Staff

The Oakland Arts Review is staffed by undergraduate and graduate students of Oakland University, and one faculty adviser from the Department of English. Students interested in participating in the journal may register for CW 3800, a Special Topics class in Editing and Publishing taught by one of the full time faculty in Oakland’s Creative Writing Program. More information can be found by reviewing the OU Schedule of Classes. 

If you are unable to take the class, but are interested in volunteering in the future, you must be an undergraduate student at Oakland University. For more information, please fill out an OAR Volunteer Application and attach it to an email to ouartsreview@oakland.edu. All students are encouraged to apply.

Dr. Alison Powell’s second collection of poems, Boats in the Attic, was selected as the 2021 Editor’s Choice for the Poets Out Loud Prize run by Fordham University Press. Her first collection of poems, On the Desire to Levitate, was selected as the 2013 Hollis Summers Poetry Prize winner and published by Ohio University Press in March 2014. It was selected as one of “Thirty Amazing Poetry Titles for Spring 2014” by the Library Journal and was recently featured on PBS NewsHour’s Weekly Poem edition. She has been a Guest Editor for Crazyhorse and an editorial assistant at the Indiana Review. Her poetry has appeared in American Literary Review, Boston Review, Guernica, AGNI, Black Warrior Review, Crazyhorse, Antioch Review and others, and is forthcoming from Alaska Quarterly Review, Copper Nickel, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. She is Assistant Professor of Poetry at Oakland University.

Dr. Susan McCarty’s story collection, Anatomies, was published in 2015 by Aforementioned Productions. Her essays have appeared in Lithub, Ecotone, Creative Nonfiction, the Iowa Review, Utne Reader, and other publications. She has an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and a Ph.D from the University of Utah. She is an Assistant Professor of English at Oakland University.

Alayna Krenke is a junior at Oakland University, majoring in Creative Writing with a
specialization in fiction. This is her first semester at Oakland University, graduating Cum Laude from Macomb Community College and transferring after receiving her Associates Degree in Applied Arts. Alayna attended Motion Picture Institute’s acting program after high school soon to realize her love for storytelling was in the writing, rather than the acting. After she earns her Bachelors, she hopes to continue her education on the one thing she loves as much as her dog, writing. For as long her mom could remember, Alayna has always been writing so it wasn’t a big surprise when she set a goal. Her goal is to be a well-known published author with a series, most likely mythology based, under her belt so learning from her well astounded published professors sparks joy in Alayna. When Alayna isn’t writing, working, or at school, she spends her free time with family and friends, her dog Ellie, or up north at her cottage in Caseville. Alayna hopes her writing will help someone escape into a new world when needed like reading did for her.

Dawn Spaulding, Associate Editor

Dawn Spaulding left her comfortable, stable job in municipal government to enroll as a senior in the Integrative Studies program at Oakland University. After a two decades’ long educational hiatus, she will graduate in Spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree focusing on communication and women’s studies. She intends to pursue a career writing about women and gender issues- unless she decides to apply to graduate school to luxuriate in perpetual matriculation. When she’s not obsessing over coursework, Dawn soaks up as much time as possible with her smarty-pants five-year-old daughter, incredibly supportive (and handsome, he reminded me) husband, and her two high-spirited bonus daughters.

 Julia Weilant, Fiction Editor

Julia Weilant is a senior at Oakland University, majoring in Creative Writing with a Specialization in Fiction, and minoring in Mandarin Chinese and English. She is graduating this December, and will be following up her undergrad with more education at Wayne State, pursuing her masters in Library Science. Julia has been writing stories ever since she was a little girl and hopes someday to publish many fantasy novels and be a household name. When Julia isn’t writing, you can find her in a library, with her cats, or trying to recreate the set of Phantom of the Opera and not burn her house down.

Paul Lacoursiere, Fiction Editor

Paul N. Lacoursiere is an Oakland University junior who’s majoring in English and minoring in Creative Writing. He is also the Creative Writing Club’s secretary and an avid fiction writer. His hobbies include writing, reading, video games, binge watching TV shows, and listening to music. Paul is currently trying to get his short stories published in various literary journals.

Phan Huynh, Copy Editor, Art / Graphic Design Editor

Phan Huynh is a senior at Oakland University, majoring in Graphic Design. Being a visual learner and graphic designer, she enjoys picture books, magazines, webtoons and mangas. Phan believes all books are great for entertainment and/or educational purposes, regardless of medium or content. Another nontraditional form of writing she loves is fanfiction and online literature – the self-published, unrestrained nature of those allowing unlimited creativity, for better or for worse. A for-hobby English-Vietnamese fanfic translator and writer currently dipping her toes in drama translating, she takes great pride in being able to participate in sharing and making her favorite content more available across languages.

Isabelle Casas, Nonfiction / Fiction Editor and Copyeditor

Isabelle Casas is a senior at Oakland University majoring in Creative Writing with a specialization in Fiction and minoring in English. After school, she’s been toying around with the idea of becoming a freelance editor whether that involves developmental editing, copyediting, or proofreading. Eventually, she’d like to specialize in book editing as a full-time job. In her free time, she enjoys expanding her ever-growing book collection, hanging out with friends, and writing her own horrific stories. Some of her all-time favorite authors include Silva Moreno-Garcia and Stephen King. Her favorite pastime is cuddling on the couch with her puppy Pugsley and digging into a really long novel.

Annie Williams, Poetry Editor

Annie Williams is a junior majoring in Creative Writing with a focus on poetry. She is very active in Oakland University writing community, being part of the Sigma Tau Delta chapter at OU and Students Writers Group. She is also the president of the Creative Writing Club at OU. She plans to pursue a MFA in Creative Writing once she graduates from OU. Outside of writing she loves spending her time watching horror movies, playing Pokémon, reading gothic tales, and going to concerts.

Ginger Fuller, Fiction Editor and Copyeditor

Ginger Fuller is a Junior at Oakland University studying Creative Writing with a specialization in fiction. She particularly loves to write in the genres of fantasy, paranormal, and historical fiction, or aything with a little bit of magic in it. Outside of schoolwork and writing, she’s interested in tabletop roleplaying games, history podcasts, and travel. Ginger is also the President of the Student Writers Group at OU. After graduation, she plans to get involved in the book publishing industry, but like so many other projects, this is a work in progress.

Madison Waelchli, Social Media Coordinator