English Graduate Student Profiles

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	Arleigh Rodgers Arleigh Rodgers is a master’s student in English literature whose scholarly work focuses on twentieth- and twenty-first-century literature. She has worked as a writer and editor in Indiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and New York, most recently as an assistant editor for Mississippi Review and managing editor for Product Magazine. Her writing has been published in The Rolling Tape, Bright Wall/Dark Room, The Associated Press, The Las Vegas Sun, and The Ithaca Times.
	Brooke Harries Brooke Harries’ work has appeared in Arkansas Review, Laurel Review, Puerto del Sol, Salamander, Sixth Finch, and elsewhere. She has an MFA from the University of California, Irvine and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Southern Mississippi.
	Holly Frey Holly Frey is a graduate student in the hybrid MA/PhD program in English Literature at the University of Southern Mississippi. She has a B.A. in English from William Carey University. Her hobbies include quilting, gardening, and reading. She has lived in southern Mississippi for most of her life.
	MD Mehdi Habib Khan MD Mehdi Habib Khan, a Bangladeshi Ph.D. student in literature, focuses on gender and sexuality in children’s and young adult literature. Along with teaching World Literature and Composition courses, he serves as the Senior Editorial Assistant for "The Southern Quarterly." Mehdi also hosts a literary discussion series, SpeakEasy, for English graduate students at USM. He collaborates with visual artists as a researcher and writer, and their works have been exhibited in multiple galleries. Fluent in four languages, he writes poems in Bangla, his mother tongue, as well as in English. In his leisure time, Mehdi enjoys exploring Hattiesburg’s food and bar culture.
	Lila Robinett Tindall Lila Robinett Tindall is a poet from East Texas whose work concerns issues of femininity, faith, and domesticity. She has been published in Ekstasis Magazine, Five South, Bicoastal Review, and elsewhere.
	Bella McGill Bella McGill is a second year PhD student in the Creative Writing - Fiction program at the University of Southern Mississippi. She received her MFA in Popular Fiction and Publishing from Emerson College in 2022. Her interests include young adult literature and Shakespeare and fairytale retellings. Her debut novel, Princess and the Pauper, is forthcoming from Wild Ink Publishing in June of 2025.
	Haley Wheat Haley Wheat is a second year M.A. student in the Creative Writing Program. She received her B.A. in English - Creative Writing from East Texas Baptist University in 2022, and her writing has previously appeared in Fiction Attic Press, Riveted Literary, and The Beacon. Her critical and creative interests include gothic literature, speculative fiction, and folklore.
	Madison Brown Madison (PhD, Creative Writing) is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Little Patuxent Review, JMWW, Rain Taxi and elsewhere. Her creative and critical interests include queer studies, contemporary literature (Appalachian/Southern), and short fiction. She has an MA in English from Mississippi State University and MFA in Creative Writing from University of Central Florida.
	Emilee Kinney Emilee Kinney hails from the small farm-town of Kenockee, Michigan, near one of the Great Lakes: Lake Huron. She received her MFA from SIU Carbondale and is currently pursuing her PhD in Creative Writing. Her poems has been published in THE SHORE, Passages North, West Trestle Review, Cider Press Review, SWWIM and elsewhere. Kinney serves as an Associate Editor for The Mississippi Review. Her creative interests include the power of place/nature, Irish folklore, magical surrealism, and feminism in rural spaces. (https://www.emileekinneypoetry.com/)
	Rachel Bell Rachel Bell is a first-year literature PhD student specializing in disability studies, particularly in twentieth-century American literature. For her bachelor’s, she double majored in creative writing and political science at Murray State University. She obtained her master’s in English from Mississippi State University. Her thesis, “Here I Am, Like I Am: Disability in Twentieth-Century Southern Literature” examines disability in three hallmarks of southern literature: Willian Faulkner’s Sanctuary, the short stories of Flannery O’Connor, and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.
	Grace Borcherding Grace Borcherding holds a BA and MA in English from Southeastern Louisiana University and is currently a second year PhD literature student. Her research interests are primarily children's literature, 20th century literature and pop culture studies.
	Hannah Mummert Hannah is a doctoral candidate studying Victorian and children’s literature. Her research focuses on depictions of disability in Victorian children’s fantasy stories. Her other interests include game studies, fairy tales, and true crime, all of which she enjoys incorporating into her teaching wherever possible. Her academic work has been published in the Victorian Review and the Victorian Institute Journal.
	Ian Pittman Ian Pittman is a first year in the MA/PhD combo program in literature. Broadly, his interests include Modernism, Southern Literature, and the interdisciplinary study of Christianity and literature. He has presented at several regional and national conferences including MPA, SAMLA, CEA, and with the Southeastern Conference on Christianity and Literature later this year. Ian received his B.A. with a double major in English and Religion from William Carey University where he completed an Honors Thesis on the short stories of Flannery O’Connor. Ian is also a lifelong violinist, pianist, and dabbler in various other instruments.
	Kayla Schreiber Kayla Schreiber is a Ph.D. Student in English at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she is a graduate instructor and the current Course Coordinator for Online World Literature. Schreiber’s research interests—nineteenth century American Literature, Critical Race Theory, and Women and Gender Studies—have led to her two current projects: an exhibit on Frederick Douglass for the Colored Conventions Digital Archival that is currently under review, and a co-authored essay, “Women (Re)reading Milton: Gendered Reflections on an All-Day Reading of Paradise Lost,” set to be published in an edited collection, titled Women (Re)writing Milton.
	Emily M. Goldsmith Emily M. Goldsmith (they/them) is a queer Cajun-Creole poet originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They are currently a Ph.D. student in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Mississippi, where they were awarded the 2024 Teaching Assistant of the Year Award. Emily received their MFA in Poetry from the University of Kentucky. A Pushcart-nominated poet, their creative work can be found in The Penn Review, Vagabond Lit, Witch Craft Mag, and elsewhere. Their chapbook, Alligator is a Fish, was a 2023 finalist for Two Sylvia's Press and DIAGRAM's Chapbook Prize Contests. Goldsmith’s research interests include Louisiana Creole Literature, Southern Gothic, Queer and Trans Theory, and Caribbean Studies.
	Rheagan Case Rheagan Case is studying in the Ph.D. program for Creative Writing at USM and is interested in short story and poetry writing. She holds an MA and BA in English from Mississippi State University. While at MSU, she had the pleasure of editing for the Jabberwock and Streetcar, two of the university's journals.
	Katie Weber Katie Weber is an English Literature MA student with particular interest in children's and young adult literature. She received her undergraduate degree in English with teaching licensure from USM in 2023. Originally from Mandeville, Louisiana, her hobbies include collecting vinyl and playing video games.
	Madison Hankins Madison Hankins is a second year M.A. student in the Creative Writing Fiction Program. She received her B.A. in English - Creative Writing from Mississippi University for Women in 2023, where she was the Editor-in-Chief for Merge Literary Journal and The Dilettanti Creative Journal. Her creative interests include magical realism, philosophical fiction, and thrillers.
	Kerem Topcu A Ph.D student from Turkey with a Circassian background, Kerem Topcu received his BA from Istanbul University and MA from Yeditepe University. An avid reader of literary theory; his interests mainly lie in post-structuralism, psychoanalytic literary criticism, transgressive fiction, post-colonialism, and modernism. He is also the English Language editor of Journal of Caucasian Studies (JOCAS), an internationally peer-reviewed journal that chiefly publishes articles about the literature, sociology, geography, and politics of the Caucasus. Also a translator, the works Kerem translated range from Bram Stoker to H. P. Lovecraft.