Who we are | Gasher Press

Mission / History

To ensure diversity, accessibility, and innovation in the literary arts, Gasher Press dedicates itself to the support of literary communities and emerging voices in meaningful collaboration and transformative vision.

Beginning as the literary journal, Gasher Journal, in 2018, Gasher Press was established in 2022 as a 501c3 nonprofit publisher of poetry books and chapbooks. We release five to eight titles per year and host several literary prizes aimed at uplifting a diverse range of voices in publishing including the Bennett Nieberg Transpoetic Broadside Prize for a poem written by a transgender poet and the Two Languages Book Prize, which seeks to award publication to a manuscript written in any combination of Korean and English.

Our editorial interest continues to echo the original mission from 2018, “We want art that guts with surgical precision. Make everything useful,” seeking poetry that is bright, bursting from the seams of tradition to embrace originality, potential, and risk. We pursue poetic frontiers: sites of vulnerable play, or the gift-making of a deepened understanding of self, history, and positionality in scalpel-like wielding of form and language. We offer support and space for dialogues surrounding identity, art, and resistance to move poetry forward.

As a nonprofit, we rely on generous folks to help us keep our mission thriving. Donations are deeply appreciated and tax-deductible. Please donate today using the link below, or contact whitney@gasherjournal.com for direct contributions.

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Executive Editor & Design

Whitney Koo

Koo is the author of Any Gesture (Black Lawrence Press, 2026). Her work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, Georgia Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, the Los Angeles Review, Colorado Review, and others. She holds a PhD in English from Oklahoma State University and an MFA from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Senior Editor

Remi Recchia

Recchia is a Lambda Special Prize-winning poet, essayist, and editor from Kalamazoo, Michigan. An eight-time Pushcart Prize nominee, his work has appeared in World Literature Today, Best New Poets 2021, and Prairie Schooner, among others. He is the author of two collections of poetry and four poetry chapbooks, and he is the editor of two contemporary poetry anthologies. With over a decade of editorial experience, Remi has received support from institutions such as Tin House, PEN America, and the Poetry Foundation. He holds an MFA in poetry and a PhD in English. Remi is currently pursuing an M.Div. at Yale University.

Associate Editor

William Brown

Brown is a poet whose work has appeared in journals such as Copper Nickel, Crab Creek Review, The Hopkins Review, Tupelo Quarterly, and elsewhere, and he has been nominated for awards such as Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. He grew up in rural Georgia, earned an MFA in poetry from the University of Florida, and is currently finishing his PhD at Texas Tech University where he studies environmental and rural literatures.

Chapbook Editor

Julieanne Larick

Larick is a writer from Ohio, currently pursuing an MFA in Poetry at the University of Texas at Austin. Past experience includes the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference, a Fulbright grant to Serbia, and a residency with the Sundress Academy for the Arts. Julieanne has work published in The Allegheny Review, Cider Press Review, Passengers Journal, and elsewhere.

Two Languages Prize Editor

Melanie Hyo-In Han

Born in Korea and raised in East Africa, Melanie Hyo-In Han is a poet, translator, and PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Surrey. She holds an MFA in Poetry and Translation from Emerson College and is the author of My Dear Yeast and three chapbooks, as well as the translator of several collections of Spanish poetry. Han has received awards from The International Human Rights Art Movement and others, and fellowships from Sundress Academy for the Arts, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Kees Eijrond Foundation, and elsewhere. Currently, she is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Flora Fiction. Learn more at melaniehan.com.

Press Readers

Chloe Tsolakoglou

Diya Abbas