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BLR Team
Doris W. Cheng
Associate Fiction Editor
Doris W. Cheng is an immigrant Taiwanese American writer. Her debut short fiction collection is “Earthling."
Suzanne McConnell
Contributing Fiction Editor
Suzanne McConnell taught writing at Hunter College for thirty years. Her most recent book is “Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style” by Kurt Vonnegut and Suzanne McConnell.
Kate Falvey
Associate Editor
Kate Falvey teaches literature and writing at City Tech/CUNY. Her most recent poetry collection is “The Language of Little Girls.”
Saleem Hue Penny
Assistant Poetry Editor
Saleem Hue Penny is a “rural hip-hop blues'' poet and Cave Canem Fellow with single-sided deafness, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, and Lowcountry roots. He's the 2021 Poetry Coalition Fellow at Zoeglossia.
Linda Harris Dolan
Assistant Poetry Editor
Linda Harris Dolan is a poet and teaching artist in Lenapehoking/Brooklyn, living with a genetic heart condition. She leads poetry workshops at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Melissa Pagnotta
Communications Manager
Melissa is a Digital Marketer who's worked with entertainment brands like SundanceNow and Stand Up NY comedy club. In her free time she performs stand-up comedy.
Rosalind Aparicio-Ramirez
Digital Content Editor
Rosalind Aparicio-Ramirez is a nonfiction writer and multimedia artist. She completed an MFA in creative writing at Hunter College.
Board of Directors
Marit Vagstad
Vice-Chair
Marit Vagstad is the trade sales director for the Americas at Springer Nature. She is an avid reader and volunteer.
Jodie Corngold
Secretary
Jodie Corngold was the communications director for the National Hemophilia Foundation. She is a member of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and a marathon runner.
Perri Klass
Perri Klass is professor of journalism and pediatrics at NYU, where she directs the medical humanities minor, and national medical director of Reach Out and Read. She writes both fiction and nonfiction; her newest book is The Best Medicine , originally published as A Good Time to Be Born.
Frank Clark
Frank Clark is a psychiatrist at Prisma Health and clinical associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville.
Michael Myers
Michael Myers is a professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn, NY. His most recent book is “Becoming a Doctors' Doctor: A Memoir.”
Allie Nava
Allie Nava is the author of the novel, "July and Everything After." She's a former executive and writing advisor who has advised 1000+ organizations on leadership, value creation, and governance.
Helene Atwan
Helene Atwan is a publishing executive with extensive experience. She is currently a contributing editor at Beacon Press and an advisor to nonprofit literary organizations.
Jacob M. Appel
Jacob M. Appel is a psychiatrist and bioethicist in New York City. He is the author of 21 volumes of fiction and nonfiction.
Serena J. Fox
Serena J. Fox is an intensive care physician and author of Night Shift Poems. She is Poetry Editor for the Examined Life Journal.
Aish Sinha
Aish Sinha leads new business development at TikTok. He is a podcast host and a board member of the Make Music Alliance.
Cliff Manko
Cliff Manko is a publishing executive who's held senior finance roles at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Cengage Learning, and Beacon Press. He is active in nonprofit work.
Cynthia Cannell
Cynthia Cannell is the founder of Cynthia Cannell Literary Agency. She is enrolled in the Narrative Medicine certification program at Columbia University.