Lucia Arrigo

Lucia is a Psychology student who will be graduating from Middlesex Community College in the Spring of 2018. Lucia was born in Massachusetts and has lived there her whole life. Along with writing and reading, other hobbies include singing, acting, and watching crime shows. This will be her first time being published, which is something that she always hoped to do as a child. Thank you to Professor Carlsen for the opportunity to make that dream a reality!

Amanda Bordenca

Amanda is 28 years old and is currently finishing an Associate’s Degree in Information Technology Cybersecurity here at Middlesex Community College.  Her hobbies and interests include drawing, reading, outdoor activities, and anything related to technology.  She found out about the Dead River Review through postings around the school and a friend working with the Dead River Review.

Drew Breton

Drew is currently a student of Middlesex Community College. He is majoring in Liberal Arts and Sciences and is looking to pursue a degree in both Political Science and History while also working towards a minor in Pre-Law. He intends to continue on to law school post-bachelor. His passions lie in the study of political strategy and the usefulness of applying historical fact to modern situations in order to more fully understand current events and how they affect future generations. In addition to his busy schedule he always maintains time to run a blog at https://www.minds.com/Objectionable_Objections.

Gavan D’ Auria

Gavan is a student at Middlesex Community College working towards a major in Studio Art. He is striving to improve his artistic and writing skills while creating story-driven comics with an emphasis on poetry. His work can be found on Instagram @Tranquil_Rain.

Theadore Domino

Theadore is a music producer for the group Band By Right [bandbyright.bandcamp.com]. Inspired by a music study, “Threads” was created as a visual representation of rhythmic audio.

Alexandria Drouin

Alexandria was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts. She is a Studio Art and Liberal Studies major planning to complete her degree and pursue art college. Alexandria wants to major in sculpture and illustration with hopes to write and illustrate her own children’s books and poetry. She is a self-published author of “Bare and Restless,” and has received scholarships for writing and art. Alexandria is an active member of the art community and has participated in several mural projects of The Revolving Museum and 119 Gallery. She has submitted her poetry to the Dead River Review to expand her writing credibility and exercise a unique and rare talent.

Keegan Eller

Keegan is a 19-year-old Liberal Arts and Sciences student at Middlesex Community College who has always had a passion for writing and literature in general. She was born in Hickory, North Carolina, and has lived in Pennsylvania and Mexico. She now currently resides in Massachusetts. Although she may be found constantly writing, she has never before shared her work with others outside of her close friend group. Therefore, this is her first publication. She was inspired to submit work at the Dead River Review by the members and their encouragement and wished to support such an incredible idea by submitting some work of her own. Keegan is very excited to be a part of the Spring 2017 issue and looks forward to reading the work of others.

Teri-ann Fico

Teri-ann was born in Malden, Massachusetts, and studies English. She is unpublished elsewhere and was encouraged to submit to Dead River Review by her Creative Writing professor.

A.T. Halaby

A.T. was born in Massachusetts. They’re studying linguistics and Arabic. They’ve had their work published in Maps For Teeth and Middlesex Community College’s student-run zine Middleground. Their submission to Dead River Review means they believe deeply in the work being done at community colleges and the people who put their energy into keeping their voices heard.

Charlotte Koch

Charlotte is an alumna of Middlesex Community College now majoring in Sociology at UMass Lowell. She grew up in Concord, MA, and still lives there much to the chagrin of her maternal landlord. Charlotte has been published in various issues of Middleground, a student-run zine at Middlesex Community College, but mostly uses poetry as a coping mechanism for her perpetual existential dread. She also really likes cats and wearing leggings as pants.

Lubica Kotevski

Lubica is studying psychology and law with the hopes of being a forensic psychologist. Lubica loves to read in her spare time–usually about psych or law! She also enjoys experiencing new things and being outdoors. She heard about Dead River Review through one of her professors.

