Meet the Team
Editor-in-Chief
Julian Kanagy
Julian Kanagy is a Chicago-based poet and editor. His poetry samples a Midwestern upbringing peppered with loss and abandonment, thrives both in the confines of formal structure and the simplicity of its absence, and expands into an ongoing search for the beauty in everyday life when it seems to be hiding. He started Heirlock Magazine to amplify underrepresented voices and The Wild Umbrella to celebrate writing for writing's sake; both as an editor and in his own work, Julian follows the advice of a mentor: “find the poems that nobody else could have written.”
Managing Editor
Rose Costello
A love of language and literature has helped Rose Costello to make a living at home in Ireland and abroad for more than 30 years, first as an English teacher, then as a journalist, writer and editor. She has written contemporary fiction, historical fiction, children’s stories and poetry. Over the past two years, she has fallen in love with the short story form and is focusing on that. Based in Dublin, she is perpetually planning to move westwards.
Managing Editor
Emily Linehan
Emily, a Tipperary native, has shown a great interest in all things literature from a young age. She has been published in the anthology Cork Words 2, Motley Magazine, thecurrent.ie, and is a 2021 runner-up in UCC's Eoin Murray Scholarship. After completing her M.Phil in Creative Writing with Trinity, she is currently teaching with Fighting Words, and working on her novel.
Managing Editor
Grant Burkhardt
Grant Burkhardt is a poet and writer with work featured in or forthcoming in the Great Lakes Review, Nightingale & Sparrow, Icarus, and others. His poem - 'The Thing About People Knowing You Cook' - is a 2023 Sundress Publications 'Best of the Net' nominee. He’s also one of the Umbrella's poetry editors and non-fiction editors.
Poetry Editor
Claire Beaver
Claire Beaver is a multidisciplinary writer living and working in New York. Her work has been featured in Last Leaves Magazine, Outspoken, Victory Lapped, and more. Her first chapbook, bones, ashes, fire, was recently released from Bottlecap Press. She is passionate about the power of art and how we interact with it in our daily lives, whether that be conscious or not. She will earn an M. Phil in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin in 2024.
Fiction Editor
Mina El Attar
Mina El Attar, a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Trinity College Dublin (2024), crafts contemporary short stories that pulse with emotional depth. Her explorations of relationships and friendships, rendered in a captivating stream of consciousness style, invite readers into the intricate landscapes of the human heart. With an innate talent for exploring the intricate human psyche, Mina's stories offer readers a vivid and empathetic window into the complexities of human connection.
Fiction & Non-Fiction Editor
Clarisse Helou
Clarisse Helou is a fiction editor and non-fiction editor at the Umbrella. She also is one of our Submissions Directors.
Fiction & Non-Fiction Editor
Ally Keegan
Ally Keegan is twenty-three years old and lives in Cork. She studied English at University College Cork before going on to do a masters in Creative Writing in Trinity College Dublin. Ally primarily writes short stories but has ideas of a novel for the hopefully-not-too-distant future. As well as reading and writing, she enjoys listening to music, rewatching the same four TV shows and drinking way too much tea and coffee.
Fiction Editor
Katie Moats
Katie Moats likes to write about relationships that just don’t work. She has a BA in English from Penn State and an M.Phil. in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin (2024), and when she’s not writing, she likes to travel and cheer on her favorite sports teams. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Katie is currently trying to figure out where she’ll put down roots next.
Non-Fiction Editor
Róisín Sheerin
Róisín has performed in a number of roles including poet, actress and comedian. Having just completed the M. Phil in Creative Writing at Trinity, and turning her writing hand to non-fiction, she is mostly appearing these days as herself.
Fiction Editor
Angela Thoma
Angela, a writer hailing from greater Boston, holds a master's degree in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin (2024). She writes short fiction that explores the intricate dynamics of family bonds, the immigrant experience, and the process of cultural assimilation. You can find her most recent work in New Square, the official publication of the Sancho Panza Literary Society. In addition to her creative pursuits, Angela's journalistic contributions have appeared in numerous Massachusetts newspapers and prominent online platforms, including MarketScale, Killing Kittens, and Fabl. She is currently working on her first novel.
The Wild Umbrella's Mission
The Wild Umbrella originated in Dublin, in the house where Oscar Wilde was born. Our team met as postgraduate creative writing classmates mastering our respective crafts; since then, we have been united in the goal of discovering, promoting, and publishing the best and most interesting works of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction we can find in Ireland and beyond. It's free to submit to us, and we also aim to pay our contributors. To help us maintain both, you can donate to our FundRazr or follow us on social media.