Nathalie Lawrence – Founding Editor-in-Chief
Nathalie has been rejected by The New Yorker, The Sun, and multiple agents at The Knight Agency, among many others. Based in Chicago, she writes absurdist fiction and memoir. She received a slightly wrinkled diploma in English and Nonfiction Writing from George Mason University. You can find her on Twitter @NatQLawrence or her website here.
What she’s interested in seeing: Any and all genres, but here’s a random assortment of things that get her attention– speculative fiction; memoir that reads like fiction; offbeat feature articles (e.g., Atlas Obscura stories); voices that leap off the page; humor; evocative imagery; spooky atmospheres; paranormal bureaucracies; redemption; Jewish themes; romance; random-ass folklore; epistolary writing; experimental poetry; surrealism; magical realism; bold art that makes a statement.
Edith E. Hammernacker – Submissions Editor
Edith E. Hammernacker (not her real name) is an archeologist (not her real profession) who has been self-rejected for many years.
What she’s interested in seeing: She devours writing of all flavors and genres but has a particular fondness for high fantasy.
Taylor Franson Thiel – Poetry Editor
Taylor takes rejection real personal and has a list of places that have rejected her taped up on her wall for motivation. She got her undergraduate degree in journalism and hates journalism as much as the rest of you, which is why she’s now getting a Master’s in creative writing because if you’re going to spend money on school it should at least be something fun.
What she’s interested in seeing: She’s into experimental form and free verse but holds no grudges against traditional forms, if that’s your thing. But really, what she wants is poetry that makes her jaw drop. Images she never imagined before. Metaphors much deeper than surface level. Anything the opposite of cliche. Please, nothing cliche. She is sick of reading about dark and stormy nights and women being described as “bottle-shaped.” Give her all the fun, the weird, the eyebrow-raising. She wants to read something and have to take a second to sit back because it’s so new and so refreshing that she’s mad she didn’t think of it first.
Ashley Mina – Fiction Reader
Ashley is no stranger to rejection; in fact, she wishes it would stop coming over so frequently and asking to borrow every ounce of happiness she has. Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, she has a diploma in Motion Picture Arts but is currently majoring in Creative Writing while working on (daydreaming about) the novel she’s been penning for years.
What she’s interested in seeing: Ashley will read anything she can get her hands on—you can’t stop her. She is particularly infatuated with fantasy, horror, and the never-ending tragedies of a life well lived, but if you really want to impress her, give her something she is terrified of but can’t pull her eyes away from. A disaster that gets worse the longer she thinks about it. She finds it neat.
Previous Editors and Readers
T.L. Thompson – Founding Editor, 2021 Poetry and Fiction Editor
A recovering perfectionist with imposter syndrome, T. L. has self-rejected his own writing for many years; he’s also been rejected by HAD, The Capilano Review, and Hopewell Publications. A DMV native, he loves all things speculative fiction, exploring his ideas of blackness and queerness through the lens of sci-fi and fantasy writing. You can find him on Instagram @TLThompsonBooks and check out his website here.
M Sweeney – Founding Editor, 2021 Art and Fiction Editor
M was rejected once and never tried again. When given the option to go big or go home, she opts to go home and sleep. She is currently working on her first novel; it’s part elegy to her youth and part explorative narrative of the life she could have lived if she had stayed in her tiny hometown. Spoiler alert, it would have sucked. Please don’t find her anywhere.
Kat Turner – 2021 Guest Reader
Kat Turner is an author and 2021 guest reader for Unfortunately,. Find out more about her here!
David Obuchowski – April 2022 Guest Editor
David Obuchowski is a prolific writer of essays and fiction whose work occasionally gets accepted for publication, but more frequently gets rejected. He’s been nominated for three Pushcart Prizes, two of which yielded not so much as a special mention. He’s expecting to hear about how the Pushcart people have passed on his work a third time later this year. And while a recent short story of his was nominated for inclusion in the Best American Short Story anthology, it likely won’t get any further than that. Against all odds, his first children’s book, a collaboration with Sarah Pedry (his wife), will be published in 2023 by Minedition (Astra Publishing House). You can find him on Twitter @DavidOfromNJ, where he spends most of his time asking for advice on how to keep his French car running and documenting his failures to successfully complete simple tasks like changing the oil. His uncreatively designed website can be found at the utterly predictable URL of DavidObuchowski.com. David lives and writes and suffers from occasional bouts of imposter syndrome in Colorado.
