Meet the 2018-19 Staff

Volume 65 - Fall 2018 Staff

Managing Editor: Anthony Alonzo-Pereira
Assistant Managing Editor: Erika Andrews
Secretary: Salina Jimenez
Treasurer: Destiny Wright

Outreach Team Lead: Madeline Bauman
Social Media Managers: Madeline Bauman and Kayla Stark
Literary and Artist Community Liaison: Asha Galindo

Editorial Team Lead / Acquisitions Editors: Ashley Alvarez and Mireille Roman
Division Editors, Critical Analysis: Gloria Pearlman-Warren and Zach Weaver
Division Editors, Creative Nonfiction: Liliana Del Rio and Jasmine Nazario
Division Editors, Fiction/Playwriting: Drew Ahlberg and Joel Segura
Division Editors, Poetry: Theressa Lopez and Heather Rumsey

Spoken Word / Web Team Lead: Erika Andrews
Division Editors, Spoken Word: Deanna Abate, Quinn Dobbins, Dean Engle
Archive Editor: Hannah Hoskisson

Production Team Leads: Sarah Godlin and Carter Solomon
Visual Art Editor: Noelle Peterson
Typesetter: Max Hosford
Book Designers: Sarah Godlin and Carter Solomon

Spring 2019 Staff

Projects Manager: Mireille Roman
Managing Editor for Vol. 66: Erika Andrews
Social Media Managers: Asha Galindo, Deanna Abate, and Kayla Stark
Events Coordinators: Brian Arriola, Theressa Lopez, and Heather Rumsey
Promotions Managers: Linda K. and Joel Segura
Audio Book Creators: Dean Engle, Sierra Robinson, Allison Lehenbauer
Web/Multimedia Developers: Gilbert Fan, Hannah Hoskisson
E-Book Creators: Tierra Abeyta and Drew Ahlberg

TOYON CLUB E-BOARD MEMBERS
Co-Presidents: Mireille Roman & Erika Andrews
Treasurer: Linda K.
Secretary: Allison Lehenbauer
Communications Officer: Kayla Stark

Anthony Alonzo-Pereira is a senior from Inglewood, CA. As a native Spanish speaker, he feels a duty to utilize his bilingualism to emphasize the multilingual aspect of Toyon. His goal is to own a small restaurant or cafe, where he can promote the use of writing as a powerful tool for change. He enjoys the work of satirists and cartoonists such as George Carlin and Lalo Alcaraz, who have inspired him to continue blurring the line between “low” and “high” art. He is in school to reclaim knowledge and advance identity through writing. He is an okay tennis player, a good pebble skipper, and an excellent pizza maker. You can follow him@tonytoodown

Tierra Abeyta is a sophomore from Fortuna, CA. She is an English major and plans on adding a Journalism/Public Relations major or minor. She admires the ability of modern companies, websites, and professionals to utilize multimedia to successfully reach large groups of people, especially when addressing an important issue or building community. She is an avid consumer of media and plans to someday be an avid producer of media, specifically in Southern California. She will be working on the Toyon E-book, and hopes that the experience will give her skills with platforms and tools used in the creation of digital media, as well as a better understanding of diversity and intersectionality in media.

Theressa is a Sophomore at Humboldt State University. She is pursuing a degree in English with a Writing Practices emphasis. She was drawn to the university by two things her hometown of Fresno lacks: redwoods and cool weather. She is excited to see how the same environment that lured her to HSU may influence the work her peers submit to Toyon. When she’s not working, she enjoys playing Werewolf (or any game like it, really) and laughing with nice people.

Sierra Robinson is a Senior at Humboldt State University, about to graduate with a BA in Psychology and a minor in English: Writing Practices. This is her first semester working on Toyon, and she is very excited about it. Reading has been a favorite past time of hers since she was a child and has inspired her love of writing. After college, she hopes to go on to do research in the field of Psychology and write in her free time. It’s been a goal of hers to publish a small novel since she was very young, and she believes this semester will help her to develop more of the necessary skills and knowledge for such an endeavor.

Kayla Stark is a senior at HSU majoring in English Writing Practices. She has been on the Outreach Team for a year now and loves the position and opportunities it brings. As a writer her focus is on fantasy, mythology, and critical analysis. As a person she loves chocolate and animals and anime. If you hang out with her she will make sure you never miss a dog. She is also in love with clothes and experimenting with different looks and costumes. Some of her more unique and expensive hobbies include cosplay, prop making, and book binding. Her future aspirations are to have a graphic novel series and a collection of essays critiquing the harmful environments within the anime community. And if she could do something with writing about animals and clothes that would be great too. After graduating she wants to dive into her writing and drawing more seriously and pursue her MFA.

