Meet the Lineup
Horizon Review and FUSION invite you to Between The Lines: A Literary Speakeasy on the evening of November 6. This event hopes to bring together our local art and literary community to learn more about upcoming opportunities and foster collaboration. The event will feature guest readings, a Q&A panel, and a social hour winding down the night. Meet the eye-catching lineup we have scheduled for the night!
Space is limited, so please RSVP if you plan to attend!
READERS
Our readers represent a SNEAK PEEK into Horizon Review’s inaugural issue, releasing in Spring 2026. They are a sample of the talented authors/artists whose pieces have already been accepted for publication. They will be reading the piece selected for publication, plus some works in progress. The lineup includes: Kelvin Beliele, Adriana Maresma Fois, Sue Schack Jensen, Mónica Sánchez, and Judy Slack!
ABOUT KELVIN BELIELE
Kelvin Beliele’s poem, “Generation Q?” was accepted for publication in Horizon Review’s inaugural issue!
Kelvin Beliele’s poetry has appeared in RFD, Poetry Today, Tandava, Encore, and The James White Review, among others. Born and raised in Enid, Oklahoma, he received his PhD from the University of New Mexico. Dr. Beliele has taught American literature and expository writing at UNM and at Oklahoma State University. He currently resides in Albuquerque.
ABOUT ADRIANA MARESMA FOIS
Adriana Maresma Fois’ paintings, “Compasión” and “Feria de Jerez España” were accepted for publication in Horizon Review’s inaugural issue!
ABOUT SUSAN SCHACK JENSEN
Susan Schack Jensen’s poem, “White, Wild Horses,” was accepted for publication in Horizon Review’s inaugural issue!
Susan, also known as Sue, has broad experience in Fiber Arts and Communications, including leadership as the Co-Chair of the Programs and Workshops Committee of the Las Aranas Spinning and Weaving Guild. Susan has edited a zine called "Roaring Lamb" and created a networking website for hand crafters. She is a weaver, spinner of yarn, textile collage artist and storyteller.
ABOUT MÓNICA SÁNCHEZ
Mónica Sánchez’s creative non-fiction piece, “Ronnie and the Virgin,” was accepted for publication in Horizon Review’s inaugural issue!
Mónica Sánchez is a multi-generational native New Mexican who has followed her bliss throughout a life in the theatre and the theatre of life. For over thirty years, she has honed the craft of professional actor, written plays and devised work for the stage, directed productions small and large, and enjoyed a myriad of assignments as a teaching artist, community engagement facilitator, and college professor.
She holds an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from the University of New Mexico. Her plays aspire to unveil the varied and underrepresented experiences of Latinidad in the U.S., particularly the complex and unique philosophical, cultural and historical milieu of the Southwest; not only ripe for dramatic exploration but also sorely missing from the canon of the American theatre
ABOUT JUDY SLACK
Judy Slack’s Poem, “Traffic of the Heart,” was accepted for publication in Horizon Review’s inaugural issue!
While living and working in Iowa City, Iowa,
Judy built a poetry foundation from Writers’ Workshop students who taught in the Saturday and Evening program at the University of Iowa. For the past several years, she has been in a Writers’ Group and a Poetry Group where they discuss contemporary poetry. Reading poems and writing go together. “Traffic of the Heart” came out of a generative workshop with Sawnie Morris, a Taos poet.
Q&A PANEL
Our Q&A panel features editors from six different local publications! Come learn from them and the insight they have to share about writing, editing, and publishing!
1. Robin Babb, Associate Editor of edible New Mexico
Robin Babb (she/her) is the associate editor of edible New Mexico and The Bite, as well as the events programmer for the Creative Writing Program at the University of New Mexico. She has worked in newspaper and magazine editorial for nine years, and her work has been published in the Kenyon Review, Phoebe Journal, New Mexico Magazine, Eaten, Civil Eats, Southwest Contemporary, and other places. In 2024 she was awarded the New Mexico Writers Annual Grant and the Center for Regional Studies Fellowship. She likes to write about animals, food, video games, and the end of the world. She is currently working on a collection of essays
ABOUT EDIBLE NEW MEXICO
Edible New Mexico celebrates our state’s vibrant food culture, season by season. Through multifaceted and compelling storytelling, our bi-monthly publication, events, and digital platforms connect readers with those who feed them—growers, producers, chefs, beverage and food artisans, and other food professionals. We believe understanding where our food comes from empowers all of us to make informed decisions about what we eat, what we stand for, and how to better support our communities.
2. Eli Behrens (he/they), Managing Editor of Conceptions Southwest
ABOUT CONCEPTIONS SOUTHWEST
Conceptions Southwest (CSW) is the premier literature and arts publication created by and for the University of New Mexico community. Its staff consists entirely of student volunteers, directed by an editor-in-chief selected by the UNM Student Publications Board.
Since its inception in 1978, CSW has evolved into the annual publication it is today, providing a forum for literature and arts at UNM. Eclipsing its forty-first year in production, CSW continues to contribute to the UNM creative community and legacy.
CSW accepts creative work from all UNM undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students; faculty; staff; and alumni. The submission categories are short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, visual art, photography, and open media, which encompasses any art form not otherwise listed, including but not limited to video, music, screenwriting, comics, architecture, and art that defies categorization.
3. Jordan Eddy, Editorial Director at Southwest Contemporary
ABOUT SOUTHWEST CONTEMPORARY
Southwest Contemporary is the leading resource for contemporary arts and culture in the Southwest. Headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, since 2019, Southwest Contemporary publishes curated and critical perspectives on contemporary arts and culture throughout the Southwest, supports Southwest-based artists and arts organizations through our print and digital platforms, and produces events and programming to advance creative work.
