About Us
Roanoke Review was co-founded in 1967 by Roanoke College student Edward A. Tedeschi and teacher Henry Taylor, who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for The Flying Change in 1986. Poet James Boatwright and novelist George Garrett served as advisory editors, and the first issue included work by William Stafford, Lee Smith, Kelly Cherry, William Jay Smith, and Malcom Cowley, among others.
Tedeschi and Taylor were ultimately replaced by Robert Walter, who edited the journal for the next thirty years. The Review was taken over in 2001 by Paul Hanstedt, who served as editor for the next fifteen years with the occasional interim leadership of Melanie Almeder and Mary Crockett Hill, who took on the role of editor in 2016.
For over half a century, the Review has established itself as a home for new and established authors writing in both traditional and experimental forms.
2024-2025 STAFF
Editor
Laura Garrison gets lost easily. Fortunately, she enjoys unexpected adventures. She appreciates all forms and genres of literature but has a particular affection for speculative flash and haiku. You can also find her at Jersey Devil Press.
Co-Manager
Nik Honore loves the small challenges that come with day-to-day life – for example, trying to remember how to write a bio for himself in the third person whilst simultaneously getting ready for work right now. He juggles his studies in creative writing and religion at Roanoke College with his full-time work schedule and personal creative endeavors, which often include but are not limited to writing, painting, photography and playing music. He's usually absurdly overcaffeinated and yet, alas, still running late.
Co-Manager
Edwin Parker is as silent as a mouse, but don't let that deceive you; he can be quite the chatter box when he wants to be. He tends to enjoy writing, reading, and taking a nap to refuel and rinse and repeat. He tends to read more sci-fi but is always welcome to new experiences. He's also picked up the hobby of writing Poems ranging from Mother Earth's Love to the Great Black Void we humans call space. He really likes Quasar.
Book Reviewer
Cameron MacKenzie's work has appeared in Able Muse, The Rumpus, SubStance and The Michigan Quarterly Review, among other journals. His essays have been collected in The Waste Land at 90: A Retrospective and Edward P. Jones: New Essays. His novel The Beginning of His Excellent and Eventful Career is currently out with Madhat Press. He teaches English at Ferrum College.
READing staff
Wilson Andrake, Olivia Ball, Ama Damuah, Kai Goffee, Juniper Rogers, Taylor Salazar, Lucy Arends, Skyler Bartell, Emily Chapman, Alexander Fritze, Sienna Grillo, Grace Lipinski, Jillian Nickelson, Sabrina Rogers, Dannielle Sommerfield, Kate Straub.
(Not Pictured: Wilson Andrake, Kai Goffee)
Ama Damuah is a double major in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and has a concentration in publishing and editing. The dream is to one day be an established author, but for now she's focused on making it through college one day at a time. Her love and hobbies are obviously reading and writing, but when she isn't doing either, she might be studying, working, or helping her friends. Her biggest weakness? She's quiet when she has nothing to add but talks a lot when she wants to.
Olivia Ball is an aspiring middle-school English teacher. She is majoring in English education and minoring in both literary studies and creative writing at Roanoke College. She enjoys tea, long walks, writing, and spending time with friends. She will read anything, though she loves reading middle-grade novels, especially if they involve mischief, friends, and adventure.
Dannielle Sommerfield is a junior at Roanoke College majoring in history and creative writing with a minor in French. When she's not searching for dragons, you can find her reading, writing, drawing, playing video games, and goofing around with her friends. She plans on publishing fantasy stories for teens and adults to enjoy. Legends say you can summon her with the delicious dessert known as tiramisu.
Lucy Arends has somehow managed to master the art of being in two places at once, which she hopes will benefit her in getting a job in broadcast journalism. She’s a senior majoring in communications and minoring in screen studies. After graduation, she hopes to move to New Hampshire with her significant other and their cat. For now, you’ll find her around campus hosting events for Roanoke alumni and parents. Off campus, she’s probably exploring the Roanoke food scene. Recently, she went on a mission to see who has the best hot dog (Dillion's Hot Dogs is by far the best).
Jillian Nickelson (She/Her) is a double major in Screen Studies and Creative Writing. She experiences the world through stories and creative pursuits. From the development of complex character personas to carefully designing their fashion and physical attributes to bring them to life, she builds entire fictional realms that are a playful mix of dystopian, apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, fantasy and science-fiction themes. Jillian draws inspiration from the landscapes of her travels to places such as Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Greece, England, Mexico, St. Lucia, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. Jillian adores amusement parks of all varieties, playing video games, collecting unique plushies and trinkets, making costumes for Cosplay and Renaissance Festivals, visiting vintage bookshops, immersing herself in Halloween and Christmas festivities, and especially connecting with fellow writing enthusiasts.
Rina Rogers - A junior majoring in Creative Writing with a concentration in Publishing & Editing, her passion for writing is endless. You can catch her being a section editor of the Brackety-Ack or editing a script for her friends back home. She enjoys spending her free time learning the newest line dance, in the depths of Olin for the latest Theater production, or going on side quests with her friends. She is also a lover of music, hence why she has too many Spotify playlists to count!
Juniper Rogers (They/She) is a lover of mulch and local politics. They write primarily speculative and absurd poems and short stories. She is also a Section Editor for Roanoke College's newspaper.
Taylor Salazar enjoys writing stories and poems about any drama or inconvenience going on in her life. When she is not doing homework, she can be found daydreaming of story ideas, reading, hanging out with friends, or taking a walk around campus. Taylor has a wide variety of interests and searches for the time to juggle them all. She plans to become an author for children and teens.
EDITOR (In Memorium)Mary Crockett Hill is the author of A Theory of Everything (selected by Naomi Shihab Nye for the Autumn House Prize) and If You Return Home with Food (winner of the Bluestem Poetry Award), and coauthor of the history of A Town by the Name of Salem. Her work has been featured on such sites as Poetry Daily and Best of the Net, and in such anthologies as American Poetry: The Next Generation. She is a multiple nominee for the Pushcart Prize and the Virginia Book of the Year. In her other life as a children's book writer, she is author of How She Died, How I Lived, from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and coauthor of the young adult novel Dream Boy. She tweets nonsense @Marylovesbooks.
We miss her very dearly and send well wishes to her family.
