University, where she is also an English faculty member. In her free time she likes to advocate for choice and eradicating violence against women. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Cimarron Review, Cold Mountain Review, So to Speak,and Slipstream. Originally from Cleveland, OH, she most recently resides and writes in Fairfax, VA.

Siwar Masannat

Siwar is a Jordanian feminist. She is mostly interested in Arab feminist issues, especially in relation to post-colonialism and the clan cultures of the Middle East; the fascinating intersections (or not) between Western and Eastern Feminisms; and Orientalist depictions of women in western cultures. The feminist to first influence Siwar was Nawal Al Saadawi.

 

Susan Whalen

Susan Whalen is a poetry candidate in the MFA Creative Writing program at George Mason University. She teaches composition and as a contributing editor, edits for The Saylor Foundation, a not-for-profit open education initiative.

 

 

*So to Speak is published biannually at George Mason University.  Opinions expressed by authors, bloggers, interviewed persons, and editors do not necessarily reflect the official views of the university.

So to Speak is committed to representing the work of writers and artists from diverse perspectives and experiences and does not discriminate on the basis of race, class, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, culture of origin, political affiliation, disability, marital or premarital status, Vietnam-era status, or similar characteristics.

Web Design

This website was designed by Alison Strub.


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