TOYON STAFF - VOLUME 68 - Fall 2021

LEADERSHIP TEAM
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Managing Editor
Ernie Iñiguez

Assistant Managing Editor
Sarah Mouchet

Community Liaison
Noemi Maldonado

Public Relations 
Sloan Volenec


PRODUCTION TEAM
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Production Team Lead
Alannah Guevara 

Visual Art Editors and Cover Designers
Maria Lopez and Taryn Roberts

Typesetter & Book Designer
Maddy Eubanks


​SPOKEN WORD & WEB TEAM
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Team Leads & Social Media Managers
David Cruz and Kae Dennert

Archive Editor
Brittany Fuher
EDITORIAL TEAM
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Editorial Team Lead, Acquisitions Editor
Kealin Morgan

Editorial Team Lead, Authenticity Editor
Sara "Sprad" Spradley

Division Editor, Multilingual Writing and Translation
Raul Mendoza
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Division Editors, Fiction and Playwriting 
Kaitlynn Gerton and Lizzy Spears 

Division Editor, Creative Nonfiction
Jo Gibson

Division Editors, Poetry
Nick Nielsen and Ricardo Lara Nava 

Division Editor, Criticism
Sara "Sprad" Spradley 

Division Editor, Environmental Justice Award
Ethan Atil 

Alannah Guevara

Production Team Lead

Alannah Guevara is the Production Team Lead for the 68th volume of the Toyon Literary Magazine at Humboldt State University. She transferred to HSU in the Fall of 2021 after earning her Associate’s degree in English at Riverside City College where she graduated earlier that Spring as the student of distinction in the field of creative writing. While attending RCC Alannah worked as a student editor on volume 35 of MUSE Literary Journal, and had a piece of flash fiction published online in the J.J. Outré Review. A SoCal native, Alannah has plans to flee the dry, dusty desert for the rich, welcoming soil of Humboldt county where she will earn her B.A. in English and a minor in literary publishing. She hopes to pursue a career in publishing in order to amplify diverse and beautiful voices.

Andrew Robinson

Division Editor, Spoken Word and Multimedia

Andrew Robinson is a junior, and this is his first year here at Humboldt State. Having always been interested in English, he decided to take the teaching language arts route in order to share his passion with the youth. For this year’s Toyon publishing he has taken on the role of the Division Editor for the spoken word and audio texts category. He looks forward to working on his first literary magazine and believes this experience is going to be very beneficial while exploring the field of English. He can not wait to see all the amazing work that is going to go into Toyon volume 68.

Brittany Fuher

Archive Editor

Brittany Fuher is the Archive Editor and Webmaster for the 68th edition of Toyon. They live in Arcata with a cat and too many books they don’t have time to read.

David Cruz

Social Media Manager

David Cruz serves at part of the social media team for Toyon Literary Magazine at Humboldt State University. He is based out of Los Angeles where he has been born and raised. David has transferred from Los Angeles Mission College to HSU in hopes to attain his teaching credential in English. His hobbies include creating collage art, going to the disco, reading murder mystery novels, and watching re-runs of The Golden Girls.

Ernie Iñiguez

Managing Editor

Ernesto “Ernie” Iñiguez is the Managing Editor for Volume 68 of Toyon Literary Magazine. He was part of the translation team for volume 67. He is a senior at Humboldt State University and obtaining his BA in English and hopes to become an author. His hobbies include creative writing, making music, and digital art.

Ethan Atil

Division Editor, Environmental Justice

Ethan Atil is the Environmental Justice Division Editor for the 68th edition of the Toyon Literary Magazine at Humboldt State University. After completing an English Associate’s Degree at his community college back in San Bernardino county, Crafton Hills College, he transferred to HSU where he continues his education, now aiming for a Bachelor in English with a focus on Creative Writing. This magazine will be Ethan’s second experience working on a team to create a literary magazine; before transferring from Crafton, he worked on the 2020 issue of the San Canyon Review.  In his spare time, Ethan enjoys spending time with friends, which often results in hours-long discord calls with his friends back in Southern California. He is looking forward to graduating later next year so that he can reunite with long-distance family and friends, and most importantly, his dog, Feste.

