Leaders

Samantha Gerken (She/Her)

Editor-In-Chief, Graphic Designer

Senior

Samantha is a senior at George Mason University pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art & Visual Technology, with a Graphic Design concentration. She enjoys making designs and artwork, reading, creative writing, and music. Her love for storytelling has flourished at The Forge, and she finds joy in working on the publication’s art and editing. In the future, she strives to work as a professional graphic designer and illustrator.

Nawaal Nackerdien (She/Her)

Managing Editor, Illustrator, Marketing Team

Senior

Nawaal is a senior at George Mason University pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a minor in Professional and Technical Writing. Her concentration is in fiction. She enjoys both writing and reading, dabbling in the arts and more. She hopes to go into the publishing field, focusing on fantasy and sci-fi. In her (very little) free time, Nawaal watches anime, tries scaling degrees of cursed hot chocolate and hopes to finish her never-ending sketchbook.

Areeza Abbasi (She/Her)

Art & Design Director, Graphic Designer, Marketing Team

Sophomore

Areeza is a sophomore, majoring in Computer Science. She enjoys historical fantasy and political dramas, across novels, manga, and games. Her creative passions center on writing and drawing, often illustrating characters from her own stories. She loves experimenting with color palettes in art to set mood and give each story its own aesthetic! Currently, she’s been working for magazines, children’s storybooks, and interning for the College of Science as a data analyst. But eventually, she hopes to publish novels!

Nadi Meyer (They/Them)

Marketing Consultant, Editor, Graphic Designer

Senior

Nadi Meyer is a copy editor, marketing consultant, and graphic designer for The Forge. They’re also a journalist for Spoon University and the creator of The Neurospicy Nugget, a blog blending creativity, humor, and neurodivergence. When not writing or designing, Nadi can be found gaming, thrifting for vintage finds, or hanging out with their rescue dog, Tiger.

Staff

Abigail Snodgrass

Editor, Illustrator

Abigail is a third year student at George Mason University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Politics with a concentration in Law, Philosophy, and Governance. She loves reading, writing, and drawing all things fantasy and science fiction–especially delightfully bad paperbacks. As an editor with The Forge, she hopes that her background in government will help her highlight authors who use speculative storytelling to comment on contemporary political issues.

Donovan Mitchell

Editor

Donovan is a sophomore at Mason pursuing a degree in English. They can be seen sketching and reading in their spare time. He loves writing action-packed scenes and showcasing the inner thoughts of his characters. His admiration for speculative fiction, combined with his love for writing, led to him joining The Forge.

Grace Tongnobhakun

Editor, Illustrator, Graphic Designer, Web Developer

Grace Tongnobhakun is an illustrator and aspiring graphic and web designer. She is a junior in the Art and Visual Technology Major with a concentration in Graphic Design. In her free time, she enjoys researching history, animating, and making art from her stories. She joined The Forge to show her love for writing and illustrating fantasy.

Jenny Whitehead

Editor

Jenny is an undergraduate student in her junior year currently studying Literature. She spends her free time hiking Virginia trails with her two dogs and life partner, gathering inspiration for her novel, and occasionally snapping photos to paint later. Her love for writing, and the talented writing community of GMU led her to join The Forge.

Megan Cobb

Editor

Megan is an undergraduate English and Publishing student pursuing a career in editing. In their free time they enjoy obsessing over vampires and finding a great speculative novel to curl up with. As a writer, they love exploring the bounds of creative nonfiction. They joined The Forge to help highlight upcoming voices in speculative fiction.

Natalia Lutes

Editor

Natalia is a junior at Mason currently pursuing a BFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in fiction. While studying at Mason, she aims to strengthen a lifelong love of storytelling and grow in her technical skill as a writer. As an editor on The Forge, Natalia hopes her talent for language will be helpful in highlighting the work of talented creatives and supporting a diverse community of artists who also enjoy telling interesting stories.

Theodore Tran

Editor

Theodore, or “Teddy,” is a junior at George Mason University who is pursuing an English degree with a concentration in Fictional Creative Writing. He enjoys reading/writing dark literature, obscure fantasy, and cosmic horror novels. Hobbies include playing video games and watching shows and movies that inspire him to write his own novel. He joined The Forge in search of inspiration, experience, connections, learning opportunities to expand his horizons in storytelling and to help others pursue their dreams.

Ace Carrasco

Illustrator, Web Developer

Ace is a junior illustrator for The Forge. She has a love for Classical antiquity and Greek Mythology. In her work, she takes inspiration from the ocean, stars, and mythology and combines that with her love of figure drawing. In her free time, she loves playing her current favorite video games, watching musicals, and exploring museums.

Ann Rodriguez 

Illustrator

Ann is a junior at George Mason University, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, with a concentration in Clinical Psychology. She enjoys illustrating, painting, and writing. She is also a Peer Consultant for The Writing Center. Her love for Sci-fi and Fantasy goes hand in hand with her love for Psychology, since she can explore the complexities of the human mind through mystical worlds; there are real-world psychological theories in this genre, which is what interests her the most!

Lorien Espino

Illustrator, Marketing Team, Web Developer

Lorien is a junior at George Mason University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. Her concentration is Web Development. Ever since she was a child, her favorite hobby is drawing and admiring all types of art of every genre and medium. She is passionate about using art alongside marketing and technology to enhance all three fields, which makes working with The Forge a great and fun experience.

Marian Claros Barrientos

Illustrator, Graphic Designer,  Marketing Team, and Web Developer

Marian is a senior at George Mason pursuing a Bachelor of Studio Arts degree and a Pre-pharmacy with a minor in graphic design. She enjoys writing, technology, painting, creating illustrations with magical concepts, and animations related to her personal projects. She works on zines, magazines, and illustrated books, and she hopes to publish her personal work either as a novel or an animated series.

Armin Khazai 

Web Developer

Armin Khazai is a junior at George Mason university pursuing a bachelor’s of science in computer science. He enjoys lifting, listening to music, jogging, and programming. He works mainly on accessibility and adaptive development to ensure that The Forge website is responsive to all devices. He is looking forward to use his skills from various work experiences to help out with the team and be an efficient team player.

Arrie Lee

Editor, Graphic Designer

Emma Li

Editor, Illustrator, Marketing Team

Katherine Konzelman

Editor

Zachary Grimm

Editor

Mj Gomez-Salazar 

Illustrator, Graphic Designer

Mu Ying Yong 

Illustrator, Graphic Designer, Web Developer

Beth Moskal

Marketing Team

Debora Mutombo

Marketing Team

Lana El-Khatib

Marketing Team

Jeb Hunt

Web Developer

Kavin Velmurugan 

Web Developer