Spring 2025 Editorial Team
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF—SARAH PACHOLSKI
Sarah Pacholski (they/them) is a senior at the University of Nebraska Omaha. They currently serve as the Editor-in-Chief of 13th Floor Magazine for the Spring 2025 issue. They were on the visual arts editing team for the Spring 2024 issue and were also a part of the general editing team of The Metropolitan Magazine. They specialize in poetry & creative nonfiction and dabble in visual arts in their spare time.
Spring 2025 Issue Mission: What I look forward to when receiving submissions as Editor-in-Chief is seeing how people play with the basic craft elements of their genre. I enjoy seeing the unique ways that writers play with sound and imagery by using alliteration or metaphors. Or how artists make art that challenges the expectations of focal points and tackles the pathos of its audience.
CREATIVE NONFICTION—MADI PALMER
Madi Palmer holds an Associate of the Arts degree in Creative Writing from Metropolitan Community College. She is currently pursuing a BFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) and a minor in Editing & Publishing in the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Nebraska Omaha. She serves as the Creative Nonfiction Editor for UNO’s 13th Floor Magazine. In her own writing, Madi explores the stigmas around mental health and motherhood.
Spring 2025 Issue Mission: I am drawn to CNF that break down barriers and the stigmas of topics
that society often shies away from. I am looking for bold truth telling from writers who are unapologetically themselves. I want pieces that will spark conversation and create growth in those who read it.
FICTION EDITOR—ISA WRIGHT
Isa Wright is a Jewish author pursuing a BFA in Creative Writing (fiction) at the University of Nebraska Omaha’s Writer’s Workshop. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts from Metropolitan Community College’s Creative Writing program. This is her second time appearing on the masthead of 13th Floor Magazine.
Spring 2025 Issue Mission: In prose, I love stories that escalate, crack, and sizzle—whether that be through humor, horror, or the bizarre. I am a proponent of the short and sweet, but no matter the length I want stories that grab me and don’t let go. Surprises are always welcome, especially when they push the boundaries of form and language. The fiction team this year is hoping to read more screenplays, but we look forward to seeing your fiction in any form.
POETRY EDITOR—ANNA LISA
Anna Lisa is currently a sophomore at the University of Nebraska Omaha. She is a double major in English and Creative Writing. Her work has been published in 13th Floor Magazine, and she is serving as Poetry Editor for the spring 2025 issue. She is also the current Vice President of the UNO Writing Club. Her writing explores grief through the lens of the Midwestern landscape.
Spring 2025 Issue Mission: I hope to receive work from marginalized voices and Nebraska natives. It is my goal to give space to those who feel underrepresented in the landscape and society of Nebraska.
VISUAL ART EDITOR—CORTNEY KAY GARDNER
Cortney Kay Gardner is a senior at the University of Nebraska Omaha, pursuing a BFA in Creative Writing (fiction) in the Writer’s Workshop. She spends most of her time on her novels—exploring social concepts through a fantastical lens. She was an assistant poetry editor for 13th Floor Magazine in Spring 2024 before becoming the Visual Arts Editor. She attends the monthly Omaha Fiction Workshop to continue collaborating with fellow writers and developing her craft.
Spring 2025 Issue Mission: I am often fascinated by the way artists tweak the real world and expose the unreal. This is primarily because of my interest in genre fiction, but I believe every piece of art has a hint of unbelievable. I want my knowledge and worldview to be tested through art and the exposure of something I have never, and may never, get to see.
LAYOUT & DESIGN EDITOR—SARAH HAYDEN
Sarah Hayden is a University of Nebraska Omaha student, writer, and mother of two grown children. She is the Layout Editor of the UNO student run literary magazine, 13th Floor Magazine. While working towards her BFA in creative writing, working at the public library, and volunteering for the local community theater, she spends her free time listening to audiobooks, watching Murder She Wrote and annoying her family and dogs.
PROMOTIONS EDITOR—ELENA YANEZ
Elena Yanez is a junior at UNO. She is set to graduate in 2028 with a BFA in Creative Nonfiction and a minor in English. She is a librarian specialist for the Omaha Public Library. She is also on the staff for UNO’s 13th Floor Magazine as the Promotions Editor. Elena enjoys writing poetry and creative nonfiction along with painting. She is the proud mom of plants, animals, and a tiny human.
Explore 13th Floor Magazine
13th Floor Magazine is produced by the students in WRWS 3010 & 4010: Literary Magazine.
For detailed information about how to join the editorial team or about this course, please email the 13th Floor’s faculty advisor:
Dr. Lisa Fay Coutley at lcoutley@unomaha.edu or visit her office at 209 WFAB.
For detailed information about the journal’s inception, current editorial team, or reading series, visit our Facebook page here
Like us on Facebook and Instagram (@13thfloormagazine)
Submission Guidelines
Submission Period for Spring 2025
October 15, 2024 - March 1, 2025
What to Submit
- Poetry (3-5 poems)
- Creative Nonfiction (no more than 5,000 words)
- Fiction (no more than 5,000 words)
- Micro-fiction or nonfiction (500-750 words)
- Screenplay (no more than 3,000 words)
- Visual Art (3-5 pieces)
Feel free to submit to more than one genre and/or to send an excerpt of a longer work. You can also send just one piece of art or one poem, but sending 3-5 gives editors a wider range to consider.
We only ask that you send your best work for consideration and follow the guidelines here.
How to Submit
- Our editors read submissions blind, so please remove all identifying material from your submission—within the body of your writing and/or on your artwork.
- File names should include the title and genre of your work, such as "Poetry: Happy Days" (when sending art and/or poetry that includes more than one piece, please use the title of the first piece included in your submission, but do not include any part of your name).
- All submissions should be emailed to 13thfloormagazine@gmail.com.
- Include, in the body of your submission email, a third-person bio as outlined at the bottom.
- We accept written work in Word .doc/x or PDF and art in PNG or JPEG (at least 300 dpi).
Poetry: submit no more than 5 poems per submission with all poems in one file (one poem/page).
Prose: submit one story/essay/play per file. Be sure to double-space and to use page numbers.
Visual Art: please send high-resolution, quality images free of glare and distractions, and indicate your medium in the body of your email (e.g.: oil on canvas).
In your submission email, be sure to include a 50-word bio, written in the third person and noting your affiliation to UNO, as we only publish students, alumni, faculty, and staff of the university.