Teamwork is at the core of COR. Whether it be Allison at the helm or any one of our support staff, we work hard to curate an experience that ranks us among the top 35 literary journals in the U.S., according to BookFox. We're pleased to get to know you further BIOS     Allison Joseph (Editor) lives in Carbondale, Illinois, where she directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Southern Illinois University. Born in London, England, to parents of Caribbean heritage, Allison Joseph grew up in Toronto, Canada, and the Bronx, New York. A graduate of Kenyon College and Indiana University, she serves as editor of Crab Orchard Review, the publisher of No Chair Press, and the director of Writers In Common, a writing conference for writers of all ages and experience levels. In 2014, she was awarded a Doctor of Letters honorary degree from her undergraduate alma mater, Kenyon College.      Her books and chapbooks include What Keeps Us Here (Ampersand Press), Soul Train (Carnegie Mellon University Press), In Every Seam (University of Pittsburgh Press), Worldly Pleasures (Word Tech Communications), Imitation of Life (Carnegie Mellon UP), Voice: Poems (Mayapple Press), My Father’s Kites (Steel Toe Books), Trace Particles (Backbone Press), Little Epiphanies (NightBallet Press), Mercurial (Mayapple Press), Mortal Rewards (White Violet Press), Multitudes (Word Poetry), The Purpose of Hands (Glass Lyre Press), Double Identity (Singing Bone Press), Corporal Muse (Sibling Rivalry Press), and What Once You Loved (Barefoot Muse Press). She has also published fiction and nonfiction, and travels frequently to read from her work at various festivals, conferences, and universities.      Her full-length book of poetry, Confessions of a Barefaced Woman, was published by Red Hen Press in 2018. It was chosen as the Gold/First Place Winner in the poetry category of the 2019 Feathered Quill Book Awards and a 2019 nominee in the poetry category of the NAACP Image Awards. It was also a 2019 finalist for both the Montaigne Medal and the Da Vinci Eye Book Award, sponsored by the Eric Hoffer Book Awards. Her latest book of poetry, Dwelling, also published by Red Hen Press, launched in August 2025. Keith Hoerner, Managing Editor      A PhD student in literature, Keith Hoerner (he/him/his) is founding editor of The Dribble Drabble Review, a Webby Award recognized e-zine/print anthology series and winner of Best Microfiction/Best Small Fictions for four of its five years in publication. He is also the managing editor of Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture and the author of two books: The Day the Sky Broke Open – A Memoir (MFA Thesis/Impact Award Winner) and Balancing on the Sharp Edges of Crescent Moons – A Collection (Adelaide Books, New York/Lisbon). His prose/poetry has been featured in 175+ lit mags and anthologies across five continents, including decomP, Litro, and Stand (the UK's oldest literary magazine). Sarah Nivala, Fiction Editor Sarah Nivala is a non-binary writer and editor from Pennsylvania. In the past, they worked as a cheesemonger, a dog walker, and a boookseller. They attended Sarah Lawrence College where they studied poetry and film history. Currently, they are pursuing their MFA in Fiction from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Libby Gerdes, Poetry Intern Libby Gerdes (she/her) is a second year MFA student in poetry. She also writes fiction, nonfiction, and journalism and serves as a part-time editor, reporter, and photographer for the regional newspaper The Southern Illinoisan. She has publications in poetry and nonfiction in The Quarter(ly) Review, Military Experience and the Arts and more. Kassidy Jordan, Poetry Intern Kassidy Jordan (she/her) is second year MFA candidate in poetry and a graduate assistant at SIUC. Originally from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, her poetry mainly focuses on Appalachia, and she also enjoys writing nonfiction. Her poetry has been published in Delta Poetry Review, and she was recently awarded 2nd place in the Long Poetry category in the WV Writers 2025 contest. Kaylee Salazar, Poetry Intern Kaylee Salazar (she/her) was born and raised in northern New Jersey but is now pursuing a creative writing MFA from Southern Illinois University. She graduated with a BA in English from the University of New Haven in Connecticut. Alongside her creative writing, she has also worked as a peer tutor, writing consultant, English instructor, and served as the executive editor for UNH’s Horseshoe Magazine.