Masthead
A note on the submission review process:
Submissions to Rock & Sling are read by undergraduate students at Whitworth University. Materials screened with a yes are passed to genre meetings, which are led by trained student assistant editors and faculty genre editors. Pieces that move through those meetings reach monthly packet meetings where they are considered by the faculty editors and trained assistant editors.
Student editors enroll in a rigorous course in content and developmental editing and beginning in fall 2020, a training in diversity, equity, and inclusion. All faculty editors have similar training, to ensure from beginning to end our screening process is fair and equitable, and all editors and readers are aware of how their biases factor into the decision-making process.
Editorial Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Thom is an associate professor in the English department at Whitworth University and teaches a variety of creative writing, literature, and publishing and editing courses. His poems have appeared in Ascent, Redivider, Smartish Pace, Sugar House Review, and elsewhere. His books include A Visitor’s Guide to North Dakota, No Secrets to Sell, and most recently, What the Sky Lacks.
The work I prefer rarely takes a single form. It is often work that blurs traditional lines, either culturally or structurally. I want the magazine to embrace complexity, to be afraid of nothing, to push our understanding of ourselves and the ways we think about literature. I like art that takes risks, but still remembers to be good art.
Nicole SheetsManaging Editor
I love when I read a poem or CNF piece and think 'what just happened?' I'm a sucker for vivid, surprising images. In our editorial meetings, we talk a lot about the 'witness' part, too. We want the language to dazzle us but also to invite us into an experience we haven't had before.
Gabriel MeekThe pieces I love the most tend to be the ones I can’t predict. Language that floors me. Characters who catch me off guard. Lines that defy expectation. I like experiments that earn their boldness.
Melinda Mullet
Senior Editor
I love creative nonfiction for its possibilities, and appreciate pieces that surprise—a one-of-a-kind voice, a fantastic use of form, a lyrical and rhythmic prose, a startlingly vivid image. More than anything, I'm looking for a good story, shaped by a particular view or experience, that gestures towards a deeper, universal human question.
Kate Vaccaro Fiction Editor
Kate is a senior English literature student with an editing and publishing minor. She has been a reader for Rock and Sling since her second semester at Whitworth and has loved every minute of it. Being in this position has ignited in her a love of literary journals alongside the already present love of books. Kate also has a passion for writing and wishes she had more time to devote to it since she is a full-time student.
I enjoy pieces that show how unique individuals respond to the situations that arise in their lives. Even if a character seems mundane and seems to be in a mundane situation, there is always the possibility for an out-of-the-ordinary reaction. Grounded and realized characters can act weird when they are faced with something new. Stories like this show how complex the human mind is and reflects how no two experiences of a thing are the same.
Poetry Editor
Elisa is a Mexican American poet and student from Spokane, Washington. She attends Whitworth University, where she studies English and Political Science, with a specialty in editing and creative writing. She feels most alive when she’s in class, swimming in the ocean, loving her people, or daydreaming about the future.
I admire poems that find a way to reinvent even the most universal human experiences. That is, poetry that surprises me with fresh perspective and gorgeous, succinct language no matter the subject at hand. I prefer poems that attempt to make sense of life as the poet knows it, that come unarmed with assumptions or bias about how the world ought to look.
For questions, send email to [email protected]
About Whitworth University
Since 1890, Whitworth has held fast to its founding mission of providing “an education of mind and heart” through rigorous intellectual inquiry guided by dedicated Christian scholars. Recognized as one of the top regional colleges and universities in the West, Whitworth University has an enrollment of 2,700 students and offers 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. In recent years, Whitworth has enjoyed record levels of student enrollment and retention, the strongest financial position in the university’s history, and increased external visibility.
Whitworth University’s 200-acre campus of red-brick buildings and tall pines offers a beautiful, inviting and secure learning environment. More than $83 million in campus improvements have been made over the past decade, including a new center for the visual arts, a landmark general academic building, three new residence halls and several outdoor athletics facilities.
In all of these endeavors, the university seeks to advance its founder’s mission of equipping students to “honor God, follow Christ and serve humanity.”