Pithead Chapel is an independent and volunteer-run literary journal and small press founded in 2012 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We publish art, fiction, nonfiction, and prose poetry online every month by emerging and established artists.
Editorial Statement
At Pithead Chapel, we’re looking for engaging art, fiction, nonfiction, and prose poetry. Most of all, we want your work to make us feel something. We want to reach the last word and immediately crave more. We want your work to leave a brilliant bruise. Send us your polished work and we’ll do our best to help your voice get heard.
Diversity & Inclusion
Since our inception, Pithead Chapel has been committed to fostering diversity in the literary community by providing a safe outlet for artists to share their literary works and visual art. We stand firmly against all forms of racism, discrimination, and inequality and will continue to support those who are marginalized. We are committed to publishing, promoting, and working with underrepresented artists.
About the Editors
Editor-in-Chief & Fiction Editor: Kim Magowan lives in San Francisco and teaches in the English Department at Mills College at Northeastern University. She is the author of the short story collection How Far I’ve Come (2022), published by Gold Wake Press; the novel The Light Source (2019), published by 7.13 Books; and the short story collection Undoing (2018), which won the 2017 Moon City Press Fiction Award. Her fiction has been published in Booth, Craft Literary, The Gettysburg Review, Smokelong Quarterly, Wigleaf, and many other journals. Her stories have been selected for Best Small Fictions and Wigleaf’s Top 50. Find her on Twitter @kimmagowan.
Managing Editor: Brittany Terwilliger grew up in the Midwest and graduated from Indiana University. Her novel, The Insatiables (Chicago Review Press) was published in 2018. Her short fiction has appeared in JMWW, (mac)ro(mic), Ellipsis Zine, Ghost Parachute, Five:2:One, Ponder Review, and elsewhere, and has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and the Pushcart Prize. She was a finalist for the 2021 Oxford Flash Fiction Prize. Find her on Twitter at @Brttnyblm and Bluesky at @Brttnyblm.bsky.social.
Nonfiction Editor: Katherine Gehan is a graduate from Emerson College’s MFA program. Her short story collection, The Girl and the Fox Pirate, was published by Mojave River Press in 2018. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Sundog Lit, and Split Lip Magazine and has, along with her fiction, been nominated for The Pushcart Prize, Wigleaf’s Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions, and Sundress Publication’s Best of the Net Anthology. Find her on Twitter @StateofKate.
Prose Poetry Editor: Karen Craigo is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Passing Through Humansville and No More Milk, both published by Sundress Publications, and of three chapbooks, and she served as the fifth Poet Laureate of Missouri (2019-21). She also writes fiction and essays. Professionally, she is a reporter in Springfield, Missouri, for Springfield Business Journal, and she is nonfiction editor of Mid-American Review and poetry series editor for Moon City Press. She is married to the fiction writer Michael Czyzniejewski, and they have two sons, Copernicus and Keats.
Web Manager: Jenna Kahn holds an MFA in nonfiction creative writing from George Mason University. Her work has appeared in Grub Street and on the American Short Fiction blog. In addition to building websites, she has an educational consulting business serving young people with disabilities.
Social Media Editor: Chel Campbell is a poet from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She graduated with a Master of Arts in English from the University of South Dakota and is a writing assessment specialist for the University of Texas. Her debut poetry collection Everything We Name is Precious is forthcoming from Milk & Cake Press in September 2024. Her writing also appears in MER, New Delta Review, trampset, Rogue Agent, Pithead Chapel, and elsewhere. Find her on Instagram @hellochel and Twitter @swell_chel and say hi!
