Appomattox River Review is a literary magazine from Petersburg, VA. We’ve set out to publish writing that invokes the movement of rivers, with a focus on art grown from life. We feature the highest-quality creative writing submitted to and edited by Literary Arts students at Appomattox Regional Governor's School. As high school students, we offer perspectives unweighted by preconceived biases. ARR is an open space for writing, where artistry is cultivated in a community bound by friendship and shared passion. Our fresh eyes, committed to amplifying original voices—established and up-and-coming—will place readers at the frontiers of contemporary literature.
Staff
Head Editor | Web Design
Madison Ingram has earned Gold and Silver keys as well as a National Silver Metal for their writing. They are the current Head Editor of ASGARD, their school's literary magazine. They have been published by Appelley Publishing, Library of America, and in their school’s literary magazine, ASGARD. They are currently a Senior Literary Arts Major at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology and aspire to become an editor as a full-time career. Madison enjoys writing poetry and fiction and hanging out with their cats, Felix and Toby.
Madison Ingram
Assistant Editor
Natalia Coronado-Mercer has won the YoungArts award for fiction among other numerous accolades, and is a Poetry Society of Virginia Young Poet in the Community grant recipient. You can learn about the zine she subsequently created by following the Instagram account @poweroffriendshipmagazine. She has copious editing and design experience by way of that grant program, and by way of the editing positions she's held the past three years on ASGARD, her school's prestigious literary magazine, its counterpart, DEDITIO, and the Wellspring Literary Journal. She adores form poetry and speculative fiction.
Natalia Coronado-Mercer
Managing Editors
Amaya Zahar is a Literary Arts major at Appomattox Regional Governor's School. She has won the fiction prize in Fledge Magazine, and has worked on various editorial projects during her high school career. These include the national award winning ASGARD literary magazine, DEDITIO, and Appomattox River Review.
Amaya Zahar
Maxwell DeGrauwe is a Literary Arts major at Appomattox Regional Governor's School. He has been published in DEDITIO, Young Voices of RVA, and has earned an honorable mention from Scholastic for his short story, "Cut." He has worked for ASGARD.
Maxwell DeGrauwe
Readers
Adrian Uphoff is a sophomore at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. He has edited publications such as ASGARD and DEDITIO literary magazine, as well as doing publishing work for Toaster Oven Press for over a year. His work has been accepted into several magazines such as Fledge and DEDITIO.
Adrian Uphoff
Blue Lyons
Blue Lyons is a senior Literary Arts major at Appomattox Regional Governor's School. She co-edited and later head-edited DEDITIO, an award-winning publication merging visual art and writing, and was a state finalist in cover design for its first volume. Blue creates poetry, nonfiction, and visual art exploring themes of identity, cycles, and language. Her work has earned Scholastic Gold and Silver Keys, the National Council of Teachers of English Superior Award, the James River Writers in Excellence Award, and several VHSL honors, including State Creative Writing Champion and Finalist in Painting. Blue looks forward to casually editing literary magazines after graduation.
Cassidy Geremia is sophomore literary arts major at Appomattox Regional Governor's School. She enjoys all kinds of art, and does theater, visual art, and aerial circus art in addition to her writing. She has worked on her school's main literary magazine ASGARD, and their secondary one DEDITIO. Cassidy loves to stay busy, and is a cadet with the Civil Air Patrol.
Cassidy Geremia
Cayleigh Wolfe is a dance major at Appomattox Regional Governor's School. Her love for literary arts led her to enroll in the literary magazine class that ARR is produced in. She also works on the editorial team for DEDITIO.
Cayleigh Wolfe
Delilah Dana is a visual artist and writer, attending Appomattox Regional Governor School as a Junior, having won a national Gold Medal from the Scholastic competition for visual art. She has been involved in half a dozen publications with positions ranging from reader/general editor to illustrator and head editor.
Delilah Dana
Naudia is a junior Literary Arts major at ARGS. They have been published in GSU's Fledge and won runner-up for their national poetry contest. Prior to ARR, they worked on the 2023-2024 edition of their school's yearbook. Naudia has been editing video content since 2016 and wants to get some practice in graphic design, hence their contributions to ARR.
Naudia Dowell
Niala Myrick is a senior at Appomattox Regional Governor's School. She works on ASGARD Literary Magazine and is the head editor of Black Dragon, another magazine produced by ARGS. Niala is a part of Jennifer Mcclellan's Youth Advisory Council. She enjoys nature and playing volleyball. She is the captain of the varsity team at ARGS. In the 24-25 school year, she was awarded the West Point Society of Richmond Leadership award. She has won Scholastic writing awards and is published in Fledge Literary Magazine.
Niala Myrick
Raven van Horn-Hedrick is a second year Literary Arts student at Appomattox Regional Governor's School where she dedicates her time to editing, creating, and publishing different genres of writing.
Raven van Horn-Hedrick
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Zora Castellano is a senior at Appomattox Regional Governor's School. She has been published in the 24-25 RVA Youth Anthology. She's also won a Silver Key in the Scholastic Arts & Writing Competition for poetry. Last year, she was an editor on the yearbook committee. In her free time she likes to play the violin and hang out with friends.
Zora Castellano