Tom Laughlin

Tom is a professor at Middlesex Community College where he teaches Creative Writing, Literature, and Composition courses. He was a founding editor of Vortext, a literary journal of Massasoit Community College, and a staff reader for ten years at Ploughshares.  His poetry has appeared in Green Mountains Review, Ibbetson Street, North Essex Review, Howth Castle, Middlesex Magazine, and other small journals and magazines.

Boyd Mason

Boyd is currently enrolled in the excellent Creative Writing program at Middlesex Community College.  Boyd’s greatest influence is Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone, in regard to writing. Boyd hopes you enjoyed this yarn.

Teneisha Mytil

Teneisha was born in the city of Orange, New Jersey. After a few moves through various states, she finally settled in Burlington, Massachusetts. In order to fulfill a career decision of writing short stories, poetry, and eventually a full-on novel, she chose Creative Writing as her major. Submitting to Dead River Review will not only be marked as the first time she has ever published her work in a publication, but also her first time showcasing her work in general to a mass audience. With best regards and a determined mind, Teneisha will use Dead River Review as a stepping stone to further her dreams and get her name out there.

Josh Nieman

Josh is a 26-year-old English Literature/Creative Writing student at Middlesex Community College. He was born and raised in Townsend, Massachusetts, but now resides in Ayer. “Breathe” is his first piece of work that has been published, but he hopes to have many more soon. Josh is currently working on other projects to submit, and he wants to get his work out there in hopes to have others view and enjoy it.

Ashley Puddester

Ashley is a first year Biotechnology major at Middlesex Community College and a twentieth year recluse. Her pet peeve is being spoken over; in lieu of sacrificing thought entirely, she developed an affinity for writing. While her ideas and ambitions have been rendered haunting and void, she still hopes one day to speak openly again without wasting her breath. Her superpower is invisibility, but she’d much rather grow wings and fly.

Racheal Rodman

Racheal was born in Burlington, Massachusetts. She studied English with a concentration in Literature at Middlesex Community College. She has always had an intense fervor and appreciation for the written word, and she greatly enjoys writing poetry or articles on topics of interest to her – particularly radical feminism. She does not have any past publications but is delighted to have her work published in the Dead River Review! Racheal submitted her poem to Dead River Review because she was frustrated with having her relationship with a female partner defined for her and being labeled as something that obscured or erased the truth of her experience. She wanted to get this frustration out in a defiant poem, but the poem actually become more of a positive celebration of lesbian identity.

Connor Seavey

Connor is a college student born and raised in Massachusetts with an Associate’s Degree in Communications. Working toward a Bachelor’s Degree at UMass Lowell after graduating from Middlesex Community College, Connor continues to enjoy creative writing and reading others’ work. Still inspired by his time in Professor Laughlin’s Creative Writing course, this marks his first submission to Dead River Review and his first published creative work. He hopes you enjoy it.

Dana Shahar

Dana is originally from Israel and has been writing short fiction and poetry in both Hebrew and English since she was about five years old. She loves gardening, traveling, and keeping up with her food blog. You can usually find her exploring a new hiking trail with her dog, cooking up a new recipe, or tucked up with a book. She is currently studying Elementary Education at Middlesex Community College and strives to become a kindergarten teacher.  She is excited to share her work through the Dead River Review and be part of its literary community.

Andre Tufenkian

Andre is a painter/photographer from the suburbs of Boston. Over the course of the past year, he has traveled to Florida where he was able to capture this photo at a abandoned school house.

Madison Umbrello

Madison is a 19-year-old Graphic Design major currently working for an advertising agency in Boston. When she’s not busy drinking copious amounts of coffee, she enjoys working with pencil, charcoal, and gouache paint. Both her design work and fine art have been displayed at Middlesex Community College, either on-campus or in the yearly art exhibition. Madison’s plans for the future include attending art school in the autumn to complete her Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design and to continue to develop her art technique and style.

Amy Xayarath

Amy is 26 years old and born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts.  She has been working full time for eight years at BAESystems and attending Middlesex Community College part time, majoring in Computer Forensics. She picked up photography as a hobby several years ago, but it’s an on and off thing. When the weather is nice, she spends her days on the water bass fishing with her brother Sam.