Joel Segura is a senior at HSU majoring in English and minoring in Teaching English as a Second Language. He is currently serving as one of the editors of the Fiction and Playwright genres for Toyon. While working at Toyon he hopes to better understand the working functions of a literary magazine to prepare him as he begins preparing his works of poetry and fiction for submission. When not on campus Joel is out hiking in our local community forest or out in Trinidad. He also enjoys playing video games when given the free time.

Heather Rumsey is a writer and literary enthusiast. She previously worked as an editor for Toyon’s poetry division. Critical and creative ways of thinking, encouraged by literature, excite her the most. In her free time, she explores ways to combine music, writing, and art. Her friends are victims of flowery cards and homemade gifts, often cheesy and seven months late.

Hannah Hoskisson is a senior at Humboldt State and the Archiving Editor/Webmaster for the Toyon. She is an English major with a background working in Special Education. Hannah also works in the Writing Studio as a Writing Consultant. When she is not forcing herself to complete class assignments, she can usually be found reading weird stuff, struggling to sleep, telling people about leftist politics who are definitely not interested, making playlists with 700+ songs on them, watching movies that scare off other people and make her seem like an elitist, watching reality television that definitely confirms she is does not have elite taste, hiking (walking aimlessly), or playing with her cat. She feels awkward writing about herself, especially in the form of staff bios.

Gilbert Fan is currently senior at Humboldt State University. On the weekends, he works as a paramedic for City Ambulance of Eureka. He aspires to be a physician one day and is currently pursuing an English major after reading When Breath Becomes Air, an autobiography by neurosurgeon Paul Kalanthi.

Erika Andrews is a Senior at HSU. Her major is English: Writing Practices with a minor in Comparative Ethnic Studies. She is the current Member at Large in her sorority Delta Phi Epsilon Inc. Erika is the author of the upcoming Y.E.S. House 50th Anniversary novel. Erika is a functional introvert who loves cooking tasty vegan food for non-vegans. Erika enjoys writing poetry, even though it torments her soul. Erika aspires to sleep enough to maintain her immaculate vessel, this is a continuous effort.

Drew Ahlberg is a junior level student here at Humboldt State University and is working towards a BA in English:Writing Practices and a minor in Ethnic American Literature. They received their AA in English from Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California. In their spare time they enjoy hiking along the Redwood trails here in Humboldt County as well as reading graphic novels and Surrealist fiction. After they graduate from Humboldt State University they hope to pursue an MA in either Library Science or Rhetoric and Writing.

Deanna Abate is in her senior year at HSU, studying English with a writing emphasis. Deanna was born and raised just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Her family moved to San Diego, California when Deanna was 16 years old. This move introduced Deanna to her love of traveling. She chose HSU to explore the lush nature of Humboldt and the surrounding areas. After graduating from HSU Deanna plans to use her English degree to travel and teach outside of the United States.

Dean Engle once ate two footlong Subway sandwiches in one sitting. It is both his proudest and most shameful achievement. He currently attends Humboldt State, where he majors in English with a concentration in Writing Practices. He previously served as a Spoken Word Editor for this very literary magazine, as well as an emcee for various events, dinners, gatherings, and shindigs. In his spare time he looks for coins people have dropped on the ground.

Asha Galindo is a senior at Humboldt State University and plans to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing after she completes her BA in English: Writing Practices. She has an AA in Liberal Arts from San Diego City College, as well as a certificate in Creative Writing. Asha is a lifelong storyteller, her work has been featured in City Works literary journal, on The Rumpus, and as part of the VAMP series from So Say We All in San Diego. When she isn’t being a student or working as a tutor, she enjoys movies, cooking, and cuddling her pup, Penny Lane.

Allison Lehenbauer is about to finish her Junior year as a transfer student at Humboldt. She primarily writes poetry but in recent years has become interested in screen writing. As a result she has chosen to be a Film Major to hone her screen writing skills. Pursuing a career in publishing literature however, is a childhood dream. If screen writing doesn’t work out, she will be very excited to pursue the original dream. Allison is curious and interested in many things as a result she is contributing to the first audiobook for the Toyon and is excited to develop an extension of that, the first Toyon podcast. Allison is most looking forward to getting to know the amazing people she is certain to get to know and meet in this literary community. Allison is also awkwardly and unofficially exploring comedy on the advice of a friend.