Assistant Fiction Editor: Josh Jones graduated from The University of Alabama’s New College. His writing has appeared in Bartleby Snopes and The Golden Key. He currently resides in Maryland with his wife and daughters. He’s sporadically on Twitter @jnjoneswriter.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Lori Barrett lives in Chicago. Her work has appeared in Necessary Fiction, Barrelhouse online, Citron Review, Laurel Review, Peatsmoke Journal, and Middle House Review, where she was nominated for Best Small Fictions 2020. She’s contributed to Salon and the Wall Street Journal, covering hard-hitting topics like music videos, custom-stuffed pillows, and dog-food delivery services.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Elise Glassman lives and writes in Seattle. She studied fiction with Laura Kalpakian and others at the University of Washington Extension, and with Marilynne Robinson at the Iowa Summer Writer’s Workshop. Her work has appeared in such journals as The Colorado Review, Main Street Rag, The Portland Review, Tawdry Bawdry, Referential Magazine, Per Contra and Opossum. Her essay, “Touch,” appeared in the 2013 anthology, “Beyond Belief” and most recently, “Fast Food and Box Wine” appeared in Sliver of Stone, Fall 2017.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Anne Rasmussen lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. Her writing appears or is forthcoming in Split Lip Magazine, Jellyfish Review, Sundog Lit, Cosmonauts Avenue, Blood Orange Review, Little Fiction, Barren Magazine, and The Southeast Review. From 2014-2017 she served as editor of Late Night Library’s Late Night Interview column. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Find her on Twitter at @whatll_i_do.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Lucy Zhang is an anime lover, writer, and software engineer. Her work has appeared in Columbia Journal, Gone Lawn, Jellyfish Review, Okay Donkey, and elsewhere, and has been nominated for Best Small Fictions and Best of the Net. A New Jersey native and Duke alumnus, she currently writes (and procrastinates) from a small, cozy apartment in California. Find her on Twitter @Dango_Ramen.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Chelsea Stickle is the author of the flash fiction chapbook Breaking Points (Black Lawrence Press, 2021). Her fiction appears in CRAFT, Chestnut Review, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Best Microfiction 2021 and others. She lives in Annapolis, MD with her black rabbit George and a forest of houseplants. Find her on Twitter @Chelsea_Stickle.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Nora Esme Wagner lives in San Francisco, California. Her work has been published in Milk Candy Review, JMWW, Flash Boulevard, Litbreak Magazine, and other journals, and nominated for Best Microfictions. She was a 2020 Adroit Journal Summer Mentee.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Rosemary Harp lives in Chicago. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The Masters Review, Fiction, Electric Literature, Creative Nonfiction, and other journals. She holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Virginia but her heart belongs to her undergraduate school: the University of Michigan.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Alyson Mosquera Dutemple’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Colorado Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Passages North, DIAGRAM, The Journal, and Wigleaf, among others. Her story collection was a runner-up for the 2022 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and she’s been nominated for Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and a Pushcart Prize. She works as an editorial consultant and creative writing instructor in New Jersey and holds an MFA from The Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Find her on Twitter @swellspoken.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Joy Guo is an attorney and writer living in Newton, MA. Her work has been published or will appear in Threepenny Review, Colorado Review, Idaho Review, CRAFT, and elsewhere. You can find her on Twitter at @gojiberryandtea.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Pat Foran lives in Milwaukee and his stories have been published in various journals. His work was selected for the Best Small Fictions 2023 and Best Small Fictions 2021 anthologies, the Wigleaf Top 50 2022, and the Best Microfiction 2021 anthology. He also received the 2021 Mythic Picnic Prize in Fiction. Find him on Twitter at @pdforan.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Lila Goehring is a nonfiction writer based in San Francisco. Originally from Ohio, she moved to the Bay Area in 2017 to attend Mills College, where she studied creative writing. Her work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Ms. Magazine, and the Mills Quarterly. She writes about San Francisco, LGBTQ issues, intergenerational friendship, and community. She is a freelance writer, copy editor, and communications professional.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Dawn Tasaka Steffler is a fiction writer from Hawaii who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was a 2023 Smokelong Quarterly Emerging Writer Fellow and won the Bath Flash Fiction Award. Her stories appear in Milk Candy Review, Stanchion, Flash Frog, and Ghost Parachute, among others, and was nominated for BotN, BAE, BSF, and the Pushcart Prize. Find her on Twitter, Bluesky and IG @DawnSteffler.
Assistant Fiction Editor: Rachel Schmidt is a registered nurse and military spouse who has enjoyed living all over the world with her family. She holds an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and has been published in the Bath Flash Fiction Anthologies.
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Elizabeth Fletcher, MFA, C-IAYT, RYT-500 is a writer, yoga therapist, and cat servant from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is a two-time Loft Mentor Series finalist in nonfiction and a Best of the Net nominee. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in New Flash Fiction Review, Lost Balloon, Gone Lawn, The Leaping Clear, Tiferet and elsewhere. One of her essays will be included in the forthcoming anthology Awakenings: Stories of Bodies & Consciousness (ELJ Editions). In addition to teaching traditional yoga classes to non-traditional students, she facilitates workshops that bridge movement and creative writing. You can find her on Twitter @esfletcher.
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Naira Wilson received her master’s degree in journalism from Georgetown University, where she focused on narrative nonfiction and opinion writing. Her reporting or opinion pieces have appeared in Politico, The Root, The Washington Informer, and Bitch Magazine. Her creative writing appears or is forthcoming in Typehouse Literary Magazine, Nymphs, and Dynamis Journal. She lives in Northern Virginia and works as an essay editor and writing coach. Find her on Twitter @naira_wilson.
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Rudri Bhatt Patel is a lawyer turned writer and editor. Prior to attending law school, she graduated with an MA in English with an emphasis in creative writing. She is a two-time Small Fictions nominee, the co-founder and co-editor of The Sunlight Press, and a senior editor at Literary Mama. Her work has appeared in Pidgeonholes, Milk Candy Review, MoonPark Review, The Washington Post, Business Insider, Saveur, and elsewhere.
