About
Strip Mall Magazine is a literary publication based out of the MFA program at California Institute of the Arts.
We're named for the infamous suburban sprawl of Southern California, home to CalArts, and perhaps the strip mall capital of the world. For a lot of people, strip malls are places of ridicule. Self-negating in their ugliness, they represent the worst of America's instinct to bulldoze, impose, and forget. But for us, strip malls are also cornerstones of community; sites of delight and discovery.
At Strip Mall Magazine, we're most interested in works that experiment with narrative and form, and fall between gaps in genre. Works that remind you that, even in the midst of ugliness, there are unseen possibilities--another street, another corner, another strip mall, in which you might find exactly what you're looking for.
You can view our submission guidelines here
Our Team
Natalia Aris
Co Editor-in-Chief
Natalia (She/They) is a writer originally from Turkey. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and is now working on her MA at CalArts. Her interests include video games, researching and writing fanfiction, drinking wine (especially with her dad) and discovering new trinkets to be obsessed with. She likes making her hyperfixations everybody's problem. In her fiction, she likes working with familial trauma and literary fiction that includes elements of horror and romance. Natalia's favorite strip mall is one in Houston, Texas, where she can indulge in a bowl of extra spicy pho.
Jeremy Giles
Co Editor-in-Chief
Jeremy (He/Him) writes climate and speculative fiction and poetry about the end of the world, among other things. He has a degree from Johns Hopkins in Writing Seminars and International Studies. Currently, he is an MFA Candidate at CalArts. His work can be found @jeremygileswrites and jeremygileswrites.com. He spends his free time hiking across random trails and getting sugar-free fruit pops at the Von’s in the strip mall a half mile from campus.
NEW TEAM POSITIONS & mEMBERS COMING SOON!!!
Past staff
Katie Clemmer— Editor-in-Chief, Head Non-Fiction Editor
Jay Oandasan— Head Fiction, Head Poetry Editor
Caroline Vasquez— Head Non-Fiction Editor, Head Visual Art Editor
Grace “West” Lyde— Head Social Media
Berlin Mair— Founding Editor-in-Chief
Tamar Bresge— Head Poetry Editor
Anna Dória— Poetry Editor
Davan Hamilton— Fiction Editor
Analise Roth— Head Fiction Editor
Elizabeth McKee— Non-Fiction Editor
Jason Peckham— Poetry Editor, Visual Arts Editor, Graphic Design
Kini Sosa— Contributing Editor, Graphic Design
Melanie O’Hara— Communications