WHO WE ARE
✨
WHO WE ARE ✨
MISSION
It is no secret that the literary canon and literary journals are largely comprised of heteronormative, patriarchal, cisgender, able-bodied white men.
So to Speak seeks work by writers, poets, and artists who want to challenge and change the identity of the “canonical” writer.
Our mission is to provide a digital and print platform to amplify the voices of BIPOC, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, nonbinary people, women, neurodivergent people, people of all different religions or none, migrants, refugees & immigrants (regardless of citizenship), and incarcerated writers.
HISTORY
So to Speak was founded as a feminist journal in 1993 by an editorial collective of MFA candidates at George Mason University. As our journal has evolved over the years, so has our outlook on feminism.
We believe in an intersectional feminist outlook that includes, advocates for, and amplifies the perspectives & experiences of marginalized individuals.
EDITORS
SHAY MCINTOSH (she/her)
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Shay McIntosh writes about dyke drama. She's lived in the big city, the woods of Western Mass, and the only desert in Europe. She has been published in the Rose Books Reader and Slate Magazine, and was a Writer-in-Residence at Sundress Academy for the Arts. Besides being an acrobat, a babysitter, and a tin whistler, she is a first-year MFA candidate in fiction at George Mason University.
ELLA STOTT (she/her)
MANAGING EDITOR
Ella (she/her) is a first-year creative nonfiction MFA student from Utah. Her writing centers around themes of religious deconstruction, the environment, and womanhood and has appeared in venues such as The Palouse Review, Sink Hollow, and the Sigma Tau Delta international journal, Rectangle, where her piece won the Elizabeth Holtze Prize for Best Personal Essay. In her free time, Ella can be found in dance class, exploring the city, or purchasing her daily smoothie.
BEX PACHL (they/she)
NONFICTION EDITOR
Bex Pachl is a third-year MFA candidate in Creative Nonfiction at George Mason University. Their work has recently appeared in Quarterly West (2025 Prose Contest finalist), The Ekphrastic Review, and Permafrost Magazine. You can find them on Instagram at @books4bex.
Kian (کیان) is a queer immigrant writer and translator from Iran. Their work centers the relationship between alienation and connection and can be found published or forthcoming in Oroboro, Jarnal, MQR Mixtape, and elsewhere. At So to Speak, they look for poetry that pushes language in unexpected ways. In their free time they enjoy staring at the wall in a haunted fashion.
KIAN P. SABTI (they/them)
POETRY EDITOR
FICTION EDITOR
ERIN HOSKINS (she/her)
Erin is a fiction MFA student at GMU and the publicity director for Stillhouse Press. She received her B.A. from Oregon State University, where she served as editor-in-chief of Prism, the university's premier art and literary journal. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Fiction Attic Press, Oxford Magazine, M E N A C E, and elsewhere. Erin has two dog children and a human husband.
SERENA GRANT (she/her)
BLOG & ART EDITOR
Serena (she/her) is in her second at George Mason University’s MFA program in Fiction. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, she graduated from GMU in 2025 with her BFA in Creative Writing. Her writing is often speculative, exploring topics like womanhood, relationships, and environmental issues. Her fiction work has appeared in The Diamond Gazette, and her poetry has been featured in Volition.
GEMMALEE DYERMOK (she/her)
Gemmalee DyerMok is a second-year MFA creative nonfiction student. She has lived in Arizona, Maryland, Texas, Minnesota, Italy, and now Virginia, and enjoys gaining new perspectives in each place she lives. Besides reading, she also enjoys playing the violin, figure skating, and trying new cafes and restaurants. Gemmalee is also very passionate about writing that is diverse and explores multicultural backgrounds, personal memoir, and autofiction.
ASSISTANT NONFICTION EDITOR
RILEY JOHNSTON (she/her)
ASSISTANT POETRY EDITOR
Riley Johnston is a poet and fiction writer from Houston, Texas. Her work appears in Thimble Lit Mag and Screen Door Review. She is a first year MFA student at George Mason University in Virginia. When she's not reading, writing, or working, Riley enjoys crafting and spending time with her three cats.
DREW HUNTER (she/her)
ASSISTANT FICTION EDITOR
Drew Hunter (she/they) earned their Creative Writing BFA with a concentration in Fiction and a minor in ASL from George Mason University. She is now a first-year fiction student and graduate professional assistant in Mason's MFA . You can usually find her reading when she should be writing and writing when she should be reading.
Readers
Summer 2026 issue: Chris Baah, Jessika Bouvier, Noa Cohen, Kale Connerty, Gemmalee DyerMok, Ian Garrabrant, Alexander Holcomb, Nikki Kazimova, Kristen Zory King, Lee Krauss, Elena Macdonald, Kelsey Shelton, & Rowan Stubblebine
Previous Editors:
Judith Adkins, Nolde Alexius, Amy Amoroso, Renee Angle, Jacquee Austin, Danielle Badra, Sarah Batcheller, Jeanine Batchelor, Kim Bealle, Paula Beltrán, Amanda Bender, Holly Bergman, Miriam Beyene, Sarah Bloom, Anne Bloomsburg, Jamy Bond, Melanie Bonsall, Jessika Bouvier, Benjamin…