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Joe Kapitan writes fiction and creative nonfiction in Cleveland. Recent work has appeared in DIAGRAM, No Contact, X-R-A-Y, Pithead Chapel, New Flash Fiction Review, Spry, and others. He is the author of a short story collection, CAVES OF THE RUST BELT, and is a staff CNF reader for Atticus Review. On Twitter, you can find him @joekap64.
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Shanelle Mullin is a writer and international speaker from New York. Her work has been published by Wiley, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc, Business Insider, Mashable, and others. She’s currently trying desperately to remember what it’s like to write for fun, and working on a collection of personal essays. Find her on Twitter @shanelle_mullin.
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Martha Krausz holds an MA in English & American Literature from Mills College, where she explored the anti-imperial implications of Virginia Woolf’s mellifluous prose. Determined to wield the social power of storytelling & style in her own political moment, Martha has pursued a career in teaching and creative nonfiction writing. In 2021, Martha’s essay, “Shadow Sister” was nominated for Best of the Net. Her work also appears in the Burningword Journal, Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine, Prometheus Dreaming, and others. Martha is currently working on a collection of essays that investigates the role of food in relationships, and the link between bodies and bodies of language. She lives in Marin County CA, where she runs an editing & coaching business, Write Align, fights against disordered eating as a Be Body Positive facilitator, and hikes the trails with her white shepherd, Alfredo.
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Lea Page’s work has been nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes and has appeared in The Rumpus, Sweet, The Pinch, Sycamore Review, Pithead Chapel, High Desert Journal, and more. She is also the author of Parenting in the Here and Now (Floris Books, 2015). She lives in rural Montana with her husband and a small circus of semi-domesticated animals.
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Yvonne Conza’s writing has appeared in Longreads, AGNI, Bomb Magazine, The Believer, CRAFT, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Catapult, The Rumpus, Joyland Magazine, Blue Mesa Review and more.She is the co-author of the user-friendly dog training guide Training for Both Ends of the Leash (Penguin). Summary: Writer, editor, interviewer & avid reader. @yvonnec.bsky.social / @yvonne conza Instagram / @conza_yvonne Twitter
Assistant Nonfiction Editor: Laura Zinn Fromm is a writer, editor, and the author of Sweet Survival: Tales of Cooking & Coping (Greenpoint Press, 2014). She has an MFA in fiction from Columbia University and teaches fiction and creative non-fiction workshops through her company, Sweet Lab Writing Workshops. She has also taught at Columbia, Montclair State, the New York Public Library and through Kelly Writers House at the University of Pennsylvania. A former editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, she is a winner of the Clarion Award and the Newspaper Guild’s Page One Award for Labor Reporting. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Huffington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, and elsewhere. She lives in NYC.
Assistant Prose Poetry Editor: Jennifer Met lives in a small town in North Idaho. She is a nominee for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthology, a finalist for Nimrod’s Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, and winner of the Jovanovich Award. Recent work is published or forthcoming in Cimarron Review, Gone Lawn, Gravel, Gulf Stream, Juked, Midway Journal, The Museum of Americana, Nimrod, Ninth Letter, Sleet Magazine, and Zone 3, among other journals. She is the author of the chapbook Gallery Withheld (Glass Poetry Press).
Assistant Prose Poetry Editor: Cynthia Marie Hoffman is the author of four poetry collections: Exploding Head (Feb 2024), Call Me When You Want to Talk about the Tombstones, Paper Doll Fetus, and Sightseer. Hoffman is a former Diane Middlebrook Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing and Director’s Guest at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation. Her poems have appeared in Smartish Pace, Lake Effect, Blackbird, The Believer, The Los Angeles Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Madison, WI and can be found on Instagram @cynthiamariehoffman
Assistant Prose Poetry Editor: Andrew Rihn lives in Tyngsboro, MA where he works in special education. He is the author of the full length prose poetry collection Revelation: An Apocalypse in Fifty-Eight Fights (Press 53, 2020) and the chapbook O Hungry Star (Beir Bua, 2021). He is also a regular contributor to The Fight City, a premier independent boxing site. Find him on Twitter @RihnAndrew.
Assistant Prose Poetry Editor: Aaron Kreuter is the author of four books. His poetry collection, Shifting Baseline Syndrome, was a finalist for a 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award and was shortlisted for both the 2022 Raymond Souster Award and the 2023 Vine Awards for Jewish Literature. His other books include the poetry collection Arguments for Lawn Chairs, the short story collection You and Me, Belonging, and the monograph Leaving Other People Alone: Diaspora, Zionism and Palestine in Contemporary Jewish Fiction. Kreuter lives in Toronto and teaches at Trent University.
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