2025 Northern Lights Journal Contributors

From the Co-Editors-in-Chief

Welcome to the largest Northern Lights Literary & Arts Journal to date. Our growth and development are a testament to the quality of all the  submissions and the hard work of the editors.  

This journal wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of many, so we’d like to express our gratitude. To UWGB’s Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee — your support makes this publication a reality. To our editorial team — your care and hard work shaped every page. To our professor, Tracy Fernandez Rysavy — thank you for guiding us through the process with wisdom and a lot of patience. To the submitters — having the courage to share such meaningful pieces as well as a part of yourselves. And to you, our reader — thank you for your support. 

Within these pages, you’ll find stories that transport, poems that paint vivid emotions, and artwork that speaks in ways words cannot. These pieces combine to give a unique voice to the community of UWGB. We’re immensely proud of this year’s edition, and we can’t wait for you to explore it. Enjoy the journey. 

Northern Lights Co-Editors-in-Chief
Tiffany Jablonowski & Ginger Knauer

View 2025 Issue 

Staff List

Meet the people who were hard at work selecting pieces, helping writers edit, compiling the journal and marketing the 2025 issue across campus.

Co-Editors-in-Chief

Tiffany Jablonowski
Ginger Knauer

Marketing & Engagement

Sierra Nyokka

Editorial Staff

Sylvie Cavros
Clover Cicha
Kendall Cox
Shane Ewig
Jenna Fintelmann
Katie Frank
Aiden Gervais
Julia Hahn
Alex Lopez
Neesa Peak
Mia Perez-Behringer
Payton Rhyner
Brooke Schoening
Cheyenne Shull
Noah Spellich
Seth Van Ess
Karrie Wortner

Advisor/Graphic Design

Tracy Fernandez Rysavy

2025 Contributors

Musa Abdikadir ("The Phoenix Rises") is a sophomore majoring in English and an avid lover of literature and art. He mainly writes creative fiction but will write the occasional poem, though he’s only completed one. He’s from Green Bay.

Kira Ashbeck ("Sunday Stroll"; "Inevitable"; "Entangled") is a UWGB graduate from north-central Wisconsin. Kira’s goal as a nature photographer is to inspire viewers to engage in nature conservation.

Shia Chang ("My Fermi") is currently working toward a Writing and Applied Arts degree with an 
emphasis in Editing and Publishing. She says, “At the moment, I feel as if I just can’t write.”

Paul Christopherson ("Gnawing") attends the Green Bay campus. 

Keileigh Doll ("the 'perfect' girl") writes, "I'm a freshman at UWGB, majoring in entrepreneurship with a minor in environmental science. I never really enjoyed writing 'til college when I got to experience different and unique ways to format an essay and have the ability to write with my creativity."

Shane Ewig ("Night") writes, “I am a Writing and Applied Arts major with emphasis in Game Writing.  I fell in love with horror and gothic literature in elementary school and started writing seriously in high school. I love playing video games and hope to write stories for them one day.”

Owen Fezatte ("Ripples"; "Northern Lights") writes, “I am a first-year business student at UWGB. I graduated from DePere High School, and I enjoy writing poetry in my free time.”

Courtney Fitzgerald ("Untitled Photo"; "Petrified Wood"; "The Sun Will Rise") writes, “I’m a first-year psych major at the main UW-Green Bay campus. I’ve been doing photography for about seven years on and off. I’ve been writing poetry for many years.”

Teresa L. Harvey ("Night Violators"; "Body Image") is a full-time Special Education Paraprofessional and is majoring in English and minoring in Education at UWGB.

Brady Hurst ("The Book of Stars") is a primarily a fantasy writer but appreciates using imagery and symbolism to tell all forms of stories. He hopes to one day publish a series of his own.

Aspen Hirschberg ("Root Rot (It'll Come for You Eventually")) is a writer and artist from Appalachia, and a current student at UWGB. They primarily create speculative fiction and horror. This is their first time publishing their writing.

Arizona Iding ("Five Years Old") is in the Writing and Applied Arts program, focusing on game writing. They/he enjoys camping, dungeons and dragons, and has an obsession with the anime Yuri on Ice.

Allie Jaworski (Untitled Photo) is a sophomore at UWGB majoring in accounting. She enjoys taking pictures on her film camera of the places she visits.

Natalie Johnson ("The One Who Watches") is in her second year at UW- Green Bay pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Writing and Applied Arts. She enjoys writing poetry, abstract short stories, and is currently drafting several longer tales. She hopes her writing can bring others a sense of wonder.

Matt Jones ("Wading at Dusk") is a pre-med philosophy major. He enjoys writing poetry, spending time outdoors, and long nights.

Erin Karsten ("Hannah"; "Late November Apples"; "Horse Fence") is an artist from Green Bay, WI, working in the fields of photography, sculpture, and painting. A lifelong learner, she is currently in pursuit of a second Bachelor’s in Studio Arts at UWGB. In her free time, she can be found working on her French fluency or playing with her cat Terrance.

Ginger Knauer ("Mirror Image") is co-editor-in-chief of Northern Lights 2025, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the punk band Wasted Pretty, and a writer with a fierce love for loud riffs and raw words.

Samantha Marie Landvick ("Someday") writes, "I am a Senior (by credit) at the UWGB campus majoring in Writing and Applied arts with an Emphasis in Editing & Publishing. I've staffed both the Sheepshead Review and the Teaching Press over my junior and senior years. I love to crochet, be outside, and, of course, write.

Verity M. Langan (Back cover: "The Visitor"; "Kingly"; "be the light"; "Through the Window"; "Fire Burning Under the Stars"; "Little Iron Box"; "Untitled Photo"): Poet, novelist, and visual artist, Verity is a multifaceted artist researching the intersection between written and visual storytelling. From stop-motion short art films set to her poetry to highly textured, sculptural paintings, her work is visceral, engaging, and soulful. 

