ABOUT

Trace Fossils Review

Mission

We are, above all else, a study in preservation. As kids, we were taught that writing had to be contained— it took many years and frustrations to come to terms with the messiness of pure, desperate creation. Trace Fossils Review was started with the mission to collect this mess, to publish work that identifies the creator as intimately as their own handprint— the art in wake of the artist.

Masthead

Jessie Leitzel is human, scientist, writer and, most importantly, student. They are a national medalist of the Scholastic Writing Awards and a 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction, and have been published in reviews such as Rattle Young Poets Anthology, Beyond Queer Words, The Echo, and Lucky Jefferson. They have participated in several summer writing workshops, the most recent being The Adroit Journal Mentorship Program. They pursue aspirations in biomedical engineering and disprove the “science or art brain” mentality on the daily. When not writing, days are savored by boiling halupki and burying themself in books about hyperspace.

Elliott Kate's work has been published in Canvas Literary Journal and Writing South Carolina, has been nationally recognized in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and recently placed second in the Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize. She has yet to find any words to define herself by, or a suitable “is” statement to structure her bio around, but she can frequently be found foraging for strange items at nearby thrift stores, making room for more books, and getting very excited about birds.

Jessie

Co-founding Editor

Elliott Kate

Co-founding Editor

Linda Garziera is a writer and explorer of cultures. Born in Milan, Italy, and raised in England, her work has been recognized by the Atlantic Institute and regional Scholastic Writing Awards since her recent move to the United States. Although her love of linguistics began in a Beatrix-Potter town, it has been molded by South Carolina's marshes, drip coffee and Goodwill runs. She continues to uproot her experience of an international heritage in an attempt to curate a home in her writing, a dwelling place for herself and others of undefined origins.

Linda

Head Editor, Chief of Communications

Merrik

Head Editor,

Merrik Moriarty is a writer, artist, and archivist of ordinary things. Her work has been published in the South Carolina Honors College’s Writing South Carolina, as well as being recognized in the Scholastic Writing Awards. Having grown up lost in fantasy worlds, she enjoys writing odd characters and semi-magical novel manuscripts. When not caught in her mind attic, she can probably be found taping little paper things into her journal, making elaborate tea drinks, and reveling in the fact that she shares her last name with literature’s favorite villain.

Social Media Manager

Braeden LaRoche is quite prone to art-making and study of art and art history. His paintings, which have received Scholastic awards and been featured in Astrovitae, explore the speculative life of other worlds, taking inspiration from the natural sciences and the fascinating complexities of Earth’s nature. He experiments in writing across forms and genres. His personal studies neglect few disciplines but place emphasis on political science and philosophy, also delighting in the strange and obscure. Find his art @twisting.depths on Instagram.

Braeden

Head Art Editor

Sophia Stadalsky is an artist and creative. Her work has won gold keys from the Scholastic Art Awards, along with numerous exhibit ribbons from the Coastal Carolina Fair. Myriad by nature, she is often scavenging for small scraps to use in multimedia pieces, recycled from older works to give them new life. When ignoring the art that actually needs doing, she likes to make jewelry on her couch and may be found toiling away in her dance studio.

Sophia

Art Editor

Bella Cosentino is a writer and artist. Her work has been published in Rattle Young Poets Anthology and Sad Girls Club, she has received numerous Scholastic Writing awards, and she was a runner up in the South Carolina Honors College's Writing South Carolina. When between poems, she can be found working as a waitress, tacking pictures to the wall, and eating pie. When in doubt, she lets her dog lead the way. 

We are a passionate collective of individuals obsessed with literature, math, science, history, and all of the liminal space in between. A shout out is due to the SOA Creative Writing Dept, whose phenomenal teachers kindled the possibilities within each of us. Deepest thanks, from this group to you.

Web Editor

Bella