Bear Review | About

About

Bear Review is a reader’s stash of literary magazines in a hollow trunk in the woods.

Or, Bear Review is a journal in which readers wake to strange yet welcoming animal sounds outside their vestibules.

Or, Bear Review is a journal in which readers tend a seed bed for books.

And, Bear Review keeps a reader’s quiet fires stoked throughout the coldest nights.

Join us.

Read about us on Newpages and The Review Review.

Masthead

Co-founding Co-editors

Marcus Myers, originally from Hot Springs, Arkansas, lives in Kansas City, Missouri and works as an educator. A finalist in the 2019, 92nd Street Y’s Discovery Poetry Contest, his poems have appeared in or are forthcoming from The Common, The Cortland Review, The Florida Review, Hunger Mountain, Just Place, The Laurel Review, Mid-American Review, The National Poetry Review, RHINO, Salt Hill, Sink Review, Tar River Poetry, TYPO, Yes Poetry, Windfall Room and other journals. He has a chapbook Cloud Sanctum [A letter to my daughter] (Bottlecap Press, 2022) and is working on a full-length manuscript.

B Rivka Clifton is the author of Muzzle (forthcoming JackLeg Press). Their work can be found in: Pleiades, Guernica, Cincinnati Review, Salt Hill, Prairie Schooner, The Journal, and other such magazines. Rivka is an avid record collector and curator of curiosities.

Co-Editors

Nikki Ummel is a queer artist, editor, and educator in New Orleans. Nikki has been published or has work forthcoming with Gulf Coast, The Georgia Review, Black Lawrence Press, and others. She is the 2022 recipient of the Leslie McGrath Poetry Prize and 2023 recipient of the Juxtaprose Poetry Award for her manuscript, Bloom. Nikki is the co-founder of LMNL, an arts organization focused on readings, workshops, and residencies. She has two poetry chapbooks, Hush (Belle Point Press, 2022) and Bayou Sonata (NOLA DNA, 2023), funded by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. You can find her on the web at www.nikkiummel.com

Mason Wray's poetry has appeared in Ploughshares, New Ohio Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Diode, and elsewhere. A recipient of support from Bread Loaf and the Ruth Stone House, he holds an MFA in poetry from Ole Miss and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Alex Tretbar is the author of the chapbooks According to the Plat Thereof (Ethel, 2025) and Kansas City Gothic (Broken Sleep, 2025). As a Writers for Readers Fellow with the Kansas City Public Library, he teaches free writing classes to the community. Poems and nonfiction appear or are forthcoming in Always Crashing, APARTMENT, Bat City Review, Coma, Full Stop, Kenyon Review, like a field, Poetry Northwest, Protean, Sixth Finch, The Threepenny Review, and elsewhere.

Maggie Warren is a queer and disabled poet who writes about love and toads. They work as an adjunct English instructor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where they earned their Master’s Degree of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Media Arts in 2024. Their work has appeared in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Half Mystic Journal, and Bear Review. You can find more of their work at maggiewarren.com.

James King is a poet and editor from New Hampshire. His work has appeared in The Shore, Passages North, Exposition Review, and others. He holds an MFA and Certificate in Publishing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is the 2020 recipient of the Academy of American Poets Prize from Dartmouth College, a finalist in the 2023 NC State Poetry Competition, and has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. Find him online at jamesedwardking.net and on Instagram @jamn_king.

Quinn Franzen is an Oahu-raised, Brooklyn-based actor, editor, musician, and tutor. His poetry can be read in Pleiades, Fugue, The Journal, Sonora Review, and others. He received his MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. His acting work can be seen on TV, on- and off-Broadway, and in regional theaters across the country. Quinn is Leon’s dad. www.quinnfranzen.com

Art Editor, Reader

Katherine Kallas is a poet based in Kansas City, Missouri. Her writing has been published in Shadows Journal, Spires Journal, Contemporary Verse 2, and others. Katherine is currently pursuing her BFA in Creative Writing and Sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Book Review Editor, Reader

Jay Aja (they / he) is a poet and comics artist. They identify as nonbinary, transgender queer, and second-generation-immigrant Guyanese. Jay’s word has been supported by the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop and the National Women’s Book Association. He has poetry forthcoming in Foglifter and has written poetry book reviews for Bear Review, Atticus Review, Saw Palm: Florida Literature and Art, and GRIFFEL. Find more of their poetry, comics, and book reviews on social media @comicsbhaijay

Co-Editor, Web Editor

Mason D. Arnold holds an MA in English from Northwest Missouri State University and works in KC as a graphic designer. He has work published in Medium Weight Forks and Sagebrush Review.