About the Editor
Our Mission:
Seems provides a physical and established place for writers around the globe to publish quality literature. Our goal is to give writers from all backgrounds the chance to be published in a credible magazine regardless of any financial constraints, which is why submitting has always been free. We aim to publish accessible editions and curate collections that leave readers ruminating.
Our Editors:
Jodie Mortag, who grew up in the farm fields of central Wisconsin, followed in her parent’s cheese-making footsteps and labored in a mozzarella factory over the summer months as she studied the craft of writing at Lakeland College and then at Wichita State University, where she earned her MFA and served as Editor of Mikrokosmos.
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Her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have been published in Ruminate, North Dakota Quarterly, Counterclock, Fourteen Hills, Barnstorm, Stoneboat, Fractions, and Metal Scratches. Her short fiction piece "Horses for Fairies" received the Merit Award in the Pump House Exhibit "Exposure: Words from Images 2011." Her short story "Nightcrawlers" received 1st place in Mikrokosmos' 2024 Fiction contest.
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Mortag is Associate Professor of Writing and the host of the annual Great Lakes Writers Festival at Lakeland University in Plymouth, Wisconsin where she lives with her husband, daughters, and English springer spaniel.
Sarah Stege, a creative writing and professional writing major at Lakeland University, joined the Seems editorial team in Fall 2023. She also serves as editor-in-chief of Lakeland's news site, The Mirror, and is an assistant with the Great Lakes Writers Festival. One of her short stories has been published in Furrow. Although she typically gravitates towards realistic literary fiction, she hopes to probe the potential of surreal elements in her writing. In a rare gem of free time, Sarah usually obsesses over story ideas, makes ink drawings for friends, or heads to the woods to free her mind.
Alison Kumrow is a creative writing and English major at Lakeland University. Alison joined Seems as an assistant editor in the fall of 2025.
