Meet our graduate students

Daniel Adler he/they

w88 casino:Ph.D. in Lit

Hometown:Portland,Oregon

Daniel was born in Brooklyn, New York. He has studied at NYU, Edinburgh w88 casino, and w88 casino of South Carolina, where he earned an MFA in fiction. He's interested in historical materialism, the master tropes and autofiction. He also likes yoga, rivers, and monitoring time by the phases of the moon.

Tristan Beach he/him

w88 casino:Ph.D. in Rhetoric and w88 casino Studies

Hometown:Tacoma, WA

Tristan was born in Tacoma, WA. He’s lived in different parts of Washington state; Baotou, Inner Mongolia; northern rural Wyoming; and Minneapolis. His research interests include Writing Program Administration Studies, Cultural Rhetorics, Anti-Oppressive Pedagogies and L2 Learner Classroom Experiences. He’s interested in how institutions are constructed, maintained and extended beyond their physical walls—and how people navigate these complex settings. He is a published poet, critic, and editor and has worked with small presses and magazines since 2010. He holds an MFA in Poetry from Goddard College and a B.A. in English from Saint Martin’s w88 casino. As a nerd of everything, he loves dogs, gaming, coffee, travel and collecting manga.

Kristina Bergen she/w88 casino

w88 casino:MFA in Fiction

Hometown:Reno,NV

When Kristina Bergen isn’t chasing after w88 casino four-year-old daughter, she can be found stalking the medieval literature bookshelves and dreaming up new ways to retell myths and legends for a contemporary audience.

Natascha Boers she/w88 casino

w88 casino:MFA in Fiction

Hometown:Reston, VA

Natascha writes short stories and flash fiction, and currently, she is working on a novel-length, Urban Fantasy manuscript. Natascha currently resides in Central Reno with w88 casino elderly cat, who has been w88 casino rock during these difficult times of COVID. Outside of writing, she enjoys British panel shows, forever stamps, exploring nearby bakeries and the comfort of w88 casino knock-off Crocs (in casual mode inside w88 casino apartment and sport mode outside, in the wild).

Laura West-Brownell, she/w88 casino

w88 casino:Ph.D. in Literature

Hometown:San Jose, CA

Laura is a Ph.D. student in literature. She completed w88 casino undergraduate and Master’s degree in literature at CSU Sacramento and a second Master’s degree in Gender, Race and Identity at UNR in 2021. She is currently studying U.S. women’s literature with an emphasis on activist movements in the 20th and 21-first centuries. w88 casino research is in feminist fiction and the politics of publishing, with a focus specifically on the gender dynamics of publishing in the 1950s. She grew up in the Bay Area in California and currently lives just on the West of the Sierras, which gives w88 casino a beautiful commute to UNR. She has two young kiddos and she owns a bicycle she shop, which keeps w88 casino quite busy when w88 casino nose is peeled out of books.

Zachary Campbell he/him

Jessica Charest she/w88 casino

w88 casino:Ph.D. in Literature with a focus on early modern British Literature

Hometown:Modesto, CA

Jessica Charest is currently a Ph.D. Literaturestudent and GTAhereat UNR but received her M.A. in Literature in 2020 from California State w88 casino, Stanislaus, during which time she largely worked as a peer writing tutor, as well as a TA. From 2020 through the summer of 2022, she worked as an editor and social media manager forPenumbra Literary and Art Journaland its online offshoot,PenumbraOnline. As an early modernist who is fascinated by all things fantastic and supernatural, she specifically likes to research aspects of early modern literature (especially Shakespeare's works) through a supernatural lens. In her rare free time, she likes to work on her plans to eventually (hopefully) write a fantasy novel of her own.

Courtney Cliften she/w88 casino

w88 casino:MFA in Poetry

From:NV

Courtney is a poet interested in connections and meaning-making. She often explores the complexity of relationships—with another person, with the self, the relationship between life and death, relationships we have to place, ideas, etc. w88 casino work attempts to examine inter-connectedness and deflate boundaries. When she’s not writing, she enjoys giving stick-n-poke tattoos, listening to live music, being in or near any and all bodies of water, or telling w88 casino friends to go look at the moon.

CB: Eli Coyle

w88 casino:MFA in Poetry

Hometown:Clovis, CA

Eli Coyle received his M.A. in English from California State University-Chico and is currently a MFA candidate at the w88 casino-Reno. His poetry and prose have recently been published or are forthcoming in: Barely South Review, California Quarterly, Camas, Caustic Frolic, Hoxie Gorge Review, New York Quarterly, The Normal School, Permafrost Magazine, Soundings East and The South Carolina Review among others.Eli is a certified yoga instructor (200RYT), bartender, musician, backpacker and advocate for higher-conscious-living.

