Formerly known as Cheat River Review, Hellbender Magazine is a literary journal run by a hardworking team of volunteer graduate students in the MFA, MA, and MA-PWE programs in the English Department at West Virginia University.
We publish biannual digital issues featuring works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. We especially encourage submissions from folks who are not afraid to share their unique perspectives and stories of resilience with the world.
Keep an eye on our submissions page as well as our Submittable for periodic updates as well as additional details about upcoming issues and submission guidelines. For any and all questions, please feel free to shoot us an email at hellbendermag@gmail.com!
Our Story
Dozens of academic programs at West Virginia University (WVU) faced the chopping block as plans for Phase 2 of “Academic Transformation” at the state’s R1 flagship university were revealed over the summer of 2023. Among many programs at risk of discontinuation was the MFA in Creative Writing program, in which many of Hellbender Magazine‘s staff members at the time were enrolled.
Students and faculty across the disciplines joined together to fight back. Our voices received widespread, national recognition from reputable news outlets, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. After weeks of university-wide protest, Brian Ballentine (English Department Chair) and Mark Brazaitis (Creative Writing Program Director) successfully appealed the university’s recommendation to discontinue the Creative Writing MFA program, but many other programs across the university weren’t as fortunate.
Amidst the chaos, our program’s graduate-level literary magazine (formerly known as Cheat River Review) had fallen to the wayside—lost to the ether of expired web addresses and unpublished issues, long forgotten by the overworked and underpaid grad students who maintained it. It was decidedly time for a change that we could control.
The challenges we overcame in 2023 inspired us to rebrand and rename our literary magazine: Hellbender. We hoped this change would not only demonstrate our collective strength but would also commemorate the shared experience of overcoming our program’s potential extinction for years to come. We came to one simple, unanimous conclusion: “Writers don’t forget.” And in this spirit, we collectively acknowledged that a transformation of our own making was underfoot.
To honor the muddy water that our MFA program crawled out of, and to represent the metamorphosis we have undergone as WVU students and writers, we wanted to create a fresh start for our graduate literary magazine. Our struggles and perseverance also inspired our choice of mascot: the hellbender salamander. These not-so-little creatures undergo a metamorphosis early in life, allowing them to breathe both in and out of water. Despite recent declines in many populations, you can still find hellbender salamanders all across the Appalachian region and in various conservatories throughout the country.
Like WVU’s Creative Writing MFA program, the hellbender salamander is a symbol of resilience. And now, it’s a symbol of our lit mag and all of the amazing writers and artists who contribute to it.
Sincerely,
The Hellbender Team (Fall 2023)
Our Team
Co-Editors in Chief
As of Fall 2024, our co-editors in chief are Kelly Ward and Elise Zukowski.
Co-Editor in Chief Kelly Ward (she/her) is an Appalachian writer and a fiction candidate in West Virginia University’s MFA program. Her work has appeared in Button Eye Review and with Appalachia Book Company. She enjoys exploring speculative themes set in the central Appalachia region, and is quite lucky at finding four-leaf clovers.
Co-Editor in Chief and Website Co-Manager Elise Zukowski (she/her) is a writer from Metro Detroit and current MFA candidate in Fiction. Her stories often center around themes of death, complicated families, and the immortality of art. When not working, she spends a lot of time outdoors and with her cats.
Editors and Managers
As of Fall 2024, our team of editors and managers (website and social media) consists of Peter Krch, Oliver Brown, Gia Joyce, Camille Gazoul, Penny Lane, Sam Stebbins, Emily Noe.
Art Editor and Website Co-Manager Peter Krch (he/him) is an Appalachian native student in the Professional Writing & Editing MA program at WVU. He is graduating in December 2024 and hopes to pursue a career in publishing. Prior to grad school, he wrote for Morgantown Magazine, West Virginia Living, and other local lifestyle magazines.
Creative Nonfiction Editor Oliver Brown (he/him) is an Oregonian studying creative non-fiction.
Creative Nonfiction and Fiction Editor Gia Joyce (she/her) is a master’s student studying literature. She explores the analogous relationship between post-modern literature, the economy, and culture.
Fiction Editor Camille Gazoul (she/her) is an MFA candidate in Fiction. Her work tends toward the whimsical and surreal and often explores the dangerous advances of technology in familiar but imagined worlds. Originally hailing from the Detroit area by way of Austin, she enjoys live music, tacos, and exploring her new home in West Virginia.
Poetry Editor and Social Media Manager Penny Lane (she/her) is a poet currently pursuing her MFA in Poetry. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno. She was the recipient of UNR’s DQ Award for Poetry in 2018 and a finalist in 2022’s Desert Pavilion Chapbook Series. She is a Northern Nevada native and is excited to explore a new wild landscape. She currently lives in a “cozy” 1-bedroom apartment with her pitbull Kissin’ Kate and all her ghosts.
Poetry Editor and Social Media Manager Sam Stebbins (she/her) is a poet from Michigan. Her work can be found in HAD, Anti-Heroin Chic, and elsewhere. She is particularly interested in prose poems, micros, hybrid genres, and the apocalypse.
Social Media Manager and Poetry Reader Emily Noe (she/they) is a queer poet from central Appalachia. Their identity greatly shapes their creative work of all mediums. They spend the majority of their time creating “art” through modes such as writing, fiber, and painting in the company of their senior dog, Macy.
Readers
As of Fall 2024, our team of readers consists of Jane-Marie Auret, Colleen Benison, Andy Kerstetter, Kanza Mirza, Andrea Starr, Marvellous Taiwo, Nathan Johnson, and Adwoa Tiwaah Ofori Atakorah.
Creative Nonfiction Reader Jane-Marie Auret (she/her) focuses on nonfiction, realistic fiction, and satire. She has an infant daughter and a wonderful family.
Creative Nonfiction and Fiction Reader Colleen Benison (she/they) is a first-year student in the Professional Writing and Editing M.A. program at WVU. She served as an editor for WVU’s undergraduate literary journal, Calliope. A local of Morgantown, WV, they can be found reading literary fiction, listening to history podcasts, and exploring Appalachia’s natural beauty.
Creative Nonfiction and Poetry Reader Andy Kerstetter
Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry Reader Kanza Mirza
Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry Reader Andrea Starr
Creative Nonfiction and Fiction Reader Marvellous Taiwo (he/him) is a first-year graduate student in the literature program at West Virginia University. His areas of interest encompass the intersection of literature, culture, and the environment. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to music and exploring the outdoors.
Fiction and Poetry Reader Nathan Johnson (they/them) is an MFA student at WVU focusing on fiction. They have lived in Texas, Utah, and Norway and often find inspiration from the folklore and urban myths they heard in those areas to create short stories deeply connected to their settings. They currently reside in Morgantown and spend a lot of their free time reading local ghost stories and legends.
Fiction Reader Adwoa Tiwaah Ofori Atakorah
“Our Story” written by Co-Editors in Chief, Kelly Ward and Elise Zukowski, and edited by Website Co-Manager, Peter Krch.
Page last updated: November 11, 2024.
Hellbender Magazine 