Zach Weaver is a senior at Humboldt State studying to become a high school English teacher. He serves as one of the Toyon’s division editors for the Critical Writing genre. He’s a coffee addict, and is rarely seen without a cup. Having transferred from Southern California, Zach appreciates the rain, the fog, and the local beaches. When not at the beach or hiking in the forest, he spends long hours reading horror and weird fiction, watching tv, and composing short stories to read to his dog, Ben.

Sarah Godlin is the co-creator / former managing editor of Savage Henry Magazine and the author of Catty Mean Girl, Awful Thoughts on Everything. She likes hot weather and Cool Runnings, the iconic bobsledding movie starring John Candy and Doug E. Doug.

Salina Jimenez is a senior at Humboldt State University. She is the secretary and out-reach team co-lead for Toyon. She is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in English (literature studies). Originally from Antioch, California, she received her AA-T in English at Los Medanos Community College. In her free time, she likes to binge watch shows on netflix and hulu such as Bob’s Burgers and Gilmore Girls while trying to accomplish the readings that she should have done much earlier. She is also a huge Kingdom Hearts fan.

Quinn Dobbins is a senior at Humboldt State University, majoring in English with an emphasis in Writing Practices. Originally from Elk Grove, California, he earned his AA-T in English at Cosumnes River College. During his two years at CRC he played for the men’s tennis team, earning a trip to the state tournament in Ojai. He was published in CRC’s literary journal in his second year. Since transferring to Humboldt State, he has worked on campus in the Accessible Resource Center, helping to make HSU’s coursework accessible for students with disabilities. He enjoys books, comics, photography, film, and the sad acoustic guitar noises of The Microphones. Right now he is halfway through the second volume of Swamp Thing. That is all you need to know about him. Quinn is left handed.

Noelle is a Psychology major with Art and English minors. This is her senior year at Humboldt, and she plans on going to graduate school for art education and becoming a teacher or photographer. She loves to dance, and serves as the president of the HSU Swing Dance Club.

Max Hosford is a senior at Humboldt State studying writing. He is a member of Cooperation Humboldt, which is working to build an alternative economic system in Humboldt County that is not based on exploitation and accumulation, but rather on cooperation, solidarity, and mutual aid.

Madeline is studying English Writing Practices at HSU, and will be graduating in the Spring. This is her first semester working for Toyon, and she is serving as the Social Media Manager. Madeline is looking towards teaching English as a foreign language abroad, writing for various Environmental organizations, and going to Massage School. She is happy to explore more about the Publishing process, as well as Social Media, through working with Toyon. Madeline has been living in Humboldt for the past three years. Throughout her time living in Humboldt, she’s nurtured her passions for biking, yoga, running, hiking, singing, ocean-swimming, long-hand journaling, zero waste living, and emotional communication. Madeline has interests in language, dance, hoola-hooping, photography, massage, and much more. She looks forward wandering the world in years to come, continuing to learn, grow, and to write/sing/laugh about it all.

Jasmine Nazario has taken on the shared position of being the Toyon’s Division Editor for Creative Non-fiction for this years 65th Volume. Jasmine is a senior at HSU studying English on the pathway towards teaching of the Language Arts. She strongly believes that art and literature can have positive impacts on our youth, which makes her job here at the Toyon even better because she gets to oversee a diverse selection of creative works of art and literature that will benefit in the upbring of our youth. If you happen to run into Jasmine on her day off you might see her smiling, watching movies, singing, dancing and playing with her handsome cat Mitzon.

Destiny Wright is a Senior at Humboldt State University. She is the Treasurer and co-Outreach Team Lead for Toyon. Her main interest is in creative writing with a particular focus on historical fiction. Destiny is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Communication as well as a minor in English Writing. Having grown up in Southern California, Destiny eagerly awaits her return to the warm climate of the desert but not leaving without her new appreciation for Humboldt’s redwoods.

Gloria Pearlman is a junior at HSU, double majoring in Multicultural Queer Studies and English with an emphasis in writing practices. In addition to being on the Toyon staff, she also serves on the board of the English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta, as Secretary. In her free time she does yoga, photography, plays the cello, and fusses over house plants. She hopes to get an mfa in writing and be a published essayist.

Carter Solomon has attempted writing, board game designing, and soon he will have attempted business owning. He lives in Humboldt County, and plans to move to a more southern part of California where he’ll no longer be able to use the excuse “there’s no work up here” as a reason to watch his savings account dwindle. He is working on the production team of Toyon this Fall 2018 semester.