Editorial Staff

Kaitlyn Tully, Editor-in-Chief

Content editor (2022-2023)

Kaitlyn Tully is a senior Literature and APP major at PHC. Her childhood in Florida consisted primarily of exploring different mediums of storytelling including poetry, plays, short stories, and novels. She has always found great joy in reading classic literature and in writing her own stories. Admittedly, her very first character “JEmma” did not last very long (her attempt at spelling Jenna was thwarted by the limited letter stickers in her possession). This traumatic instance likely influenced her now severe disdain at naming characters. She has since switched primarily to literary criticism (mostly because there is no requirement to invent character names), and hopes to pursue a PhD in Literature along with a law degree next year.

Abbie Mourey, Content Editor

Abbie was born and raised in New York’s Southern Tier region. Her delight in books began as a child, while reading chapter books with her dad. Abbie’s love for classics was ignited after she read Pride and Prejudice for the first time at the age of thirteen. When she’s not working on a paper, you can find Abbie drinking coffee, taking long walks, a nd watching British TV shows. Abbie is a junior Literature major, and she is most looking forward to Lit Crit and Directed Research Writing projects.

Faith Thompson, Content Editor

Faith Thompson penned her earliest story at the age of four, recasting her despised preschool teacher into a heinous villain. Since then, she has employed the art of storytelling to throw light into dark places and provide some much-needed personal therapy. She is a senior Literature major with a minor in history, and her favorite kind of scholarship is at the intersection of those two disciplines. In the future, she plans to edit fiction for a living while trying to write the next great American novel.

Grace Johnson, Content Editor

Grace Johnson is a senior literature major from California. Even as a child she loved getting lost in a riveting story, from her childhood adventures with the Boxcar Children to her middle school quests with the Fellowship of the Ring. She scribbled her first short stories on colored construction paper (complete with her own stick figure illustrations), but it wasn’t until college that she began to pursue writing more seriously. Her favorite aspect of stories is their power to shape hearts and minds for the better. When not reading or writing, she enjoys buying armloads of used books, hanging out with her friends, and listening to music.

Julia Adams, Content Editor

Julia is a junior majoring in English. As a child, she loved reading books and would finish them often in less than two days. Her family often called her a bookworm, which she whole heartedly embraced. One Christmas, Julia received an annotated version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and fell in love with the idea of literary analysis and delving into the historical and literary contexts of other works. When not reading, Julia is writing, drinking coffee with a friend, dancing, or spending time in the Word.

Bethany Kawalec, Content Editor

Bethany is a storyteller and a traveler in what Tolkien calls the world of Faerie. Ever she since she could speak, she would regale her family with tales that lasted for hours, filled with complex character arcs and subplots. Although she has (hopefully) gotten better at listening, too, her imagination is just as active. She also loves losing herself in a good book, where she meets new friends, adventures in strange faraway lands, and enjoys any and all descriptions of feasts and beautiful clothes. She also loves to write. Her dream is to become a best-selling author. Her favorite authors include C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, Dickens, and Jack London. Becoming at Literature major was just a natural next step to fostering her passion for stories. When she’s not reading or writing, Bethany enjoys spending time with friends, hiking with her German Shepherds, swing dancing, and doing art.

Micah Torcellini, Web Editor

Micah Torcellini is a senior Classical Liberal Arts major from Connecticut (which he firmly believes is the best state). His love of baroque music and Latin means that he often feels as if he lives in the wrong century, but he also likes being able to use the Web both to read and to share writing. He is still trying to understand what the overlap between web technology and harpsichords is, but he might find out what it is eventually if he keeps thinking about it for long enough. His duck, Scramble, is a local celebrity enough to be recognized by the Connecticut General Assembly. He also occasionally puts non-Westmarch writing on his website. One can email him at webeditor@westmarchjournal.org.

Staff Emeriti

Lauren Crane, Editor-in-Chief (2022-2023)

Lauren (class of 2023) majored in literature. Although she was an avid reader as a child, Lauren developed her love for British literature after reading Jane Austen in high school. Her literary kindred spirit is Marianne Dashwood, as evidenced by her love for Romantic poetry and melancholy walks in the rain, and it is likely these sensibilities that led her to the literature major. After graduation, Lauren hopes to share her love for literature by teaching.

Anna Fox, Content Editor (2022-2023)

When Anna (class of 2023) was small, she would hide in corners so that she could read instead of doing her homework. She has always loved stories, both reading them and writing them. At PHC, she is a literature major, which is nice, because now she can hide in corners reading and it is her homework. She is a senior, and hopes to someday help other children find the same love for storytelling that she has.

Elyse Burgess, Layout Editor (2022-2023)

Elyse Burgess Classical Liberal Arts major (class of 2023) with a Journalism minor who is so used to getting mistaken for a Literature major that she joined the Westmarch team to confuse people even more. She loves bringing the beauty and order of graphic design to the beautiful words printed in Westmarch. Her other hobbies include staring at a blank Microsoft Word document while trying to think of something to write, eating baked goods, and telling people to look at the moon.