About
Us
Arcade Magazine is the University of Central Missouri's student-run literary magazine. The magazine features poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and artwork created by UCM undergraduate students. Our staff is made up of our Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors, Production Editors, Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Art Directors and Editors, Web and Social Media Editors, and our Event Planning and Publicity Team. Each staff member plays an important role in the production of our Arcade.
our Mission
A cornerstone of the Creative Writing program at the University of Central Missouri, Arcade builds an immersive environment for students to foster their imaginative development. Arcade Magazine seeks to publish poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and art that plays with language and visuals. Enter this game of skill, chance, and fun as you craft your writing and art. Editors are interested in work that leaps to new levels—that challenges, genre-bends, enthralls—we invite you to get lost in Arcade’s retro experience.
Community, diversity, and inclusivity are central to our values at Arcade Magazine, and we aim to amplify student voices through work that represents our mission.
The University of Central Missouri has been home to Arcade for over sixteen years, giving students the chance to have professionally published work and experience. Poets and writers published in arcade have won the Baker-Starzinger Award in Fiction and Poetry, and have gone on to graduate programs all across the country.
UCM was built on the land of the Missouria people, we recognize this land and express our gratitude to the indigenous Niúachi, as well as our sorrow for the unlawful removal of their people.
Meet The Team
Megan
Whitt
Co Editor-in-chief
Creative Nonfiction Editor
Fiction editor
Review Editor
Megan Whitt is a senior at the University of Central Missouri, and this is her second year with Arcade. She serves as a Coeditor in Chief, as a Fiction Editor, and as a Creative Nonfiction Editor. Megan interned under Pleiades Press at AWP this February, and continues to learn and create meaningful connections in the literary sphere from this opportunity and her time at Arcade. She is an English and Creative Writing student with a particular interest in poetry, and is a member of Sigma Tau Delta. Outside of school, you can find her reading or writing somewhere sunny, making people read her favorite poems, walking her dog, and enjoying good food with friends and family. After graduation, she plans to obtain a Masters in Library and Information Science with a concentration in Archival Studies and later an MFA in Creative Writing.
Kaden
Griggs
Co Editor-In-Chief
Fiction Editor
Kaden Griggs is an undergraduate English major at the University of Central Missouri, minoring in History and Creative Writing. He currently serves as the President of Sigma Tau Delta, UCM's English Honor Society, as well as Co-Editor in Chief at Arcade Magazine, and Humanities Chair on the Dean's Advisory Council. Primarily a fiction writer, Kaden has grown a strong dedication and appreciation of the craft, writing many different pieces and gaining accolades such as the Baker/Starzinger Creative Writing Award for Fiction in 2023 for his short story "The End of the Outlaws", a place on the Shakespeare Panel during the 2023 UCM Scholar's Symposium, and publication in Issue 16 of Arcade Magazine. Upon graduation, he hopes to attain a writing fellowship and/or join a master's program in order to further sharpen his ability and focus primarily on writing.
Emma
Fischer
Managing Editor
Fiction Editor
Emma Fischer joined Arcade Literary Magazine in Spring of 2024 as a fiction editor. She studies history and mathematics and dreams of one day being a full time novelist.
Dr. Jenny
Molberg
Faculty advisor
Jenny Molberg is the author of the poetry collections Marvels of the Invisible (winner of the Berkshire Prize, Tupelo Press, 2017), Refusal (LSU Press, 2020), and The Court of No Record (forthcoming from LSU Press, 2023). She is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Central Missouri, where she directs Pleiades Press and co-edits Pleiades magazine. Find her on Twitter at @jennymolberg.
Lilyanne
Mitchell
Managing Editor
Lilyanne Mitchell is a Creative Writing Major and Anthropology Minor at the University of Central Missouri. She spends a lot of her free time trying to find synonyms for common words that will make her sound smarter and ruminating about whether or not she will get into a master's program. However, when she isn't writing or reading, she enjoys talking to her friends about hypothetical scenarios and watching movies. Her favorite movie is Closer (2004) and her favorite color is pink.
Allison
Carter
poetry editor
Fiction Editor
Allison is a second year student at UCM attaining a degree in English Literature and a minor in Theatre. After graduation she plans to move on to graduate school to specialize in Early Modernist English. This is her first publication of her work as a poet and author, but would like to thank her Dungeons and Dragons players for being her test audience for a score of silly poetic riddles.
Sydney
Ward
Poetry editor
Art Editor
Sydney Ward is a senior double majoring in English and Secondary Education. Fall 2024 is her last semester as an undergraduate student and will be completing her student teaching during that fall! She plans on attending UCM in the Spring of 2025 as well for grad school to further her studies in either English or Education, she is still deciding. She loves literature and values the stories of humans; She finds that these stories ultimately bring us together as people. Her favorite book is Reincarnation Blues by Micheal Poore and she loves writing poetry.