Staff
Marianne Kunkel, Ph.D., MFA, Advisor
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Marianne Kunkel is the author of Hillary, Made Up (Stephen F. Austin State University Press) and The Laughing Game (Finishing Line Press), as well as poems that have appeared in The Missouri Review, The Notre Dame Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Rattle, and elsewhere. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Publishing at Missouri Western State University, where she directs the creative writing program. She holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While earning her Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she was the managing editor of Prairie Schooner and the African Poetry Book Fund. She currently is the editor-in-chief of Missouri Western State University’s national literary journal, The Mochila Review, and advisor of its campus literary journal, Reach.
Caitlin Dillon, Editor in Chief
Caitlin Dillon majors in creative writing and publishing with a minor in literature. She is Editor-in-Chief of Reach and has been a part of staff for several years. Along with Reach, she is also Editor-in-Chief of The Griffon, Missouri Western’s yearbook, and Lifestyles Director of The Griffon News. With graduation around the corner, Caitlin is thankful for all her positions and opportunities she received at Missouri Western and hopes she’ll be just as successful outside of college.
Allyson Moore, Managing Editor
Allyson Moore is currently in her final year at Missouri Western State University. She is majoring in creative writing and publication and minoring in English technical communication and literature. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, writing, and making jewelry.
Heather Daugherty, Head Designer
Heather Daugherty is a senior majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing and publishing. She’s the head designer of Reach. She likes classic sci-fi and listening to songs she found on TikTok.
Shelton Smith, Designer
Sheldon Smith is a 5th year Super Senior at Missouri Western. He plans to graduate in Spring 2021 and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in creative writing and publishing. He is also graduating with technical communication and digital animation minors. He is currently interning at Altec Industries in their marketing department and is unsure whether he will go to graduate school. He enjoys reading, writing, listening to music, walking, and playing with his dogs.
Gwen Lack, Outreach Coordinator & Bulletin Board Designer
Gwen is a nontraditional student who fell in love with the liberal arts. She earned a physics degree in 2020 and is perusing her second degree in creative writing and publishing. She loves writing but more importantly she loves to edit her work and others'. She enjoys taking long walks on the west coast as well as hand feeding the squirrels and other small animals around her house.
Gwen has two essays published in Discovering the Student, Discovering the Self, a short-story in Reach, two poems published in Otis Nebula, and one short story published in Please See Me. She hopes to become a content editor for an online magazine.
Autumn West, Social Media Editor
Autumn West is in their third year at Missouri Western State University. Autumn is majoring in creative writing and publishing. In their free time they read, write, listen to music, and play with their dogs and cats.
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Nicole Martin, Social Media Editor
Nicole Martin is a sophomore working towards a creative writing and publishing degree. She enjoys writing poetry, songs, and short stories. Nicole has many interests outside of writing, such as making art, playing pool, creating videos, reading webcomics, and more.
Connor Lindsay, Copyeditor
Connor Lindsay is a senior at Missouri Western State University. He is majoring in creative writing and publishing. He mainly focuses his writing on fantasy prose, but he has a poem “The First To” published in the 2020 edition of Reach. He hopes to become a copyeditor after college while also focusing on his writing.
Eren Barrick, Copyeditor
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Eren Barrick is a 4th year at Missouri Western State University and is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in creative writing and publishing as well as a minor in English technical communication. He plans to graduate in Fall of 2021. He enjoys writing fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi, but another passion of his is binge watching countless television series with friends.
Izzy Barlos, Blogger
Izzy is a sophomore at Missouri Western State University majoring in English education and minoring in creative writing. In her free time, she enjoys writing, reading, and watching her favorite TV show: Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Travis Pawling, Web Editor & Blogger
Travis is a senior at Missouri Western majoring in creative writing and publishing. It is estimated that he has spent about 10% of his life either hanging out in libraries or with his nose buried in a book. When not reading or writing he enjoys exploring, playing video games, and listening to music. In the future he hopes to obtain a career in publishing or as a freelance writer.