Mission Statement
We are a magazine that showcases compelling, accessible, and culturally relevant work--anything the mainstream is ignoring we are likely into. We seek to offer an authentic reflection of the contemporary, and most importantly, to uplift marginalized peoples in a fascinating and brutally honest way. Bring us your pain, your strength, your passion.
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Miranda Ramirez
Co-Editor
Miranda Ramírez is an activist/artist residing in Houston, Texas. You may find her publications in Ripples in Space, Glass Mountain, Shards, The Bayou Review, Coffin Bell, and most recently, Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century. She is a founder and contributing editor for Defunkt Magazine. Her visual works have exhibited at Williams Tower Gallery, Tea+Art Gallery, and Insomnia Gallery. She is currently drafting her first novel.
Chris Flakus
Co-Editor
Christopher Miguel Flakus is a poet and writer living in Houston, Texas. He has published work in The Huffington Post, Akashic Books: Mondays are Murder Noir Series, Indietronica, Outlaw Poetry, In Recovery Magazine, Glass Poetry, Black Heart Magazine, and elsewhere. In 2017, he was awarded the Fabian Worsham Prize for fiction. In addition, he was one of the editors responsible for The University of Houston-Downtown’s literary magazine, The Bayou Review during their special prison issue which focused on the writings of authors serving sentences in Texas prisons. He is the author of the chapbooks Bear Down Into Hell With Me (As Only a True Friend Would), and Thirst, and Other Poems through Iron Lung Press, and the chapbook Christiana, from Analog Submission Press. He grew up in Mexico City and writes in both English and Spanish. He is currently working on his first novel.
Elaine Naong
Managing Editor
Elaine Caalim Naong is a poet and creative nonfiction writer from the greater Houston area. She is the PR Director for Defunkt Magazine, where she has also served as Social Media Coordinator. She has poems published in Variant Literature Journal and In Parentheses Literary Magazine, and her work in creative nonfiction is forthcoming in Pacific Review.
Jonathan Hinjosa
Chief of Design
Jonathon Hinojosa is a multidisciplinary artist. He was born in Edinburg, TX, but spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Latin America. He earned his bachelor's degree in drama from Trinity University. He has had poems published in the San Antonio Express News and an anthology. Jonathon has focused on a wide range of arts through the years, but lately has been concentrating on printmaking techniques, alternative photographic processes, and some woodworking. He draws most of his inspiration from nature, emotion, and the blending of cultures he grew up in. He currently lives in San Antonio, TX with his wife and children. Photo @sarahbrookelyons
Samantha Fowler
Art Director
Samantha Fowler is a visual artist, photographer, and creative sequential storyteller from Houston, Texas. She has pursued the arts her entire life; earning an Art Associates from Galveston college, as well as a BFA in Graphic Design and a minor in Art History from the University of Houston at Clear Lake. From a young age, she sought out ways to enhance her talents, such as participating in the Galveston art walk, managing community organizations, and creating commissions for hire. Through her work, Samantha strives to convey struggles with mental illness and stories of womanhood. Through these mediums, she seeks to build connections with others with similar experiences.
Keagan Wheat
Poetry Editor
Keagan began his love of writing as a musician, but as he moved through the UH Creative Writing Department, he became more interested in poetry. His poetry often focuses on transgender identity and how others, especially family, interact with that identity, though his more recent poetry starts thinking through how congenital heart disease impacts his identity. AT UH, he worked on Volumes 20, 21, and 22 of Glass Mountain. He has been published by Z Publishing in Texas’s Best Emerging Poets, the Fall 2018 issue of The Tulane Review, and Shards Issue 4.
Diamond Braxton
Prose Editor
Diamond Braxton (@DiamondGBraxton) is a queer, Black-Mexican writer who began her writing journey when she was accepted into the first creative writing class at the High School of the Performing and Visual Arts. Afterwards, she graduated with a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. She has work published or forthcoming in The Acentos Review, B'k Mag, and Mixed Mag. She was also a 2020 Tin House Scholarship Craft Intensive Winner. She resides in Houston, Texas where she works as the prose editor for Defunkt magazine. Currently, she is working on her first chapbook release titled “The Fruits of Our Labor” and spends her nights writing accompanied by her five rats and two needy kittens.
Lucas Del Pico
Music Editor
Lucas Del Pico resides in Austin, Texas, where he has lived for about two decades. Like many others, he was drawn to Austin by the live music scene. While at the University of Texas, Lucas worked at the college radio station, KVRX 91.7 fm, where he served as editor of the station's zine, The Call Letter, as well as co-hosting popular shows like “Keepin’ It Real with Brian and Lucas” and “Cheesecake in the Forbidden Zone.” More recently, Lucas has worked as a contributor and event coordinator for 2020’s Shock the Vote ATX campaign, which focused on community-building, voter education, and fundraising, while navigating the unique climate of 2020 in which virtual events and drive-in movies became the norm. Lucas is a jack of many trades, with experience in IT, customer service, event planning, journalism, and radio. As a proud nerd, Lucas is an amateur cosplayer and a fan of horror movies, comic books, and tabletop games.