our mission
Catch is a literary magazine funded by Knox College and run by an entirely student-led collective. We solely publish undergraduate work, including fiction, poetry, creative and analytical nonfiction, drama, journalism, music, and art. Our mission is to publish engaging and diverse art from our peers and build a literary community alongside our contemporaries where we can share our work freely and with celebration.
our staff
Jes Shannon — Editor in Chief
Jes (she/they) is buzzing with joy to be co-editor-in-chief for Catch this year! She thinks it is a wonderful honor to help bring Knox's creative community together. Jes is a Creative Writing major from St. Louis, Missouri who spends summers off-grid in Montana. She loves loves all things nature, feminism, and mental health advocacy.
Danielle Miron — Editor in Chief
Danielle (she/her) could not be more excited to be one of the co-editors in chief of Catch this year! She looks forward to meeting new people and engaging with all sorts of art. Danielle is a Creative Writing and German double major from Grand Rapids, Michigan who is a big fan of sheep and her dog, Fritz. She can often be found surrounded by books or out in the woods somewhere.
Sydney Shaughnessy
Sydney is a junior computer science major and this year’s Art Editor at Catch magazine. He is most looking forward to interacting with and showcasing Knox’s artistic community. They are from Wilmington, North Carolina and love drawing, learning guitar, and horror movies. If they’re not studying or working, you can find them talking to wild animals.
Anissa Mendez — Fiction Editor
Anissa is a senior Creative Writing and Computer Science double major and is most looking forward to reading through and being inspired by submissions from her peers at Knox. She is from Rowland Heights, California, and enjoys writing, reading, watching anime, and rotting on social media while listening to emo rock and K-Pop. She loves reading any and all YA fiction, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and thriller novels.
jed bothe — fiction Editor
Jed is one of Catch's fiction editors, as well as a writing tutor and a Midwesterner. In his spare time, he is also a senior English Literature/Creative Writing double major. He has other flaws too. He is often found flipping coins, agonizing over an Honors project, or imagining horses with increasingly long bodies. He's looking forward to reading everyone's lovely work.
Amira Siddique — Music Editor
Amira is the music editor for Catch magazine. Hailing from Moline, IL, Amira is majoring in Neuroscience and Music and will head to Washington University in St. Louis next year to study occupational therapy. In her spare time you may find her at a piano, lifting at the gym, or hanging out with her friends and/or kitties. She looks forward to listening to all the pretty tunes you'll submit this year :)
Kris Pandey — Poetry Editor
Kris is a Creative Writing & English Literature double major, an Archives Assistant at the Henry Seymour Library, and a Poetry Editor for Catch. He hails from Lucknow, India. He is currently obsessed with the works of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Frank Stanford, Shane McCrae, Manuel Muñoz, Paul Yoon, and Yiyun Li. He is known to geek out about Prosody and binge-watch seasons of Dimension 20. He is looking forward to reading your work!
Natalie O'Brien — Poetry Editor
Natalie O'Brien is an elementary education major and Catch's poetry editor from La Grange, IL. Some of her favorite poetry authors include Gerard Manley Hopkins, Natalie Diaz (no relation), and Sharon Olds. Currently, her favorite fiction book is Chain Gang All Stars by Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. What she loves most about working for Catch is having the opportunity to read and be inspired by a wide body of work from fellow Knox students. Outside of poetry and teaching, Natalie loves cats, drawing, and Friday night watch parties with friends.
cole songster — Creative Nonfiction Editor
Cole is from Portland, Oregon and is very excited to be joining Catch as its Creative Nonfiction Editor! You'll likely spot him hunched over a small notebook, sketching out the words that float to him as he watches the campus come alive — trying to pull moments out of it all. Sometimes he hides them as little notes in the nooks and crannies he figures would hold secrets the best. He majors in Theatre and Creative Writing and looks forward to reading what you all send his way.
Urvi Bohra — Design Editor
Urvi is a junior studying design and economics from Nepal. She is joining the team as the design editor. And she is excited about trying out new things :)
Suyash Chitrakar — DEsign Editor
Suyash, a computer science major with a passion for design, is spending his third year thriving in Catch! As a returning design editor, he's excited to use his creative eye for another year. When he's not contemplating life's mysteries or having a healthy existential crisis, you can find him taking photos.
Maya Dengler Kaufman — DEsign Editor
Maya, from Goshen, Indiana, is a design editor for Catch and super excited to be joining the team! She's a first year fine arts/graphic design major and loves all things creative. If not hiking or drawing, you'll probably see Maya playing saxophone for the Knox Jazz Ensemble. She's very excited to see all the art that her fellow Knox students send her way!
J. Porter — DRama Editor
Oh boy howdy does Porter love reading and editing plays! She's Catch's drama editor. Her favorite restaurant is Denny's and she's been really into Hansol Jung plays and Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit movies recently. If you'd like to read plays and/or watch Thai cinema while at Denny's, please email her at jbporter@knox.edu. I'm begging you.
Our history
Published by Knox College, Catch has been an undergraduate magazine for more than 100 years, making it the oldest continuously published literary journal in the country. Catch is entirely run by Knox students, from the submitters to the editors and designers. All content is original undergraduate student work.
Our faculty advisor once said that Catch is something like a "snapshot" of the various things created and loved at Knox College. Our purpose is to make student voices heard, and we hope that our magazine fulfills a small part of this goal. Catch may be a drop in an ocean of arts magazines, but we believe there is magic in putting love into such little things.
Catch is historically a literary magazine, but in our pages your will find all forms of creative writing, film, science, visual art, and music—in short, we covet anything (everything) resembling a genre or form that you are generous enough to share with us. We hope to receive and have been privileged to publish creations by and about diverse identities and perspectives, but we are always seeking to broaden our horizons.
accolades
In recent years, Catch has won numerous national and international awards. These include:
2014 National Program Directors' Prize from the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (Vol. 46)
Associated College Press Magazine Pacemaker Awards and Finalist Recognition (Vol. 34, Vol. 35, Vol. 36, Vol. 37, Vol. 40, Vol. 48)
2003 National Program Directors' Prize from the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (Vol. 34)
In keeping with tradition, we are honored to continue Catch's legacy of recognition. In 1983 and 1986 respectively, Catch was awarded The CCLM National Collegiate Competition's First Place Award (which would later become the National Program Directors' Prize from AWP).