Jo Gibson

Division Editor, Creative Nonfiction

Jo Gibson is Toyon Vol. 68’s Creative Nonfiction Editor and is an English major focusing on literature along with a minor in literary publishing. They’ve recently transferred to HSU from the SoCal area after getting an Associates Degree in English from a local community college. Jo’s hobbies include creating stories with friends and consuming all sorts of horror stories as well. Creative Nonfiction might not technically be a horror-filled genre, but there’s a certain joy in the absolute mundane reality of the world as well. Despite never seeking publication for their own work, Jo is excited to help others publish their work.

Kae Dennert

Social Media Manager

Kae Dennert is a Transfer English major with a specialization in Teaching the Language Arts. She enjoys all things literature with a preference for poetry and plays. She plans to become a teacher once she graduates from Humboldt, and is looking forward to all that HSU can offer her.Her hobbies include music, drawing, writing, and exercising. On top of English, she is a part of the HSU Track and Field team, and looks forward to representing HSU in all of the ways she can.

Kaitlynn Gerton

Division Editor, Fiction and Plays

Kaitlynn Gerton is one of the Fiction editors for the 68th volume of the Toyon Literary Magazine. She is currently pursuing a Bachelors of English, focusing on writing at HSU. Was an editor and website manager for The Parlay Literary Magazine in 2020, the same year she completed an Associates Degree in English. Kaitlynn writes in her free time, focusing on YA Fiction, Fantasy, and Lyrical Poetry.

Kealin Morgan

Editorial Team Lead: Acquisitions Editor

Kealin Morgan is serving as an Editorial team lead and Acquisitions Editor for Toyon Literary Magazine vol.68 of Humboldt State University. She is currently in her third year working towards a B.A. in English with a credential in Secondary Education and a minor in English Writing. She has been published in the Miracle Mile Mirror: the Official Newsletter of the Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles. Kealin is a Central Oregon native, though upon graduation she plans to stay in Humboldt county to earn her M.A. while teaching and then hopes to travel and teach in other countries. In the future, Kealin would like to self-publish her own works. She has a passion for writing short stories and reading literature and is looking forward to sharing that passion with her peers and students in the future while being able to travel and experience more of the world and what it has to offer.

Lizzy Spears

Division Editor, Fiction and Plays

Lizzy Spears is the Division Editor for Fiction and Plays for the 68th Volume of Humboldt’s Toyon Literary Magazine. At HSU, she is majoring in English Literature in the hopes of consuming a variety of literary voices, themes, and ideas. Before Humboldt, Lizzy graduated from her local community college, Crafton Hills in SoCal, with honors in English. When she doesn’t have a book in hand, Lizzy enjoys jamming to music, eating spicy food, and watching far too many movies. Above all else, she is prided by her dachshund Spade, who can’t jump upstairs and loves squeaky toys. Lizzy is excited to delve into the stories that her fellow Humboldt peers write.

Maddy Eubanks

Typesetter and Book Designer

Madeline “Maddy” Eubanks is the Typesetter and Book Designer for Toyon Literary Magazine at Humboldt State University, which they are attending as an English Major on the Writing Practices pathway. They will be receiving an AA in Creative Writing from Monterey Peninsula College after this Fall, and are working towards a Bachelor's in English from HSU. Their work has been featured on the Central Coast Writer's Club's website for placing in their short story writing contest as an Honorable Mention 2018 and the 2nd place winner 2019. They have also had a short story featured in MPC's literary magazine, Scherezade. With a strong focus on creative writing throughout their life and college career, Maddy hopes to become a published author, as well as teach creative writing.

