Issue 12 Runestone Editors

QUILL BALESTRI (they/them) is from Waukesha, Wisconsin and is a junior at Hamline University studying history and creative writing. They are a Fall 2025 editor for Hamline’s undergraduate online literary journal Runestone, working on the upcoming volume 12: Approaching the Beast. When they’re not studying, they can be found hunched over their laptop writing or doing research in the archives.

SHEA CAMPBELL is a senior at Hamline University and is on the school’s gymnastics team. She is a studio & digital media arts major with a media focus, and has three minors in graphic design, digital storytelling, and writing & publishing. She loves working in film, audio work, writing (in traditional literary forms and scripts for short films), and photography. Her favorite pastimes when she isn’t dancing her heart out in the gym or in school, she’s hanging out with her friends and probably daydreaming about her future. Shea is originally from Scottsdale, Arizona but in the future she wants to become a director or script/ story writer in California.

AVA FRANZWA (she/her) is from Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a junior at Hamline University. She is majoring in applied mathematics with a minor in writing, editing, & publishing. When Ava isn’t busy solving math problems or writing in her journal, she likes to craft, practice tarot, and make obscure playlists.

ASHER GETTINGS (he/him) is a junior at Hamline University, majoring in creative writing, and performance, production and community. He has been published twice in Untold. A Colorado native, Asher loves a good hike, the feeling of dirt under his fingernails, and sometimes misses the mountains more than his family.

CASSIE HEMMINGS (she/her) is a senior, undergraduate student studying creative writing at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her sophomore year of high school she took on an ambitious project to write a book and earn an arts certificate. This is where her love of writing was born. Looking back at that book, she had a long way to go in her craft skills. However, watching something take shape, creating something out of nothing, and making unique creative choices, stuck. When she’s not writing, she loves to spend time with her dogs, and listen to comedy podcasts.

ALEX JASPERS is a Minnesota writer with a deep love for all things weird. She is currently pursuing degrees in English and creative writing at Hamline University. Her horror short fiction has been previously published in The Rapids Review and Hamline’s own Untold Magazine. When not writing, she can often be found playing piano, watching bad horror movies, or dreaming about what goes bump in the night.

SAWYER KURTENBACH is a senior studying anthropology and creative writing. An aspiring bioarchaeologist, they also write poetry and creative nonfiction, often focusing on grief, gender & sexuality, and communication. Outside of Hamline, they can be found at a public library or gaming at home with their two cats.

NAIYA LASKIN (he/him) is a senior at Hamline University, currently pursuing a degree in creative writing. He has previously written episodes for Khôra Podcast and Station Arcadia’s second season. He enjoys experimenting with form and narration in his writing. In his free time, he can be observed sewing, bookbinding, sculpting figurines, or modifying preexisting figures to resemble his own characters.

MIRAH PARKER is a junior, studying creative writing at Hamline University, in St.Paul, Minnesota. She has been writing poetry since her junior year of high school. Where she found a real love for writing poetry once she finally understood what poetry really was aside from rhyming.  Writing about her own experiences of grief, friendship, family and childhood memories. If she isn’t writing she’s reading a romance novel, listening to music, taking pictures, hanging out with friends and family, or surrounded by all her pet dogs and cats.

MACY RAMSDEN is a junior at Hamline University with a major in creative writing and minors in digital storytelling and writing, editing & publishing. In their free time, they can be found sketching, acting, or sword-fighting children at their summer camp job. If they were a beast, they’d be Mothman.

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ISA SANCHEZ-ESPARZA is a native Minnesotan who is a senior at Hamline University. Currently double-majoring in English and creative writing, she is also a board member of both The Hamline Book Society, and the Hamline University Anime and Manga Club. Her writing can be found in several issues of Hamline University’s Untold Magazine and the Fulcrum Journal. In her free time she loves to read, listen to all kinds of music, play soccer, watch all kinds of television, and dote over her two cats and dog at home.

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HEATHER SINKULA (she/they) has always enjoyed golden hour. The time when the sunrise hits just right to bask the world in perfectly yellow hues. Yes, some of that appreciation came from the poem featured The Outsiders, but also due to the fact dawn is the time they get the most done. Everyone is out and about during the day, and of course there are the contradictory night owls who thrive under the moon. But the forbidden hours between three in the morning and the rising sun are few anyone would dare to tread within, making it the prime time for some peace and quiet. Once the light of the earth is back to normal white rays, her productability significantly decreases, and instead they choose to spend their time procrastinating in bed with her favorite cat and some light reading (100k words minimum).

ANNELISE SMABY is a current senior at Hamline University originally from Palo Alto, California. She is a 2-year captain of Hamline’s varsity gymnastics team and holds majors in psychology, neuroscience, and creative writing. She particularly enjoys writing in the genres of poetry and creative nonfiction, and when she isn’t writing, working on schoolwork or practicing gymnastics, you can find her out with her friends or at home with her two cats, Magic and Aperol.

TAYLOR TADYCH (she/her) is an eager senior dual-majoring in English & communications studies (with a concentration in writing, editing, and publishing) and creative writing. You might find her adding to her ever-evolving collection of Pride and Prejudice, fantasizing about New York City, or lounging around with her terribly spoiled cat, Chapter. Taylor is also heavily involved in other publications on Hamline’s campus, including as Editor-in-Chief of the Fulcrum Journal, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. You can find her work in Ecdysis (2023 Fulcrum Journal) and last spring’s edition of Untold Magazine.