Meet Our GRA: Alexia Woodall
We’re continuing our staff features with our current Graduate Research Assistant for the 2025-2026 school year.
Alexia Woodall received her undergraduate degree in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is working toward an MA in English at UNL. Her specialization is in creative writing with an emphasis on creative nonfiction, fiction, and eating disorder studies. Her work has appeared in The Nebraska Poetry Society and UNL’s undergraduate literary journal Laurus.
Q&A with Alexia Woodall
What is your major?
I am a first-year MA student with a specialization in Creative Writing.
What made you want to work for Prairie Schooner?
I interned with the Schooner during the senior year of my undergraduate, and absolutely fell in love. As a creative writer and former journalist, literary journal work is the sweet spot of imagination, editing, curation, and thematic recognition. I love that I get to analyze various genres of creative work, while also being a part of the curation and editing process.
How has your work with the Schooner impacted or influenced your creative work?
Before working at the Schooner, I had a much more narrow view of what a “good” story is. Reading such a broad variety of short stories and memoirs through the archive and working with submissions, I always get this thought, “Wow, I didn’t know you could do that.” I feel it’s really helped me in finding my creative voice. I feel much more comfortable experimenting now. It’s really impacted me the most in writing nonfiction. I thought it was just a “boring” genre, but reading the essay submissions and publications has completely changed my point of view. I never knew how truly inventive the genre is. It’s sucked me in completely, and now my MA thesis is a work of creative nonfiction!
What drew you to creative writing, and what genre(s) are you currently working in?
I actually ended up in creative writing by accident. I started creative writing for an art credit in my freshman year and fell in love. I was a STEM major and thought that art wasn’t for me, as I was never really artistic growing up. However, upon taking the class, I felt like I could express thoughts, feelings, and experiences I had in a way that is both completely mine and completely not. To be a bit silly, it makes me feel like I’m thinking out of both sides of my brain. So I started writing and haven’t stopped since then. I’m currently working in the genres of fiction and creative nonfiction.
What has been your favorite piece from the Prairie Schooner archive and why?
My favorite fiction story was “A Fish for the Consul” by Yuri Shul from (Fall 1965), Vol. 39, No. 3. While it may not have the most thematic depth and symbolism, it follows traditional Yiddish storytelling traditions by staying simple, warm, and dialogue-driven. It has a modern twist with its darker nature, but returns to form with a comedic ending. It’s a light read showing how even in the worst situations, we can find comedy, and acceptance in all that happens.
What was the book/story/poem that got you into reading?
It’s difficult for me to pinpoint one specific work that got me into reading and writing. What I do know is that I didn’t quite have my passion for reading until my senior year of high school. There are a few key pieces of literature that shaped my journey. The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” By Joyce Carole Oates really changed something in me. I found it mysterious, compelling, real, and weird. At that point I didn’t realize stories could be like that; I thought they’d have to fit smoothly in a single genre, so that broke me out of genre expectations. For novels, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair I deeply loved. It was gut wrenching, horrifying, and a statement of political activism; it made me understand that writing does produce social change and reform. Lastly, for poetry, I found “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” to be incredibly poignant. These three works greatly influenced my interests in reading and what I believe reading can be.
If you could have a sandwich named after you, what would be on it?
The sandwich would be on Jewish-Rye bread, lightly toasted for warmth, but no crunch. It would have a rosemary-infused balsamic vinaigrette, brie cheese, green apple slices, unsalted Boar’s Head turkey, toasted sunflower seeds, and be served with a side of salt and vinegar chips. Bagel and Lox on pumpernickel works well, too, I suppose.