Our Current Staff
Many thanks to our graduates, alumni and volunteer staff, without whom much of our work would not be possible!
SCOTT W. BERG – PUBLISHER
Born and raised in the Twin Cities, Scott W. Berg holds a BA in Architecture from the University of Minnesota, an MA from Miami University of Ohio, and an MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University, where he now teaches publishing, writing, and literature. He is the author of The Burning of the World, Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C. and 38 Nooses: Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier’s End.
TAYLOR SCHAEFER – MANAGING EDITOR, PUBLICIST
Taylor Schaefer (she/her) is a third-year MFA candidate in nonfiction at George Mason University, and Editor-in-Chief of phoebe, a graduate-run journal of literature and art. As managing editor of Stillhouse Press, Taylor oversees the production process: including, but not limited to, the cover design, interior design, editorial process, and marketing plan for each project.
In her first two years at Stillhouse, Taylor worked as co-head of website design with Holly Bergman, producer of Moonshine Murmurs, and as the publicist and manager of marketing for Finding Meaning in the Age of Immortality, Supernormal, The Rolodex Happenings, Liddle Deaths, The Atlas of Remedies, and most recently, Sad Grownups.
Taylor writes lyric and journalistic essays focused on myth, nostalgia, recent sociocultural history, and human exploration. She loves to read essay collections with a magnified voice that blur the boundaries of genre and narrative. Essays that read like fiction, essays that read like poetry– she is especially interested in narrative nonfiction that blends the personal with research and niche topics.
After graduation from the MFA, Taylor is looking forward to a career in literary nonprofits and arts management, related to grant writing or nonprofit promotion.
JACOB SHARP – EDITORIAL, OPERATIONS
Jacob Sharp (he/him) is a second-year MFA candidate in Creative Writing at George Mason University. Jacob received his BA in English and recently relocated from Asheville, North Carolina. He has a fascination for birds, reptiles, and invertebrates. His tuxedo cat Beelzebub is his partner-in-crime. He works at Stillhouse Press handling bookkeeping affairs.
Currently, Jacob is focusing on his literary fiction short stories and has begun dabbling in historical fiction. Jacob finds inspiration from reading literature that focuses on dissecting the human psyche.
After graduation, Jacob hopes to continue to pursue a career in publishing while also focusing on publishing his own works.
CHRIS MANN – SUBMISSIONS AND ACQUISITIONS, EDITORIAL
Chris Mann (he/him) is a first-year MFA candidate in Fiction at George Mason University. Chris received his B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso (1994) and earned an MFA in Theatre Arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2002). He works on the Stillhouse Press Submissions and Acquisitions team as a Submissions Editor and Manager in Training. In addition to his literary studies at Mason, Chris will graduate with a certificate in publishing.
Chris is heavily influenced by writers of Southern Gothic such as Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Conner, and Tennessee Williams. He often writes on the trials and tribulations of those characters who live in the south. He also enjoys venturing from that and into the realm of what it means to function within the growing pressures of these challenging times in the United States.
After graduation, Chris intends to pursue a career in publishing as well as continuing his own writing.
HOLLY BERGMAN – WEBSITE DESIGN, EDITORIAL
Holly Bergman (she/her) is an MFA candidate in her third year at George Mason University. She will be receiving her MFA in creative writing (in nonfiction) in Spring 2024. Holly received her Bachelor of Arts in both English and in Communication from Salisbury University in 2020. Holly works for Stillhouse Press as their Resident Copyeditor and Head of Website Design. She also works for Capucia Publishing as an Editor.
Outside of work, Holly writes personal essays about the many dramatic events surrounding her life. She hopes to land a full-time career in the publishing industry.
OLIVIA BISSELL – GRADUATE INTERN/EDITORIAL
Olivia Bissell (she/her) is a current graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in English Literature at George Mason University. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology from the College of William & Mary in 2022. Olivia works at George Mason University’s Writing Center and is an Assistant Editor at Stillhouse Press. In Olivia’s academic work, she applies feminist theory and psychological theories to examine the underworkings of male authors’ anxieties when writing their female characters in the Romantic and Victorian Eras. She is now working with trauma theory in examining how traumatic events, like the Bubonic Plague, affect literature.