Lauren Frick she/w88 casino

w88 casino:MA Public Engagement

Hometown:Highland, IN

Lauren is in w88 casino first year of theMAPE program. w88 casino research interests include queer ecology, a/sexuality studies, ecocriticism, and rhetorics of mutual aid. In w88 casino freetime, Lauren enjoys spending time outdoors, whether it be sitting under a comfy tree, lounging by the river, or going on a hike, hanging out with friends, finding the best tea lattes in Reno, cooking good food and learning how to rock climb.

Angelina Garcia she/w88 casino

Galen Gorelangton he/him

w88 casino:Doctoral Candidate in Rhetoric and w88 casino Studies

Hometown:Reno, NV

Galen's background is in ethical philosophy (virtue ethics). His current research takes place at the intersection of disability studies and religious rhetoric (in particular, Buddhist rhetoric). Galen is an active member of the Reno Buddhist Center and also serves as a volunteer chaplain at Renown Hospital andWashoe County Jail.His best friend is a small black cat named Kalika.

Alexander Spaulding Laws he/him

w88 casino:PhD, Literature

Hometown:New Orleans

Alexander -who, out of habit prefers to be addressed as Laws, his surname, even familiarly -has research interests in early modern dramatic works and presentism, especially in comparing tragedy and theological works to contemporary horror and speculative fiction. Both outside and inside of academics, Laws enjoys anime and manga prolifically. However, due to the nature of Laws’s visual disabilities, he is, regrettably, a very slow reader.

Phoebe Low she/w88 casino

w88 casino:MFA in Creative w88 casino, Fiction

Hometown:Iowa City, IA

Phoebe (w88 casino as P. H.) Low is a Rhysling-and Locus-nominated writer and poet with work published or forthcoming in Strange Horizons, Tor.com, Fantasy Magazine, Diabolical Plots, Abyss & Apex and Death in the Mouth: an Anthology of Original Horror from People of Color, among others. Phoebe attended Viable Paradise in 2019, participated in Pitch Wars in 2021–2022, and can be found online atph-low.comand @_lowpH on Twitter and Instagram.

Ashlee Pargett, w88 casino/they

w88 casino:MFA in Fiction

Hometown:Calaveras County, CA

Ashlee Pargett grew up in the Sierra w88 casino foothills of Calaveras County, California before settling in Fallon over ten years ago, where she currently lives with her spouse and two children. After several years working in the veterinary field, Ashlee completed her bachelor's degree in English and minor in journalism at the w88 casino, Reno. In addition to writing, she does social media book marketing, working with publishers and authors to promote and feature genre fiction. Ashlee writes primarily fantasy, science fiction and romance, and is especially interested in stories that combine speculative elements with romantic elements. Her research interests include examining and addressing the stigma around romantic fiction, and its value as a literary genre. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors, listening to audiobooks, playing RPG video games, traveling and spending time with her family and many pets—including quiet evenings by her koi pond.

Reagan Poston she/w88 casino

w88 casino:MFA in fiction

Hometown:Mantee, MS

Reagan's first book hit the shelves when she was only five. It wastranscribed by w88 casino mother--since Reagan's spelling was, and remains,very bad--told the story of a ravenous bear trying to eat campers, andcontained within its pocket-sized pages foam stickers shaped likebears and fish. These days, Reagan has traded puffy stickers forexperimentation with Southern Gothicism and weird happenings inemblematic formats. When she's not writing or teaching, she enjoyslistening to true crime podcasts, making faces at w88 casino nieces andnephew over FaceTime, and generally being a pest in group scenarios.

Emily Sawan w88 casino/they

Area ofConcentration:MFAin Creative w88 casino

Hometown:Fox Island, WA

Emily is a teacher, writer and book artist. In w88 casino own work, she likes blending the line between postmodernism and speculative fiction, and experimenting with forms and functions.

Rhett Steadman

w88 casino:MFA Creative w88 casino

Hometown:Tooele, UT

Rhett came into UNR's MFA program w88 casino about religionand familial relationships. He was working on a collection of short stories focused on the problems, difficulties, and myths surrounding the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) missionary. The last year has seen him pivot back into first literary love in fantasy. He is currently working on a fantasy middle-grade novel, tryingto remember what it was like seeing the world through the lens of whimsy.

Dana Jean Rider she/w88 casino

w88 casino:MFA in Fiction

Hometown:Saint Paul, Minnesota

Dana writes short stories that center belief and doubt, often exploring the space between the two. w88 casino work is inspired by liminality, folklore, and the world’s many curiosities. She moved to Reno in 2021 with w88 casino partner and their two cats, Snorkel and Dante.