Managing Editors

Rinn Kress

Rinn Kress (she/her) is an artist and storyteller from Buffalo, NY, and one of the managing editors for Italics Mine. She is a fiction writer with a focus on the everyday, and her work often centers the psychological and interpersonal. When she’s not writing, which is admittedly most the of the time, she enjoys watching video essays, listening to music, and drawing the characters from her stories.

Zoey Hawkins

Zoey Hawkins (she/her) is a writer and filmmaker from Los Angeles, California. She writes both poetry and fiction and is greatly inspired by writers like Toni Morrison, Jericho Brown, and Sally Rooney. She is thrilled to be working on the magazine as a managing editor this year and hopes you enjoy the experience of engaging with Italics Mine.

Editors

Ruby Hentoff

Ruby Hentoff (she/her) is a junior dual major in Creative Writing and Playwriting/ Screenwriting. She is a multi-disciplinary artist who writes fiction, fantasy, plays, screenplays, songs, and musicals, often exploring themes of family, interpersonal relationships, and morality. When she’s not writing, you can find her singing, acting, nerding out over musicals, or sprinting around campus on three iced coffees.

Akiyah Smith

Akiyah Smith (she/her) is a Junior Creative Writing major who enjoys writing both poetry and fiction. She enjoys any piece of media surrounding Black and queer characters. When she’s not reading or writing you can find her logging a movie on Letterboxd or playing Sudoku. One of her favorite authors is Bell Hooks.

Grace Linnan

Grace Linnan is a creative writing major at SUNY Purchase, with a focus on poetry. Her poetry explores themes of disruption, power dynamics, and cycles found in family. When Grace isn’t writing, she can be found singing at karaoke and open mics, or working on New York Times puzzles.

Hyde Greene

Hyde Greene (he/it) is a writer, illustrator, and performance artist from throughout New York
state. A storyteller at heart, he draws on both lived experiences and the hypothetical to write
anything from comedy to horror fiction. Hyde is fascinated by the macabre, which bleeds
through into every story he tells.

Isabel Taylor

Isabel Taylor (she/her) is a writer from Westchester, NY. She writes fantasy and science fiction and draws inspiration from writers like Carson McCullers, Ursula Le Guin, and George R.R. Martin. She is the treasurer of the Literature Society and the president of the Outdoors Club. If she’s not writing, you can find her listening to The Cure, drawing her favorite characters, or looking at medieval dress patterns.

Summer Tyler

Summer Tyler (she/her) is a junior creative writing major from Warwick, NY. She primarily writes poetry. She is the Editor-in-Chief of The Purchase Phoenix Newspaper, and was previously the assistant editor of the student-run magazine Sub Mag. Her favorite poets are Richard Siken and Maggie Millner.

Sheila Verkaik

Sheila Verkaik (she/they/he) is a fourth year student of modern history and creative writing at SUNY Purchase. Their work is often inspired by their New York City upbringing, the world around them, and the recent past. Recently, Sheila has been taking an interest in her Dutch heritage and their dual citizenship and has endeavored to start learning Dutch. Once he graduates, he hopes to continue his education in the Netherlands.

Izzy Paduani

Izzy Paduani (she/they) is a Creative Writing student from Lunenburg, Massachusetts, concentrated on fiction. Perpetually telling a story one way or another, her writing can most often be found exploring adventurous characters and whimsical fantasy worlds, with the occasional romantic subplot. When they aren’t overanalyzing their favorite characters—her own or others—they can usually be found distracted by music, YouTube rabbit holes, or playing choice-based games with friends.

Izzy Silverman

Izzy Silverman is a creative writing senior from Long Island, New York. In addition to writing, they study legal issues and society, Spanish, and screenwriting. Outside of class you can find them consuming content at 1.5 to 2.5 times speed. Izzy recommends you read The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and Italics Mine Issue 22.

Jason Gray

Jason (he/him) is a senior Creative Writing and Anthropology major from Manhattan. He is in the Fiction concentration but identifies as a lifelong poet.

Kyle Grindstaff

Kyle Grindstaff (he/him) is a fantasy writer and game designer from Westchester, NY. He loves stories with epic proportions and stakes that bring out questions of self within the characters. In his free time, his favorite hobby is running tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons and Dragons. He’s also in a band called Fridays for Jon where they perform midwest emo covers with slightly above mediocre skill once per year only.

Nicole Staehlin

Nicole Staehlin is a double major in Creative Writing and Sculpture who primarily writes fiction and poetry.

Remi Bryan

Remi Bryan is from Birmingham, Alabama and is a senior at SUNY Purchase for Creative Writing, with a minor in Screenwriting. Remi works primarily in dramatic writing, switching points of view, and exploration of LGBTQ+ topics. Remi can usually be found watching movies, reading, and making playlists for their characters on Spotify. Remi also is the Assistant to the Creative Writing department for senior year.