(Left to right) Sitting: Patrick Scott Vickers; Front Row: Mary Flinn, Susan Settlemyre Williams, Lena Moses-Schmitt, Emilia Phillips, Gregory Donovan; Second Row: Grace Oxley, Dana Carlson, Christian Detisch, Randy Marshall; Third Row: Erin Gerety, Ashleigh Warren, Matthew Marinello, Trenton Reed; Fourth Row: Kaylin Kaupish, Leia Darwish, Lauren Miner, Helen Swineford, Annie Rudy, Kathryn Taylor; Fifth Row: Ross Losapio, Brad Pearce, Jessica Stevens, Doug Fuller, Meredith Spencer, Meagan J. Saunders-Spearman, Zachary Marson
(Not pictured: M. A. Keller)

Blackbird joins individuals from its publishing partners—Virginia Commonwealth University and New Virginia Review, Inc.—with members of the Richmond, Virginia, and Doha, Qatar communities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only venture at VCU that joins together international collaborators, undergraduate students, MA and MFA students, PhD students, alumni and community volunteers, and a regional non-profit.

	Lead Associate Editors
	Lena Moses-Schmitt	2012–2013
	Ross Losapio	2011–2012
	Emilia Phillips	2010–2011
	Grant White	2009–2010
	Matthew Baker	2008–2009
	Tarfia Faizullah	2007–2008
	Kate Beles	2006–2007
	Anna Journey	2005–2006
	Steven Collis	2004–2005
	Maria Hagan	2003–2004
	Tara Moyle	2002–2003
	Jamye Shelleby	2001–2002

Blackbird benefits from the contributions of student interns, as well as from MA and MFA Graduate Assistants from the VCU Department of English. Students from the interdisciplinary PhD program in Media, Art, and Text (MATX) have also worked with us over the past five years. We are grateful for everyone's contributions. Several MATX students remain with Blackbird as advising editors.

Each year, Blackbird awards the coveted lead associate editor position to a second–year VCU MFA graduate student; to qualify, the student must already have been awarded a graduate fellowship and must have worked as an intern for the journal. The lead associate staffs the Blackbird office and is at the center of all the journal’s activities, working to coordinate communication between literary and production editors, as well as between the editors and contributors.

Staff listings are by categories; individuals are listed alphabetically under each subhead.

EDITORS
Gregory Donovan, senior editor, is a faculty member in Virginia Commonwealth University’s graduate creative writing program and at present serves as the director of creative writing. Donovan is the author of Torn from the Sun (forthcoming from Red Hen Press, 2015) and Calling His Children Home (University of Missouri Press, 1993), a collection which won the Devins Award for Poetry. His poetry, essays and fiction have appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, New England Review, 42opus, diode, Stone Canoe, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Gulf Coast, Copper Nickel, and elsewhere. His work has appeared in many anthologies, including Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets of Virginia (University of Virginia Press, 2003). Among other awards for his writing, he received the Robert Penn Warren Award from New England Writers (judged by Rosanna Warren), as well as grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and fellowships from the Ucross Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Donovan has served as guest faculty for many summer conferences, including the Chautauqua Institution Writers’ Center, Bread Loaf, and the Florida Literary Arts Coalition’s Other Words Conference. He helped to establish Virginia Commonwealth University’s summer programs for writers and visual artists in Scotland and Peru.

Mary Flinn, senior editor, has been the director of New Virgina Review, Inc., since 1985. She is the co-editor, with George Garrett, of Elvis in Oz: New Stories and Poems from the Hollins Creative Writing Program (University of Virginia Press, 1992), and facilitated the editing of The Gazer Within (University of Michigan Press, 2001), a collection of essays by Larry Levis. Flinn served as the poetry and fiction editor of 64 and the editor New Virginia Review. She has participated on numerous editors’ panels, served as a judge for literature fellowships from various arts councils, and been a review panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Flinn won the inaugural Theresa Pollak Award for Words from Richmond Magazine.

M.A. Keller, senior online editor, is a technologist, web coordinator, and writing instructor for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of English. His poetry has appeared in The Southern Review, New Virginia Review, Runes, and elsewhere. Keller is the author of a chapter, “Meghan Sapnar’s ‘Car Wash’ as a New Media Sonnet,” in RAW (Reading and Writing) New Media (Hampton Press, 2010). His work centers on electronic writing, issues of materiality and multimodal writing, and how to define, support and teach online publishing and new media. He has taught advanced writing and poetry workshops, and courses in hypertext and new media. Keller earned an MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Randy Marshall, senior literary editor, edited, along with Mary Flinn, Andrew Miller and John Venable, The Gazer Within (University of Michigan Press, 2001). His poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared in Richmond Arts Magazine, New South (formerly Georgia State University Review), cream city review, and Blackbird. Marshall earned his MFA in poetry from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Lena Moses-Schmitt, lead associate editor, is a second-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work is forthcoming in THRUSH and Superstition Review. She earned a BA in English from the University of Mary Washington. Moses-Schmitt has worked as an editorial assistant at National Public Radio.

Patrick Scott Vickers, online editor, is a technologist and instructor for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of English and a PhD student in the Media, Art, and Text program. His poetry and fiction have appeared in Strange Horizons, Mid-American Review, Touchstone, and Miracle Monocle. His Flash art has appeared in failbetter.com. Vickers earned an MFA in poetry from the University of Alabama.

Susan Settlemyre Williams, book review editor and literary editor, is the author of one collection of poetry, Ashes in Midair (Many Mountains Moving Press, 2008), and one chapbook, Possession (Finishing Line Press, 2007). Her poetry has appeared in Prairie Schooner, diode, and Humanism and Anthropology, among other journals, and in various anthologies, including The Ecopoetry Anthology (Trinity University Press, 2007). She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.

ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Christian Detisch, co-lead copyeditor, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned a BA in English from Allegheny College. Detisch has worked as senior managing editor at The Allegheny Review.

Doug Fuller, associate production editor and lead audio editor, is a second-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Mead, Superstition Review, Bodega, and Monongahela Review. Fuller earned a BA in English with a minor in creative writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ross Losapio, lead associate editor emeritus, is a third-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. His poetry has appeared in Copper Nickel, The Emerson Review, Italian Americana, Milk Money, the minnesota review, Naugatuck River Review, and elsewhere. His reviews have appeared in Rattle and Verse Wisconson. He earned a BA in writing from Loyola University Maryland. Losapio will earn an MFA in May 2013.

Emilia Phillips, lead associate editor emerita and lead indexer, is the author of one collection of poetry, Signaletics (University of Akron Press, forthcoming 2013), and two chapbooks. Her poetry has appeared in AGNI, The Kenyon Review, Narrative, and elsewhere. She earned an MFA in poetry from Virginia Commonwealth University. Phillips is the prose editor at 32 Poems.

Meagan J. Saunders-Spearman, associate production editor and lead copyeditor, is a third-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work as appeared in Richmond Noir (Akashic Books, 2010). She earned a BA in English from the College of William and Mary. Saunders-Spearman will earn an MFA in May 2013.

ASSISTANT EDITORS
Ben Orth, assistant production editor for copyediting and volunteer, earned an MA in English literature from Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned a BA in fiction writing with a minor in literature from Columbia College Chicago.

Brad Pearce, assistant photo editor, is a third-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University.

INTERNS
Dana Carlson, literary intern and audio editor, is a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work has appeared in Mesh Magazine, River City Fashion Uprising, and online at CBS 6 through her work with the iPad Journalism program. She is an intern at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Writing Center. Carlson is majoring in print journalism and English, and minoring in writing.

Leia Darwish, second-semester literary intern, co-lead page builder and reading group leader, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work has appeared in Copper Nickel and Blackbird. She earned a BA in English literature and creative writing from the University of Colorado–Denver. Darwish has worked as a managing editor at Copper Nickel.

Erin Gerety, literary intern and copyeditor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work has appeared in Poictesme. She is majoring in English and minoring in religious studies.

Kaylin Kaupish, literary intern and audio editor, is a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an editor at Amendment. Kaupish is majoring in English and minoring in creative writing and Italian studies.

Matthew Marinello, literary intern and audio editor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is majoring in world studies, religion and social justice.

Grace Oxley, literary intern and copyeditor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will earn a BA in English in May 2013.

Matthew Phipps, second-semester literary intern, copyeditor, page builder and reading group leader, is a first-year MFA student in fiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned a BA in creative writing from Florida State University.

Trenton Reed, literary intern and copyeditor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. He will earn a BA in English in May 2013.

Annie Rudy, second-semester literary intern, co-lead page builder and reading group leader, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned a BA in English and art history from the University of Virginia.

Meredith Spencer, literary intern and page builder, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will earn a BA in English and a BS in psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2013.

Jessica Stevens, second-semester literary intern and page builder, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will earn a BA in English in May 2013.

Helen Swineford, second-semester literary intern and bio editor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will earn a BA in English with a minor in history in May 2013.

Ashleigh Warren, literary intern and copyeditor, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is majoring in English and minoring in British studies, German and writing.

VOLUNTEERS
Remy Elmore, photo editor and volunteer, is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is majoring in English.

Zachary Marson, copyeditor and volunteer, is a first-year MA student at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned a BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Lauren Miner, page builder and volunteer, is a first-year MFA student in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned an MA in English research from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA in English from James Madison University.

Brittney Scott, volunteer manuscript reader, earned an MFA from Hollins University. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard Review, Poet Lore, The Malahat Review, Notre Dame Review, Cold Mountain Review, and elsewhere. Her fiction is forthcoming in Quarter After Eight. She won the 2012 Joy Harjo Prize in Poetry and a 2012 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize. Scott is a book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times.

Kathryn Rebecca Taylor, photo editor and volunteer, earned a BA in English and a minor in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Andy Tran, audio editor and volunteer, earned a BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University.

ADVISING & CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
John Bresland, contributing editor for video essays, works in video, audio, and print. His audio essays have aired on public radio’s Weekend America, and his video essays can be seen at Ninth Letter and Requited. His print essays can be read in North American Review, Hotel Amerika, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing and new media at Northwestern University.

María Lourdes De Panbehchi (Lulú), advising production editor, is a PhD student in the Media, Art, and Text program at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned her BA in Spanish literature from the University of Chihuahua, Mexico, and her MA in Spanish from New Mexico State University. Her work focuses on the relationship between smart phones and simulation, nostalgia, and remediation.

& MANY THANKS
to all the editors, staff members, interns, and volunteers who made Blackbird volume 12, number 1, possible.

Thanks to Doug Fuller, for his meticulous sound editing and for leading the audio team; Meagan Saunders-Spearman and Christian Detisch for taking charge of the copyediting team; Helen Swineford for her thorough work as lead bio editor; Brad Pearce for his assistance on the photo team; and Leia Darwish and Annie Rudy for co-leading the pagebuilding team.

Thanks to Emilia Phillips for her labors toward an updated index and to Ben Orth for his scrupulous copyediting of our most challenging texts.

Thanks to Randy Marshall, Leia Darwish, Matthew Phipps, and Annie Rudy for their extensive work with submissions and for running reading groups.

Thanks to M.A. Keller for his work on designing the pages for a wide array of gallery pieces, all under tight deadline; and for his help on social media projects.

And to all others—manuscript readers, content converters, pagebuilders, audio editors, transcribers, and copyeditors everyone, our sincere appreciation.