About Us

Cindy Bradley was the chief editor for this issue, 2026. Cindy is an essayist and memoirist who earned an MFA in creative writing (nonfiction) from Fresno State University. Her writing has appeared in 45th Parallel, Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, Empty Mirror, The Missouri Review, and Under the Sun, among others. Her work has received a Notable mention in Best American Essays, and she is a Pushcart Prize nominee. Cindy is currently seeking publication for her essay collection, which explores desire and discontent, family, and nostalgia in California during the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, and beyond. Her website is http://www.cindybradleywriter.com/, and you can find her on Bluesky @cindybradleywriter.bsky.social.

“Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold,” is the thought that comes to Martha Highers when she reflects on her life with literature. She is grateful to the many writers who have contributed to Under the Sun for giving her new, uncharted territories to explore. She is equally grateful to her sister/fellow readers for helping guide the craft on these adventures. She writes mostly in the genres of poetry, creative nonfiction, and the response letter. She reads, writes, and edits from a small farm in Tennessee. For the 2026 issue she acted as assistant editor to Cindy Bradley and did website design.

Miriam Mandel Levi is a retired speech-language pathologist turned writer and editor. Her work has appeared most recently in JMWW Journal, MoonPark, Sunlight Press, Persimmon Tree, Flash Frog, Forge, River Teeth, Under the Gum Tree, Bending Genres, Flash the Court, and Hippocampus. Her stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. She lives in Israel. This year Miriam edited “The Marker” and “Dreams” and assisted with the About Us page.

Jere Mitchum is Associate Professor Emeritus of English at Tennessee Technological University, where he taught courses in American literature and technical/professional writing during his tenure. He has been with Under the Sun since 2014. His interests include computer graphics, vocal music, and travel. He has sung in choirs, barbershop quartets and community choruses for more than thirty years. His travel destinations include Europe, Australia and the Far East.

Christiaan van der Merwe is a writer based in Cape Town, South Africa. He has worked as a journalist and editor and most recently debunks misinformation about climate change for a pan-African NGO. In addition to being a reader this year, Chris edited “Family Tree” and “Wound Care.”

Cate Touryan writes under her pen name–derived from her middle name and mother’s maiden name–to distinguish herself from a well-known NY Times bestselling author Ann Neumann, whose emails regularly appear in her inbox. Sadly, Cate had to decline the Pulitzer Center’s request to republish her Harper’s Magazine article on the small matter of the article not being hers. Her recent essay was, however, nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best American Essays, so perhaps there is some hope she will live up to her actual name. Cate has recently returned to writing fiction and creative nonfiction after a rewarding career as a university writing instructor, copy editor, and professional writing consultant. Her debut coming-of-age novel Turning Toward Eden released in May 2025. Although mostly retired, under her better-known name she continues to teach courses in technical writing for forensic scientists and criminalists, taking surreptitious notes for future novels. Cate lives on California’s wildflower-dotted central coast with her husband, a charm of hummingbirds, a lounge of lizards, and a rafter of turkeys—as in both a whole bunch of them and in the rafters. Cate/Ann edited “A Real State” this year.

A retired Anthropology Professor and author of seven academic books, Elizabeth Bird turned to personal writing in 2022. Her first publication was in Under the Sun; that essay, “Interlude: 1941,” became a Notable in Best American Essays 2023. Since then, her work has appeared in Consequence, Streetlight, Biostories, Cleaver, Summerset Review, and elsewhere. Her work has been recognized through three Pushcart nominations and a Best of the Net nomination. Her website is: www.lizbirdwrites.com.

Born and raised in Georgia, Monic Ductan now lives in Tennessee, where she teaches creative writing and literature at Tennessee Tech University. Monic’s work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Southeast Review, Shenandoah, Oxford American, South Carolina Review, Water~Stone Review, The Fourth River, and Arkansas Review. She received the 2019 Denny C. Plattner Award in nonfiction from Appalachian Review for her essay “Fantasy Worlds,” which was also listed as notable in Best American Essays 2019. Her short story collection Daughters of Muscadine came out in fall 2023, and has won numerous awards, including the Tennessee Book Award for fiction (judged by Edwidge Danticat). She is currently at work on a novel.

Mark Liebenow writes about nature, prostate cancer, grief, and the wisdom of fools. The author of four books, his essays, poems, and critical reviews have appeared in over 50 literary and medical journals. His work has been named a Notable Essay by Best American Essays and nominated for five Pushcart Prizes. He posts weekly about cancer on his Substack account, Dissolving Mountains, and his account of hiking in Yosemite to cope with his first wife’s death, Mountains of Light, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. He studied English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and creative nonfiction at Bradley University. http://www.markliebenow.com

 A six-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Anthony J. Mohr’s work has appeared in, among other places, Commonweal, DIAGRAM, Hippocampus Magazine, Los Angeles Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Soundings East, The MacGuffin, The Main Street Rag, War, Literature & the Arts, ZYZZYVA, Streetlight Magazine, and The Thieving Magpie. His debut memoir Every Other Weekend—Coming of Age With Two Different Dads was published in 2023. From 1994 to 2021, Mohr served as a judge on the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, and still sits on a part-time basis. He is a 2021 fellow of Harvard’s Advanced Leadership initiative and currently is co-managing editor of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative’s Social Impact Review. He is honored and proud to be a reader for Under the Sun.

