About Us

EDITOR: Jennifer Goldsmith

Jennifer Goldsmith is a nomad and first-year fiction student in GMU’s MFA program.  She comes to So to Speak via Chattanooga, Poughkeepsie, and most recently Slovakia, where she spent the past year teaching English through the Fulbright Program. She received her BA in English from Marist College in 2005. Her favorite female writers include Elizabeth Bishop, Jorie Graham, Wislawa Szymborska, Joanna Scott, and Anne Carson. She has a soft spot for Muppets, foreign lands, and chocolate.

ART EDITOR: Erin Thomas

When Erin was growing up, she decided that she wanted to be an idealist. Consequently, she studied art for her Bachelor's degree because it was the most impractical thing she could think of. Then she spent time in Outer Mongolia because it was the strangest place she could think of. There she did not develop an appreciation for aarag (fermented mare’s milk), but she did acquire a hankering for teaching ESL, her current occupation in D.C., which competes for quality time with her research on coal mining. Erin’s favorite book containing writing by women is called Women Eye to Eye (a steal at the discount table at Barnes and Noble in Utah where she grew up) and is a collection of international women’s writing that communicates a feminism that is fresh, vibrant, and feeling. She is currently a senior in the nonfiction MFA program at GMU because studying writing was the second most impractical thing she could think of.

FICTION EDITOR: Caroline Zuschek

Caroline is a civil war.  She is currently divided between two cities (Richmond and D.C),  two jobs (teaching and editing),  and two genres (fiction and poetry).  She has  a B.A from the College of William and Mary in English and Psychology with an emphasis on Women's Studies,  and is a former staff member of The Gallery.  She is in her second year of George Mason University's MFA program as a fiction candidate.  She likes intersections of all kinds,  but especially those in spider webs, on train tracks, and in prose.

NONFICTION EDITOR: Devon Ward-Thommes

Devon hails from beautiful Ashland, Oregon, where she spent her childhood conversing with fairies and wood sprites. She enjoys a well-told story, a well-baked sweet potato, and a well-fallen snow.After studying at Willamette University, she taught sea kayaking and French in the San Juan Islands, developed curriculum for a nonprofit organization bringing yoga and art to at-risk teenage girls, and dreamed of living in a cave in Tibet. Currently, she spends her days playing with words, thinking about enlightenment, and praying for all sentient beings. In her next life, she would like to be reincarnated as a dakini.  Her current writing projects include a collection of essays about women, bodies, and eastern meditation techniques.

POETRY EDITOR: Rachael Lyons

Rachael was born in Nashville, Tennessee.  (Nashville, she notes, should rhyme with “bashful” when said aloud.)  She attended Albion College in Michigan, where she graduated with a BA in Creative Writing and German.  She also studied in Vienna, Austria where she learned to make Knödel and drink Most.  Now she’s in the MFA poetry program and teaching composition. She likes watermelon Bubble Yum and cheese but not at the same time.

ASSISTANT EDITOR, WEB AND LAYOUT EDITOR: Tara A. Thompson

Tara is currently pursuing an M.A. in English, with a concentration in Literature at George Mason University. She divides her time between schoolwork, teaching composition at Northern Virginia Community College, and working for So to Speak. Her love for literature is apparent in her academic pursuits, however there is a special place for poetry in heart as well. Tara lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband Trent and their neurotic cat Tina.

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Our History

Founded in 1993 by an editorial collective of women MFA candidates at George Mason University, So to Speak has served as a space for feminist writing and art for nearly twelve years. So to Speak publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art that lives up to a high standard of language, form, and meaning. We look for work that addresses issues of significance to women's lives and movements for women's equality and are especially interested in pieces that explore issues of race, class, and sexuality in relation to gender.

So to Speak would like to thank founders Jamy Bond, Sara Brown, Leslie Bumstead, Jean Donnelly, Colleen Kearney Rich, Isadora Lector, Stephanie Muller, and Rebecca Wee for their desire, perseverance, and success in creating a literary space and outlet for women and feminist writers.