Maria Lopez

Division Editor, Visual Art

​Cover Designer

Maria Lopez is a first-generation college student who is currently in her second year at Humboldt State University pursuing a degree in Journalism. This fall, she is serving as a Visual Art Editor and Cover Designer for the 68th edition of Toyon. In her free time, she collects vinyls and reads fictitious thriller novels. With her future Journalism degree, Maria aspires to become a reporter for a newspaper somewhere on the east coast.

Nicholas Nielsen

Division Editor, Poetry

Nicholas Nielsen is the co-editor of poetry for Toyon Vol. 68. Born in New York but raised in Colorado, he moved to Humboldt in order to pursue a master’s in English. Currently working on his BA in writing practices, this is his first semester at HSU after having completed his GE requirements at College of the Redwoods. Nicholas is in the early stages of a love affair with poetry and often finds as much to love in the works and feelings of the everyday person as from the icons of literature. He finds the metaphysical aspects of existence to be completely fascinating and believes poetry to be the purest form the written word can take as an expression of the soul. Nicholas loves the natural beauty of Humboldt and looks forward to seeing the emotional beauty of its writers.

Noemi Maldonado

Community Liaison 

Noemi Maldonado is a first generation college student majoring in English; writing studies. She is currently in her last year of college, and she is nervous about the future but is excited to explore the world. She is the Community Liaison of Toyon. Has experience ranging from editing, to facilitating, to directing but being a recruitment fellow under the supervision of Janelle Adsit has helped her overcome obstacles and complete tasks she would have otherwise lacked. Her excitement and dedication to English and Spanish has helped her cross bridges and be prepared to work with all.

Raul Mendoza

Division Editor, Multilingual Writing and Translation

My name is Raul, and I am from Merced, California. I have lived in Arcata since 2019, but I returned to Merced when the pandemic began. I am sympathetic, curious and (at times) laidback. I am also a Junior at Humboldt State, currently studying Deutsche, Spanish and English, as a Literature major. In my free time I enjoy learning about diverse cultures, learning different languages, and spending time online with friends. My expertise and background is in film, writing, and photography.

Ricardo Lara Nava

Division Editor, Poetry

Ricardo Lara Nava is a student at Humboldt State University majoring in English and Journalism, he transferred from Ventura College where he earned his Associates degree in English. Switching from being a photography major to english wasn’t a hard transition for him since he would from time to time write whether that would be poems, short stories or just casual journaling. Being an English major has taught him to appreciate the writing of others and has encouraged him to dive into any book given to him.

Sloan Volenec

Public Relations 

Sloan Volenec is a Criminology and Justice Studies Major at Humboldt State University, though he has a deep set interest in creative writing and literature as a whole. His passion for writing is founded on a lifetime love for stories as well as his varied life experience both in and out of the United States Marine Corps. He spends his time traveling the world, pursuing adventure and trying his hand at being a writer.

Sara "Sprad" Spradley

Editorial Team Lead: Authenticity Editor
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Division Editor, Criticism

Sara “Sprad” Spradley is Editorial Team Lead: Authenticity Editor and Division Editor of Literary Criticism for Toyon Literary Magazine. She is currently going on her last year as an English major with a Psychology minor at Humboldt State University. Although they are unsure of what they want to do after graduation, with their past experience as the mentor for the Humboldt State English department she wants to focus on helping others with their writing and using it as a form of expression. Going forward, she is excited to collaborate with her peers to create something brand new and interesting for the masses.

Taryn Roberts

Division Editor, Visual Art

​Cover Designer

Taryn Roberts is a senior at Humboldt State University working towards her Bachelors in English. Her hope is that one day she can become a teacher and help kids reach their full potential through reading and writing. She has three dogs (Dodger, Woody, and Cheerio) and a cat (Charla Lou). She enjoys reading, watching tv shows with her loved ones, and going on dates with her partner.

Previous Staff Members of Toyon