Mari Ramler is an associate professor of English at Tennessee Technological University. She writes academic scholarship, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Her creative work has appeared in Chiron Review, Taco Bell Quarterly, LETTERS Journal, Folklore Review, Susurrus, After Hours, Hypertext Magazine, Survive and Thrive, and The Iris Review, among others. Her co-edited volume of critical autoethnographies, Purity Culture, Bodies, and Beliefs, is available through Penn State University Press. Her book on religious trauma is currently under review, and she is working on a memoir.

Terri Sutton holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College and has taught writing courses and workshops in the Milwaukee area and written critical reviews for Next Act Theatre and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Her essays have appeared in Solstice Magazine, The Best of Milwaukee Writer’s Circle Anthology, and Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife. Currently she is working on a collection of essays about family and politics.

Ashley Adler earned a BA in English/Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. Her nonfiction has appeared in or is forthcoming from Third Coast, Streetlight Magazine, Under the Sun, The Summerset Review, and Toasted Cheese Literary Journal (as Ashley Adler) and Ascent, Delmarva Review, and Midway Journal (as Ashley Aquila)

Lorraine Hanlon Comanor is a former U.S. figure skating champion, U.S. team member, and board-certified anesthesiologist. A graduate of Harvard University (BA), Stanford Medical School (MD), and the Bennington Writing Seminars (MFA), she is the author or coauthor of 35 medical publications. Her personal essays—two notables in Best American Essays, three nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and one for Best of the Net—have appeared in New England Review, Boulevard, New Letters, Consequence, Joyland, LitMag, The Rumpus, and Newsweek, among 24 others. Her memoir is forthcoming from Legacy Books in 2027.

Originally from Colorado, Krista Beucler earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Drexel University. She is a winner of the Julia Peterkin Award, and her creative work has been published in The Timberline Review, Mulberry Literary, and South 85 Journal, among others. Her fantasy novella, The Necromancer, was published by Running Wild & RIZE Press in their Novella Anthology Volume 9.1.

Richard Doran is a consulting engineer in the British construction industry, an admittedly somewhat unconventional career path after earning his BA in English. He has worked with some of the world’s premier architects and been involved in the design of many notable buildings in London, the UK, Europe, the Middle East and the US. Despite all that, he has managed to fit in stints of Formula Ford racing and playing guitar in rock bands on the London circuit. Aside from literature and music, his interests are travel, history, art, motor racing (regular at the Le Mans 24 Hours), photography and flamenco. He also possesses an as yet unfulfilled aspiration to lower his golf handicap. He writes occasional poems and reviews for his own (and very close friends’) amusement. He lives in southwest London.

Dave Larsen graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in English Literature and Business Administration. After serving two years in the Marine Corps, he began a 28-year career in the Finance Department of The Boeing Company. Dave began writing memoirs almost twenty years ago as therapy and has been published in a few literary journals, most proudly in Under the Sun. He continues to run the winery that he founded 36 years ago and is married with three children.

Sydney Foster graduated from Tennessee Tech University in 2026 with a B. A. in English, creative writing concentration. She interned with Under the Sun as a reader for the fall of 2025.

Ann Lewald was a founding member of the nonprofit board and worked as a reader for the journal for nearly 20 years.  Formerly an English and Developmental English instructor at Tennessee Tech, Ann is a valued and active member of the Upper Cumberland poetry scene and a dedicated supporter of other writers.  She is a poet and has been published in numerous journals.

Born and raised in Georgia, Monic Ductan now lives in Tennessee, where she teaches creative writing and literature at Tennessee Tech University. Monic’s work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Southeast Review, Shenandoah, Oxford American, South Carolina Review, Water~Stone Review, The Fourth River, and Arkansas Review. She received the 2019 Denny C. Plattner Award in nonfiction from Appalachian Review for her essay “Fantasy Worlds,” which was also listed as notable in Best American Essays 2019. Her short story collection Daughters of Muscadine came out in fall 2023, and has won numerous awards, including the Tennessee Book Award for fiction (judged by Edwidge Danticat). She is currently at work on a novel.

Jeff Johnson is an Associate Professor specializing in American Literature at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan. He has undergaduate and Master’s degrees in English from Tennessee Tech University and a PhD in English from Harvard University.  His research specialty is Appalachian revenge literature.  Born and raised in Livingston, Tennessee, he maintains a home there and a summer presence in that community.