Alexander J. Lopez ("Cherub"; "Cuerpo Calloso (Corpus Callosum)") writes, “I’m a Writing and Applied arts student at the UWGB-Sheboygan campus. For me, writing has become a ritual that I can’t ever let go. It doesn’t matter what the method is, whether it be my play scripts, the text entry box on AO3, or my D&D journal, writing will always, in some way, express me. To write is to materialize your thoughts, so I’d say to never stop writing; at least, never stop thinking.”

Cassidy MacArthur ("Untitled Photo 1"; "Untitled Photo 2") is a 2022 graduate of UW-Green Bay. If there is a bird on the side of the road, she is probably pulling over to look at it.

Story Nelson ("Elevator") is a first-year student studying English and Spanish at UW-Green Bay. He enjoys creative hobbies like reading, writing, and art in his free time.

Michael Niemyjski ("Untitled Art") attends UWGB in pursuit of a creative writing degree and uses visual arts to bring his stories and characters to life.

Kristin Nigh ("Addiction") is a full-time online student through UWGB who is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in communication. Kristin writes, “I have returned to school after a 14-year break, and I’m enjoying learning new things.”

Sieria Ninnemann-Cobb ("The Harsh Waters") attends the Green Bay campus. 

Sierra Nyokka ("A Cartography of Blue") writes, “I am a human who aspires to create works of art both in literature and visually that connect us to our humanity.” 

Neesa Peak ("Past the End") is a full-time student enrolled in UWGB’s Writing and Applied Arts program. When not doing schoolwork, she can be found reading, petting her cats, and avoiding all possible social interactions. 

Madeline Perry ("What Happens After the Opera") is an aspiring novelist who likes to dabble in multiple genres, particularly the fantastical or eerie. She has been published in several editions of Sheepshead Review and won both the Fiction and Nonfiction categories in the Spring 2023 Phoenix Rising competition.

A.D. Powers ("Déjà Vu"; "Heat Death") is a writer from California currently attending UWGB. She primarily writes in the horror genre.

Payton Rhyner (Front Cover: "So Long We Become the Flowers"; "4 p.m. November 22"The Phoenix Rises") is a junior at UWGB majoring in Writing and Applied Arts with an emphasis in editing and publishing. She writes, “I was peer pressured into submitting this year (thanks, Tiffany) and wasn’t sure what to submit, so I chose a little bit of everything.” 

Kimberly Rouse ("Cacophony"; "Spider Cup") is an English major student whose motto is “knowing a little bit about a lot of things.” Reflective of this, she holds many hobbies and interests, including but not limited to: writing (primarily fiction and poetry), drawing, reading, gaming, crocheting (amigurumi), translating, and video editing. Though generally a quiet person, her head is full of thoughts desiring an outlet—either on the page or on the canvas—so she’s eager to be creative in any way she can.

Jennifer Russell ("I Trust You, Too) writes,”As a psychology major, it’s been a growing therapy technique to journal everything and basically, burn the book. This piece is part of a larger journal of every memory and detail I have from an old friend who I’m no longer with. I just decided to submit a section instead of burning it.” 

Brooke Schoening ("My Older Sister and I") has a secret double life as a roller derby jammer who goes by “Brooke Ruthless.” When she isn’t cutting through journal submissions like a literary grim reaper, Brooke can be found shoulder-checking Northern Lights editors who disagree with her and mobilizing them to investigate what really is in Seth Van Ess’s basement. She thinks it’s a portal.   

Dorothy Seehausen ("Revision") writes short stories for literary magazines and is a 1976 UWGB alum. Granddaughter Emma LeCloux, a professional artist, graduated with a psychology degree from UW-Milwaukee in 2024. This is their first artistic collaboration.

Chloe Smith ("The Empress") is a Writing and Applied Arts major who loves everything fiction and poetry. When Chloe was last published in Northern Lights, it was the sign they were looking for to switch their major to writing, and they are grateful every day that they did.

Noah Spellich ("The Snowman's Cry"; "Golden Sun"; "Fire in the Sky") writes, “I am a Creative Writing major at UW-Green Bay who will be graduating in the spring. I enjoy writing short stories and poetry in my free time, but my eventual goal is to become a successful novelist.”

Vanessa Stalvey ("Captain"; "In Defense of Shadows") is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She is double majoring in Writing and Applied Arts and Creative Writing and minoring in Psychology.

Rebecca Stewart ("An Undying Companion") is an English major at UWGB ('25) and lives in Sheboygan with her wife, Alyssia. A lover of all things gothic literature, she will continue her education in Chicago after graduation, where she will work towards a Ph.D. in English specializing in nineteenth-century studies.

Casey Sturzenegger ("Grandpa") attends the Green Bay campus. 

Sydney Tackes ("Corroded Façade") writes, "I am a returning student who is working toward getting a nursing degree and recently rediscovered my love for writing. I have a calico cat that I love dearly and live in a small town but have big city ambitions."

Joseph D. Warner ("Untitled Photo 1"; "Untitled Photo 2") is a transfer senior who is pursuing an art major. Joseph is a birdwatcher and a jack-of-all-trades sort of person.

Karrie Wortner ("My Voice"; "Untitled Photo 1"; "Untitled Photo 2") writes, “I am a UWGB Junior majoring in Writing and Applied Arts. I love art in all forms, books, paintings, photography, food, language. I believe there is art in everything. I love to travel, and I am on my journey to figure out how to combine my loves of art, travel, and writing into one happy little package.” 

Grace Zander ("To Worship the Moon") is a junior at UWGB studying Writing and Applied Arts. She hopes to become a book editor when she graduates.