In print, Southwest Contemporary publishes a biannual magazine and the annual New Mexico Field Guide, an arts and culture guide to New Mexico. Online, southwestcontemporary.com publishes weekly arts news, an art events calendar, and a classifieds page that lists opportunities for artists and the creative sector.
4. John Hardberger, Editor in Chief of Blue Mesa Review
John Hardberger (he/him) is a Texpat writer and radio DJ living in New Mexico. He is a third-year fiction MFA candidate at the University of New Mexico, an alum of the 2025 Clarion Writers Workshop, and the Editor in Chief of the Blue Mesa Review. His fiction straddles the mundane and the weird, exploring the liminal spaces between identities, cultures, and landscapes. His journalism has appeared in Chicago magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and Edible New Mexico, and he blogs about arts and culture at voyagerradio.substack.com.
ABOUT BLUE MESA REVIEW
Blue Mesa Review was founded by Rudolfo Anaya in 1989. Anaya, a Creative Writing instructor at the University of New Mexico at the time, wanted a space for New Mexican and Southwestern writers to publish their work. As a landscape of intersectionality and diversity, the Southwest is the perfect place for beautiful intersectional art to grow, and Anaya charged Blue Mesa Review with tending those roots in our community. Today, they strive to continue to support and publish voices of the Southwest and the world at large, and to foster connections between our academic circle and the rich literary traditions of Albuquerque and New Mexico.
Blue Mesa Review is run by graduate students at the University of New Mexico’s MFA program and assisted in their work by a faculty advisor and a team of graduate and undergraduate readers. In their thirty-four years and 40+ issues, their contributors have included Jimmy Santiago Baca, Sandra Cisneros, Joy Harjo, Sherwin Bitsui, and countless other exceptional writers. They are grateful to the diverse voices who have brought their identities, cultures, and creativity to an international arena.
5. Oona Uishama Narváez, Poetry and Senior Editor of Chapter House Journal
Oona Uishama Narváez (she/they) is an Indigenous / Mexican American writer and artist from El Paso, Texas. In her second year as an MFA candidate in Poetry at the Institute of American Indian Arts, she now serves as the poetry and senior editor of the program's journal, Chapter House. Currently she is working on a mixed media project interrogating lineages and limitations of language and illness.
ABOUT CHAPTER HOUSE JOURNAL
Chapter House Journal is an online literary journal committed to empowering and uplifting Indigenous and marginalized stories, values, cultures, and art. They publish writers and artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, styles, and aesthetics whose work aligns with this mission. They strongly encourage submissions from Native American, First Nation, and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, individuals with disabilities, and all members of historically marginalized communities. They welcome submissions from both emerging and published writers.
Housed within the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Low Residency MFA Program, they publish issues on a biannual basis. They accept submissions in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. All submissions, including solicitations, are read by their dedicated editors, comprised of IAIA MFA students and faculty advisors. Their editors also manage publication decisions, website design, and blog content.
6. Emily Withnall, Editor in Chief of El Palacio
Emily Withnall (she/her) grew up in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and currently resides in Santa Fe where she is the editor in chief of El Palacio magazine. Prior to becoming editor, she wrote for El Palacio for eight years. Her work as also been published in The New York Times, High Country News, Al Jazeera, The Kenyon Review, Tin House, and other publications. Emily's essay, "Creating Art in a Burning World," was selected as notable in the 2025 Best American Essays anthology.
ABOUT EL PALACIO
El Palacio was founded in 1913 and is the magazine of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and publishes art, poetry, essays, and articles pertaining to the art, culture, and history of New Mexico. The magazine has received 14 awards for its content this year.
ADDITIONAL MAGAZINES ATTENDING
We have an incredibly fun lineup of magazines that will be represented at the event and tabling! They’ll have magazines available, information to share about opportunities, and can answer questions you may have! Our magazine lineup is Blue Mesa Review, Chapter House Journal, Conceptions Southwest, edible New Mexico, El Palacio, Fronteristxs, Limina, Scribendi, and Southwest Contemporary.
ABOUT FRONTERISTXS
The Fronteristxs is a collective of artists and writers that fight for migrant justice and abolition of the prison industrial complex in the southwest borderlands of the United States. We collaborate and organize with grassroots organizations to build alternative spaces around art and abolition that are focused on direct actions and distributing political education. The Fronteristxs are 100% volunteer based.
Our zines are a four part series, all used to break down and inform the public on how systems of policing and immigration deeply affect our communities. We hope that our zines will raise awareness and also provide visions for the future, with the last of the series (#4) focusing on abolition.
ABOUT LIMINA
Limina, formally Best Student Essays (BSE), is the premiere nonfiction student review of the University of New Mexico. It is published annually and solicits nonfiction writing from UNM undergraduate and graduate students. All genres of nonfiction are accepted, including essays, research, scientific writing, memoirs, photo essays, foreign language with English translation, and more.
ABOUT SCRIBENDI
Scribendi is a nonprofit, annual print publication that publishes creative work from undergraduate honors students nationwide. It began as a publication of The University of New Mexico and has grown to include more than 800 institutions in the Western Regional Honors Council and National Collegiate Honors Council. Scribendi is produced by students for students, encouraging and publishing creative expression of all forms.
Space is limited, so please RSVP if you plan to attend! We can’t wait to see you there!