Alex Jansen
Submissions Management Team and Copy Editing Team
Alex Jansen is a Sophomore at UW-Platteville majoring in Professional Writing with a Creative Writing minor. In their free time, Alex likes to crochet, write, and make art. This is their first year working on the Spirit Lake Review.
Avrum Berg
Submissions Management Team and Copy Editing Team
Avrum Berg is a Junior at UW-Platteville majoring in English with minors in Creative Writing and Linguistics.
Bryce Aide
Social Media Team and Web Design Team
Bryce Aide is a Junior at UW-Platteville, majoring in English Literature with minors in Creative Writing and Spanish. Bryce spends his downtime reading, playing video games, and baking. This is Bryce's first year with the Spirit Lake Review team.
Julie Patzlaff
Submissions Management Team and Copy Editing Team
Julie Patzlaff is a Senior at UW-Platteville pursuing a BA in English with a Professional Writing emphasis and grew up in Appleton, WI. She enjoys playing and DMing games of Dungeons and Dragons, running the Super Smash Brothers club on campus, and competing in Magic the Gathering tournaments. This is her first year working on the Spirit Lake Review.
Hunter Sheffer
Copy Editing Team and Web Design Team
Hunter Sheffer is a Senior at UW-Platteville who is majoring in English Literature. He enjoys Reading, writing, and playing video games. He is excited to work with the web design and copy editing team for the 2025 Spirit Lake Review.
Jack Braun
Submissions and Copy Editing Manager
Jack Braun is a Senior at UW-Platteville, hailing from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. He majors in English with a minor in Creative Writing. His hobbies include creative writing, mini painting, and NO LONGER being mistaken for his identical twin brother.
Jordyn Hodgson
Social Media Team and Web Design Team
Jordyn Hodgson is a Senior at UW-Platteville from Dubuque, Iowa. She is majoring in Political Science with a minor in History and certificates in Law, Writing, and Integrated Liberal Arts. In her free time, Jordyn enjoys listening to music, hanging out with her family and friends, shopping, and reading the latest political news. This is Jordyn's first year with the Spirit Lake Review team.
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Maria Streif
Submissions Management Team and Copy Editing Team
Maria Streif is a Sophomore at UW-Platteville majoring in Biology with a Health Sciences Emphasis and plans to become a physician assistant. In her free time, she enjoys writing, painting, baking, and being outdoors!
Matty Olson
Editor-in-Chief
Matty Olson is a Senior at UW-Platteville majoring in English and Music and minoring in Creative Writing. In her free time, she enjoys writing, singing, and playing the guitar. Matty is thrilled to take on the challenge of being editor-in-chief of Spirit Lake Review!
Megan Faivre
Copy Editing Team and Launch Party Planning Team
Megan Faivre is a Junior at UW-Platteville majoring in Psychology. During her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, writing, and painting. This is Megan's second year working on Spirit Lake Review.
Michele Eaches
Submissions Management Team and Copy Editing Team
Michele Eaches is a Sophomore at UW-Platteville. She is majoring in English with a Professional Writing emphasis and minoring in Creative Writing. In her free time she enjoys reading, playing the guitar, and watching movies. This is Michele's first year working on the Spirit Lake Review, and she is very excited!
Rylie Endres
Social Media Team and Launch Party Planning Team
Rylie Endres is a Senior at UW-Platteville majoring in Mathematics. During her free time, she enjoys baking, being outdoors, and watching movies. This is Rylie's first year working on the Spirit Lake Review.
Shayla Trautsch
Submissions Management Team and Copy Editing Team
Shayla Trautsch is a Junior at UW-Platteville going for a Bachelor's degree in Professional writing. They have many creative hobbies such as writing, painting, metalwork, sculpting, and singing. They are also planning on publishing their debut novel before graduation.
Thomas Wertel
Web Design and Event Planning Manager
Thomas Wertel is a Senior at UW-Platteville who is majoring in Professional Writing with a minor in Creative Writing. In his free time, he enjoys reading, writing, biking, and playing video games. This is his first year with Spirit Lake Review, and he looks forward to being a part of the team.
Kara Candito
Faculty Advisor
Kara Candito is the author of Spectator (University of Utah Press, 2014), winner of the Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize, and Taste of Cherry (University of Nebraska Press, 2009), winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry. Her work has been published in such journals as American Poetry Review, AGNI, The Kenyon Review, and Jubilat. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, and scholarships and awards from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Ragdale Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. Kara is an associate professor of English, Creative Writing on the UW-Platteville main campus.
Kelly Dwyer
Founder
Kelly Dwyer grew up in San Pedro, California, graduated from Oberlin College and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and has spent much of the last twenty or so years in Baraboo, Wisconsin, where she lives with her husband, Louis Wenzlow; their daughter Alice attends the University of Minnesota. Kelly has published two novels and is currently finishing her third, a psychological ghost story titled Ghost Mother. She taught at the University of Platteville, Baraboo/Sauk County for fifteen years, where she co-founded Spirit Lake Review, which began as a club in the cafeteria, and then became the vibrant class it is today. Kelly is currently teaching creative writing classes to adults online through the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and working on her own writing. She is enjoying seeing the magazine flourish and loves keeping in touch with former students. www.KellyDwyerAuthor.com