Meet the Editors
Dear Barnstorm readers, returning and new,
September has finally arrived, and so has Barnstorm’s newest editorial team!
There is plenty to look forward to with fall right around the corner (I personally grabbed my first PSL of the season this morning). To celebrate the end of a scorching hot Seacoast summer, our team is sharing their favorite recent reads. If you’ve been loving any of the same writers as us, let us know on our socials!
Issue #1 of Volume 16 will be available October 7th. For the next month, we’ll be reading, writing, and ferociously advocating for our favorite submissions during our editorial meetings. Now, without further ado, our ‘24-’25 editorial team!
Editor in Chief • Cari Elizabeth Moll
Poet, photographer, and mosh pit enthusiastic, Cari (she/they) is a second-year MFA poetry candidate at the University of New Hampshire. She received her BA in English with a concentration in writing from Worcester State University in 2022. During her undergraduate study, she attended the Salem Poetry Seminar at Salem State University, where she discovered a deep affection for love poetry.
Cari is the author of two poetry chapbooks: Only the Pretty Lesbians Go to Heaven (2024) and Late Night Train Lights (2018). Lately, she has been admiring the work of writers such as Dorothea Lasky, Yōko Ogawa, and Dianne Seuss, though her work is highly influenced by 2010's gothic metal.
If not busy writing about the intricate dramatics of love or the fine art of yearning, Cari can be found wandering aimlessly around New England, stealing inspiration from every coffee shop and club venue she can find.
I spent the summer tackling my fiction TBR, and I still can’t shut up about Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese. This book follows seamstress Isobel Gamble as she finds herself drawn to Nathaniel “Nat” Hawthorne years before he wrote The Scarlet Letter. It crafts a speculative reality in which Hawthorne’s relationship with the fictional Isobel inspires the story of Hester Prynne, incorporating similar themes of sin, guilt, and forbidden passion. The women in this story are fiercely protective of each other, moving with unconditional love, empathy, and compassion in a restrictive, fearful society. It’s sinful and sexy, stitching nuanced beauty and power into the seams of a classic story.
Managing Editor • Caleb Jagoda
Caleb (he/him) is a poet, journalist, and lord of the living room with a burning passion for a half-soup, half-sandwich meal deal. He is a second-year MFA poetry candidate at the University of New Hampshire, where he also received his BA, in English and Journalism, in 2021. Previously, he’s worked as assistant editor at New Hampshire Magazine, reported for America’s Test Kitchen’s “Proof” podcast, Down East Magazine, and Beer & Weed Magazine, and published poetry with Polaris Literary Magazine and Write on the DOT.
With respect to brevity, the following is a list of things Caleb loves, in no particular order: Richard Linklater flicks (but especially Dazed and Confused); an ice-cold Miller High Life; quoting Vince Vaughn at random; pick-up basketball; “The Man” by Roc Marciano; shooting the breeze; and the illusion of free will. His favorite writers include Jesse Nathan, Mekeel McBride, Helen Oyeyemi, Bob Kaufman, billy woods, and Yusef Komunyakaa. When he isn’t holding court at a dimly-lit watering hole or embracing his youth, you can find Caleb out on the town, digging the scene.
This summer, I loved There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib. A prose-poem-memoir about the 2016 Cavaliers, homelessness, a father’s jump shot, and what it means to be from an underdog city, Hanif writes so lovingly about his surroundings and obsessions. A tear jerker that simultaneously makes you happy to be!
Nonfiction Editor • Steph George
Steph (she/her) is a writer, audio editor, and second-year nonfiction MFA student at UNH. She bounced around her undergrad years and eventually received her BA in Communications from UMass Amherst in 2017. She has previously written for The American Gardener and spent five years producing podcasts for Heinemann Publishing. She has since gone on to work on several independent shows and explore the world of creative nonfiction. When not writing or splicing waveforms, you can find her listening to music, working on her latest embroidery project, or enjoying New Hampshire’s famous 18 miles of coastline.
This summer I read Dirty Love by Andre Dubus III, a collection of short stories chronicling the intertwining lives of four people who each find themselves led by love (and lust) to surprising thresholds that call their deepest-held beliefs into question. There are no clear resolutions, each storyline ending on a cliffhanger, which, the more I thought about it, seems to mirror how most love stories actually end: with a giant question mark, never full answered. I found it a prickly and honest depiction of what love can draw out of us, and the disturbing revelations we can be faced with as a result.
Fiction Editor • Sophia Baran
Sophia (she/her) is a second-year fiction writing MFA student at the University of New Hampshire who has been writing funny little original stories and fanfiction since the age of 10. In 2022, she graduated from the University of Toronto with a bachelor’s degree in history with a focus on North American and Eastern European history. In recent years, she draws upon her background in research to fuel her creative fiction work. Her writing is often influenced by the Slavic mythology, folklore, and fairytales she grew up on as a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants.
When she isn’t writing, you can find Sophia wandering through the woods, sampling chai lattes at every café she comes across, listening to Euro pop music, skiing down the nearest mountain, or knitting yet another pair of socks.
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes is a feel-good read with emotional depth. The novel is a character-driven rom-com that centers on the newly widowed Evvie Drake and baseball pitcher Dean Tenney who can no longer pitch. This slow-burn romance doesn’t shy away from exploring themes such as grief, mental health, overcoming failure, and community. I particularly enjoyed how this book examines the strain of tragedy on relationships and the struggle to piece life together after things go irreversibly wrong while still being humorous and heartwarming.
Poetry Editor • Skylar Miklus
Skylar Miklus is a second-year poetry MFA candidate at the University of New Hampshire. They received their B.A. in Philosophy from Dartmouth College in 2022, where they studied poetry under Vievee Francis and rediscovered their lifelong love for writing. Skylar draws inspiration from writers such as Jill Bialosky, Hilary Plum, Aricka Foreman, Tiana Clark, and Melissa Febos. Their work has appeared in Electric Literature, Defunct Magazine, Rogue Agent Journal, and elsewhere.
When not writing or furiously working toward their monthly reading goal, you can find Skylar rock climbing, hitting the queer bar for karaoke, or wandering an independent bookstore.
Couplets by Maggie Millner: The highest praise I can give a book is that it made me want to write—and this one is so fertile with tension and eroticism that I was inspired by nearly every poem. This novel in verse is constructed mostly in rhymed couplets, interspersed with prose vignettes, and it follows the narrator’s messy first queer relationship. There are shades of Chloe Caldwell’s Women in the narrative, which is aching and raw and so real. I’m thoroughly impressed by how much Millner accomplished with very little room for error.
Arts Editor • Haley Hodge
Haley is a poet and second-year MFA student at the University of New Hampshire. Haley is originally from the Blue Ridge Mountain region, where she attended the University of Lynchburg, receiving a BA in marketing and graphic design. Apart from serving as Barnstorm's Arts Editor, she is this year's Graduate Assistant for the Nossrat Yassini Poetry Festival.
If not out on a walkabout writing poems for the birds and the trees, you can find her with a coffee in hand, probably still thinking about the birds and trees and definitely the moon. Writers who currently inspire her are Mary Oliver, Robin Kimmerer, and Galway Kinnell.
This summer, I read Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer and really enjoyed how she weaves personal narratives with the science and life of mosses. I love exploring and reflecting on how plants can teach us a little about ourselves, our relationship with others, and nature as a whole. Who knew there was so much life happening right under our feet!