Welcome to Managing Editor Ashley Strosnider, and Farewell to Marianne Kunkel

Prairie Schooner has named its new managing editor, Ashley Strosnider, whose experience includes editing positions at Drunken Boat, Pithead Chapel, and the University of South Carolina’s Yemassee journal.

Ashley’s hiring came after a nationwide search led by Editor-in-Chief Kwame Dawes. She grew up in Kentucky and received an MFA in poetry from the University of South Carolina, where she was a James Dickey fellow. Her publishing experience ranges from small presses to independent publishing to literary journals, and her poetry and fiction have appeared in Fifth Wednesday, Nashville Review, Bayou, Potomac Review, Word Riot, and Smokelong Quarterly. A full list of her publications is available on her website.

As an editor, Strosnider believes firmly in Prairie Schooner’s ability to connect writers and readers. “My admiration for Prairie Schooner is longstanding and deep,” she said when asked what brought her to the journal. “The university literary journal embodies a large-scale investment in the transfer of ideas.”

Ashley’s arrival is paired with the departure of Marianne Kunkel, who finishes out her three-year period as managing editor of Prairie Schooner as she prepares for her new position as Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Publishing at Missouri Western State University. In addition to teaching literature and creative writing, Kunkel will oversee the college’s literary journal, The Mochila Review.

Marianne began work as a reader for Prairie Schooner and was hired as managing editor in November 2011 after the departure of previous editor James Engelhardt. Originally from Alabama, she holds an MFA from the University of Florida, and this spring received her PhD in poetry from UNL with a specialization in women’s and gender studies. Her chapbook, The Laughing Game, was published in 2012 by Finishing Line Press, and her work has appeared in Columbia Poetry Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Poet Lore, Rattle, and River Styx.

“Marianne will do exceptionally well where she is going,” Dawes said in farewell, “but I will miss her greatly.”