DIRECTOR
CALDWELL HOLDEN
A third-year MFA candidate at LSU, Caldwell is a writer, bartender, and social artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his BA in Literature from Bennington College where he studied “Immersion Based Storytelling.” He has also studied in Siena, Italy, completed a writing residency in Oatmeal Creek, TX, and traveled the US living out of his jeep. His fiction has appeared in SHANTIH Journal and Atticus Review. His journalism has appeared in 90.5 WESA and Stylo24. You can learn more about him and his work here.
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
DALTON WAYNE HOOVER
Dalton Wayne Hoover is an MFA candidate in creative writing at LSU. Born and raised in the Bayou State, he is an Army Infantry veteran, a culinary school dropout, an outdoors lover, and a professional musician. A dabbler by nature, he writes both fiction and non-fiction about food, the veteran experience, addiction, the healing powers of nature, and the conversation between all of these things. He is a Nonfiction Editor at the New Delta Review, and his work has appeared in Country Roads Magazine, the Backcountry Journal, MDF Magazine, and elsewhere.
MANUELA SILVESTRE MARTÍNEZ
FUNDRAISING COORDINATOR
Manuela has trouble sticking to a single genre or language. Originally from Dominican Republic, she’s held 25 addresses in the last 23 years, and done work for almost as many industries. She graduated with honors from New York University, earning a B.A. in English Literature despite spending most of her time on Latino Studies and Creative Writing. Her obsessions include loops, conviviality, and redemption.
MICHAEL ROMACK
ASSOCIATE MERCHANDISE MANAGER & WEB DESIGNER
Michael Romack is an MFA candidate at Louisiana State University, focusing in Poetry. Raised in McComb, Mississippi, he received his BA in English with Licensure from the University of Southern Mississippi. A lover of a long road trip, his interests include photography, travel, late night conversations at Waffle House, the precious things on our shelves, and his long quest to taste and rank every kind of root beer.
NAOMI CLAUDETTE ORTIZ
ASSOCIATE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Naomi Claudette Ortiz is an MFA student in poetry. She grew up in Spring Branch, Texas before completing her undergrad in literature at UAB. She writes about identity, culture, and relationships. In her free time, she is an avid Formula 1 fan and beach volleyball enjoyer.
MARY THAMES
ASSOCIATE FUNDRAISING COORDINATOR
Mary Thames is an MFA candidate at LSU with a focus on creative nonfiction. She grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and spent the last five years in New Orleans. She writes about old ponies, karaoke, pomegranates, and whatever other unassuming memories peek their heads from behind the curtain. She hopes to craft stage sets for each to come fully to life.
SARAH BROCKHAUS
MERCHANDISE MANAGER & WEB DESIGNER
Sarah is third-year MFA candidate in poetry at LSU. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and graduated from Salisbury University in Maryland with a B.A. in English. She is a co-editor for The Shore Poetry and a reader for Poet Lore. Her poems have been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize and can be found in places such as The Greensboro Review, North American Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Jabberwock Review, and American Literary Review.
FINNEGAN BLY
ASSOCIATE COMMUNICATIONS & OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Finnegan Bly is a queer, Korean-American poet and writer from rural, Northern California. Their writing and research interests include Korean adoption and diaspora, rural narratives, and hybrid memoir / (non)fiction. They hold a BA in Literature/Writing from UC San Diego and are an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at Louisiana State University.
JUSTIN HOWERTON
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Justin Howerton is a writer from Memphis, TN. Though his first love will always be poetry, Justin dabbles in everything from nonfiction to screenwriting. His feature length script, Clearing the Trace, was a finalist in the 2024 Del Shores Foundation Writers Search. Recent poems can be found in Foglifter and Bicoastal Review. He’s at work on a novel.
JALEN GIOVANNI JONES
COMMUNICATIONS & OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Jalen Jones is a Black and Filipino writer from Los Angeles. His work has been supported by the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Kenyon Review Workshop, the Tin House Workshop, and the Lambda Literary Retreat. A winner of the David Madden MFA Award and Five Minute Lit’s Fall Contest, Jalen’s writing can be found in Electric Literature, The Offing, Foglifter, and elsewhere. He is the Social Media Editor for Electric Literature, the Editorial Assistant for the Southern Review, and this is his third year in the MFA. He’s also directed the Delta Mouth Literary Festival, and once, Emma Stone generously stepped on his foot. You can reach him via jalen-jones.com or on Instagram @jalen_g_jones.
& OUR FACULTY ADVISOR…
Adam Clay
Adam Clay’s most recent book is Circle Back (Milkweed Editions, 2024). He’s an Associate Professor of English at LSU and faculty advisor for this year’s Delta Mouth festival.