{"id":10848,"date":"2025-09-20T16:35:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T16:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/?page_id=10848"},"modified":"2025-10-24T14:50:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:50:35","slug":"staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Masthead"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Masthead<\/h1>\n

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The staff who make the Nomad<\/em> possible<\/h4>\n

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Interested In Joining?<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

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The Nomad<\/em> staff is always looking for new members. No prior experience is required\u2014just an interest in writing, editing, or graphic design! The Nomad<\/em> is an excellent way to get publication experience and create a tangible product Catamounts can put on their resume. Please send us an email if you\u2019re interested in joining or just show up to one of our weekly meetings listed on our Events page!<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Contact Info” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#f6efe7″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” max_width=”none” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” divider_weight=”40px” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/09\/museum-11.png” background_size=”contain” background_repeat=”repeat-x” min_height=”40px” border_color_all=”#000000″ border_width_top=”2px” border_width_bottom=”2px” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,1_4,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Blake Murdock (they\/them)” position=”Managing Editor” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/09\/bobby-mc-leod-a0C0gyTFbsg-unsplash-scaled-e1758384810733.jpg” image_url_last_edited=”off|desktop” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” width=”100%” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Blake is a dry-humored poet slowly attempting to take over the student media publications while double majoring in Psychology and Creative Writing at WCU. They\u2019re also Head Editor of The Gadfly<\/em>, the university\u2019s satire magazine. They write poetry that\u2019s like normal poetry except written by someone who knows too many synonyms for \u201cblood,\u201d and they intend to be around for the heat death of the universe, just for fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Jess Taylor (she\/her)” position=”Assistant Editor” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2024\/09\/sq-1.png” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” min_height=”672.5px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Jess is a writer, artist, and student, at WCU who is majoring in English. She is passionate about all types of literature and loves to delve into every possible genre presented to her. She likes to spend her time reading, writing, being outdoors, and planning for\/playing in her Dungeons and Dragons campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Gabby Beauchemin (she\/her)” position=”Head of Graphic Design” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/09\/Gabby-Masthead-Photo1x1-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” min_height=”671.9px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

If \u201cgraphic design is my passion\u201d were a person, it\u2019d be Gabby. She\u2019s a graphic design student at WCU with a love for visual art and all things typography. She\u2019s interned at a creative ad agency, rebranded a nonprofit, designed murals, and even built a typeface inspired by an abandoned house on campus. These days, she designs for WCU\u2019s Tech Commons, the university\u2019s marketing team, and The Nomad. Outside of design, you\u2019ll usually find her rafting, chasing live music, or binging How I Met Your Mother (again).<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Avery Luft (she\/her)” position=”Fiction Editor” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/09\/IMG_2638-1-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Avery is an award-winning writer, receptionist at the MHC, a copy editor for the Western Carolinian, and a creative writing tutor for the WaLC! She is a senior majoring in Creative Writing with a minor in Psychology. Among her job positions, she also makes jewelry for local art shows, a cat mom, and an avid music collector. She enjoys writing atmospheric pieces centered in southern environments, gothic fiction and memoir-driven short stories.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,1_4,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||10px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Austin Knepper (he\/him)” position=”Nonfiction Editor” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/01\/sq.png” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” min_height=”358.9px” custom_margin=”||-1px|||” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Your favorite three dogs in a trenchcoat, Austin is a writer and artist who is passionate for the obscure and indescribable. He is currently a senior at WCU majoring in English (gay) and minoring in Film Studies (even more gay), and hopes to one day direct and create his own short film. His writing primarily focuses in creative nonfiction and poetry, with a particular interest in candid and canid works.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Tori Lehning (she\/her)” position=”Poetry Editor” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/10\/Picture1.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” min_height=”593.9px” custom_margin=”||35px|||” custom_padding=”||6px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Tori is a writer, artist, and avid fan of horror and science fiction films (the campier, the better)! She is a Senior majoring in English Studies with a minor in Creative Writing. She also happens to be the Public Relations Manager of WCU\u2019s English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta<\/em>, helping build the recently added chapter from the ground up. With an interest in writing double meanings into her works and experimenting with abstract narrative formatting, it\u2019s no wonder poetry is her passion! In her free time, she likes to read romantic gothic novels, work on her analog-horror inspired Dungeons and Dragons campaign, and draw at night until she\u2019s too tired to realize that the sun has already risen. <\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Rachel Surrusco (she\/her\/they)” position=”Online Publication Editor” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/01\/sq.png” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”3a5fa9a7-7987-4564-89a5-37b87a5b6ad8″ link_text_color=”#BCA274″ header_font=”||||||||” header_3_font=”Inknut Antiqua|700|||||||” header_3_font_size=”16px” header_3_line_height=”1.5em” header_3_font_size_tablet=”15px” header_3_font_size_phone=”14px” header_3_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Staff<\/h3>\n

Corri Cunningham<\/p>\n

Emma Boling<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,1_4,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Ashleigh Bryant Phillips (she\/her)” position=”Faculty Advisor” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/10\/phillipsmasthead.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” min_height=”476.9px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Ashleigh Bryant Phillips is an Assistant Professor in English Studies at WCU. Her collection, SLEEPOVERS, won the C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize and the Towson Prize for Literature. Ashleigh’s short stories have appeared in the\u00a0<\/span>Paris Review,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>the\u00a0<\/span>Oxford American,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>and the\u00a0<\/span>Southwest Review<\/i>. She earned her MFA from UNCW.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_team_member name=”Alice Martin (she\/her)” position=”Faculty Advisor” image_url=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/392\/2025\/09\/thumbnail_Martin-Headshot-1.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1em” min_height=”278.9px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Alice Martin is an Assistant Professor of English Studies at Western Carolina University. She received her PhD in American Literature from Rutgers University. Her writing has appeared in the\u00a0<\/span>Carolina Quarterly, Appalachian Heritage,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Triangle House\u00a0Review<\/i>, and elsewhere. Her debut novel,\u00a0<\/span>Westward Women,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>is forthcoming from St. Martin’s Press in March 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MastheadThe staff who make the Nomad possibleInterested In Joining?  The Nomad staff is always looking for new members. No prior experience is required\u2014just an interest in writing, editing, or graphic design! The Nomad is an excellent way to get publication experience and create a tangible product Catamounts can put on their resume. Please send us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3409,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10848","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3409"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10848"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10985,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10848\/revisions\/10985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/nomad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}