Folklore Review
What We Are
Folklore Review is a literary magazine for magic enthusiasts. We reject the stance that speculative fiction lacks the quality of realism. That stories about gnomes, fairies, and fauns don’t hold substance. Let the elitists live in beige–we want more.
We want to read stories inspired by folklore. Tales about fantastic creatures, fairy rings, and witch hunts. Whether your story exists in the real-world, pulling on the strings of magical realism, or lives in a different realm entirely, we want to read it.
Above all, Folklore Review is about great writing. We’re here to share outstanding works that the gatekeepers of the literary world would otherwise reject. For us, it’s about quality. And gnomes.
So, send us your work. Send us your folklore.
Who We Are
Lena Kinder
Managing Editor | Nonfiction & Flash Editor
Lena Kinder emerged from the mudflats of Alaska as an oddity. Now an MA student in creative writing at the University of Southern Mississippi, she has worked on the Mississippi Review and Product Magazine but found herself longing to be amongst fellow weirdos. So, she decided to create Folklore Review as an outlet for mud-people like her. If you wish, you can find Lena’s works in Prometheus Dreaming, Crow and Cross Keys, and the Sucarnochee Review—but be warned: you may want to avert your eyes.
Hannah Rovska-Strider
Fiction Editor
A former beatnik mime, Hannah Rovska-Strider has worked on the Mississippi Review, the Southampton Review, Questlog, and Product, before settling down at Folklore Review, where she refuses to leave the broom closet, no matter how much Lena begs her. She’s been published in Product, Crows & Crosskeys, and a menagerie of other journals under various names that weren’t as cool as the one she’s using now, and you can find her on Bluesky under @HRStrider, Instagram under @HannahRovskaStrider, or on the glistening streets of Broadway where she has kept the role of “Old Deuteronomy” in Cats™️ for forty-five years
Matthew Gustafson
Poetry Editor
Matthew Gustafson is a graduate of Lafayette College and a current student at Stony Brook University’s MFA program in Creative Writing and Literature. He’s been published in a handful of places, is currently trying to befriend the fox in his backyard by leaving out raspberries, and is hoping that you'll invite him to your next Annual Boogie Boarding Competition, so he can show off his real talent. For boogie board related inquires, his Twitter handle is @mgustafsonpoet.
Gaven Wallace
Visual Arts | Web Design Editor
Gaven Wallace is a writer based out of Hattiesburg, Miss. where he attends the University of Southern Mississippi in pursuit of a Masters of the Arts in fiction writing. His work has been published in presses such as Sky Island Journal and West Trade Review, the latter of which nominated his poem “Sucking Stones” for the 2022 Best of the Net Anthology. In his free time, Gaven enjoys photoshopping his cats’ faces on various mythical creatures (except for the manticore, which is off limits).