Outside of academic work, Olivia likes to write fantasy, science fiction, and short stories in her free time. She is an avid reader who falls asleep every night with a book in hand. Besides writing, she also likes to paint and has been playing the clarinet for the past 13 years. After graduation, Olivia hopes to pursue a career within the publishing industry as an editor and possibly publish a novel as well.
REBECCA BURKE – CONSULTING EDITOR
Rebecca Burke (she/her) is a 2021 graduate of George Mason University’s MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in Fiction, and a 2017 graduate from Mason with a BA in Government and International Relations. At Stillhouse, Rebecca has previously worked as the Submissions Editor and Manager, an assistant editor for You Will Never be Normal and Shapeshifting, and the lead editor for Stillhouse’s first anthology, In Between Spaces: An Anthology of Disabled Writers. She is now the book editor for a forthcoming short story collection, due out Fall 2024. For her day job, she manages the production of over 2,000 articles a year for Science Advances, an interdisciplinary open-access online journal, and she hopes to eventually teach an undergraduate class on publishing.
Rebecca predominantly writes contemporary fiction and short-form nonfiction, and is currently working on a novel about queerness, trauma, and recovery. She loves voice-driven narratives that take bold risks and ask pressing questions in new or previously unexplored ways. Some of her favorites include Little Fires Everywhere, Make Your Home Among Strangers, Station Eleven, and Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl.
ASHLEE GREEN – EDITORIAL
Ashlee Green (she/they) is a second-year nonfiction MFA candidate at Mason and an editorial assistant at Stillhouse Press. Named a 2023 Cheuse Fellow and a 2023 The Inner Loop Woodlawn-Arcadia Writer-in-Residence, Ashlee is working on an interview collection of perspectives on Scandinavian sauna and bathing culture. She loves reading Maggie Nelson and Karl Ove Knausgård. The former managing editor of a community newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pa., Ashlee holds a B.A. in creative nonfiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh. They enjoy making zines, practicing handstands, visiting art museums, stoking bonfires, and napping in their hammock. Post-MFA, Ashlee hopes to pursue a career in publishing or fellowships and write their own books.
KIERSTIN KESSLER – EDITORIAL
Kierstin Kessler (she/her) is a third-year MFA candidate in George Mason University’s Nonfiction program and is a member of the Nonfiction team at Stillhouse Press. She graduated with a BA in English from Towson University in December, 2019.
Currently, Kierstin writes essays (and fictional fantasy pieces) about addiction and grief. While she enjoys reading anything with well-constructed characters, she mainly spends her free time reading fantasy and memoir.
After graduation, Kierstin hopes to continue doing work related to editing, and also hopes to eventually publish fantasy novels.
PAUL LOGAN – GRADUATE INTERN/INTERIOR DESIGN
Paul Logan IV (they/he) is a second-year MA student in English Literature at George Mason University. Paul received their BA in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with a minor in Spanish from American University in 2022. They do all the interior designs for the books we publish at Stillhouse Press.
Paul loves to read anything with a queer lens. Mainly fantasy, romance, horror, and graphic novels. They also run all the social media accounts for Safe Space NoVa, a queer youth non-profit in northern Virginia. After graduation, they hope to continue working in the publishing field doing interior design work for a queer publishing house.
CAROL MITCHELL – CONSULTING EDITOR
Carol Mitchell (she/her) is a book editor at Stillhouse Press and an alum of the George Mason University MFA program (2020). Her first novel for adults: What Start Bad a Mornin' was published by Central Avenue Publishing in September 2023. In the past she has written realistic fiction, however, her love of fantasy has been nudging its way into her writing and appearing as magical realism in the most unexpected places. In addition to being an author, Carol is a trained and experienced editor who enjoys working with Stillhouse authors to bring out the best in their work.
