Rae Bryant

Rae Bryant - Editor

Washington D.C., DC, USA

Award-winning writer, editor and ghostwriter with 10 years experience in NYC markets: fiction, nonfiction, literary, magic realism and more.

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Overview

I look forward to reading your words! I live in the DC Metro area and have worked and studied in New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Portland and Firenze. Versed in literary realism, magic realism, creative nonfiction and more, I'm experienced with a diversity of styles and voices and have had the honor of winning awards on both sides of publishing. With twenty-five years experience, I bring a unique literary background in writing and editing realism, speculative and the fusions that surprise and enthrall.

I am the author of the short story collection, The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals. Stories, essays, and poetry have appeared in print and online at North American Review, The Paris Review, The Missouri Review, McSweeney’s, DIAGRAM and more. My work has shortlisted and won prizes, scholarship and fellowships from Johns Hopkins, American University, Aspen Writers Foundation, VCCA, Whidbey Writers, Bartleby Snopes, CRAFT, Torch Prize and Curt Johnson Prizes. My work has been nominated for the Pen/Hemingway, Pen Emerging Writers, &NOW Award, Lorian Hemingway, and Pushcart. I earned an M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University. I am an adjunct creative writing professor. My novel manuscript is represented by Jennifer Carlson with Dunow, Carlson and Lerner.

As a working writer, editor and teacher of craft, I offer to you experience on both sides of the writing, submissions and publishing processes. Together, we will focus on your authentic voice and unique craft approach as much the revision process, focuses that will identify your talents and develop your needs as a writer in service to your current and future manuscripts. We will consider craft guides and resources to add to your library. We will chat on the phone where you will take the lead and ask questions about manuscript edits, the query process, submissions process and more. It is deeply gratifying to share my words with the world, yes, but it is as deeply gratifying to support and mentor authentic and diverse voices with stories that must be told. It is what drives us as writers, the story, and it would be an honor to support yours. I look forward to talking with you about your writing project. All my best, Rae
Languages
English (US)
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Education & Reference
Sex & Relationships
Fiction
Literary Fiction
Short Story
Thriller & Suspense
Women's Fiction
Young Adult

Certifications

  • M. A. in Writing, Johns Hopkins University, 2011
  • M.F.A in Writing, American University, 2019

Awards

  • Hugo Award, Editorial Staff
  • Torch Prize
  • Politics & Prose Review Pick of the Week, Review of George Saunders’ Tenth of December (Random House)
  • Curt Johnson Award
  • Bartleby Snopes Short Story Contest

Work experience

Creative Writing Professor

Johns Hopkins University
September, 2011 – Present (over 11 years)

Creative writing professor for graduate and undergraduate writing students — fiction, creative nonfiction, new media, poetry and publishing. I also also working with young adult voices.

Award-Winning Author

Patasola Press
June, 2011 – Present (almost 12 years)

Author of The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals (Patasola Press, NYC), a short story collection nominated for the Pen Hemingway, Pushcart and more.

Editor in Chief

The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review, MMP
February, 2010 – Present (about 13 years)

Eckleburg is literary and arts journal including original content from award-winning authors and poets — Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Steve Almond, Stephen Dixon, Moira Egan, David Wagoner, actor/comedian, Zach Galifianakis, and more. "The most exciting and adventurous and gutsiest new magazine I’ve seen in years.” — Stephen Dixon. "Refreshing… edgy… classic… compelling." — Flavorwire. "Eclectic selection of work from both emerging and established writers….” The Washington Post.

Adjunct Professor

American University
January, 2018 – Present (about 5 years)

Creative writing professor for undergraduate writing students—fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry.

Writer

The Paris Review
May, 2014 – May, 2014 (less than a minute)

Freelance writer.

Writer

The Huffington Post
January, 2011 – Present (about 12 years)

Freelance writer.

Writer

The Missouri Review
January, 2011 – Present (about 12 years)

Freelance writer.

Portfolio (10 selected works)

Have a NYC 2

Lawrence Block, Janet Hamill, Rae Bryant

Taking on the streets. East or Westside. Uptown and Down. The pace quickens through the boroughs from necessity. Every move the most important. Too much competition. Looking at each other for someone to blame. Doing anything just to be part of the magnitude. Everybody lost in the expanse. The City doesn't cheat you. It teaches. You absorb either knowledge or the blows. There are days when you ... read more

Taking on the streets. East or Westside. Uptown and Down. The pace quickens through the boroughs from necessity. Every move the most important. Too much competition. Looking at each other for someone to blame. Doing anything just to be part of the magnitude. Everybody lost in the expanse. The City doesn't cheat you. It teaches. You absorb either knowledge or the blows. There are days when you ... read more

The Best of Weird Tales: 1923

H.P. Lovecraft, Farnsworth Wright, Frank Owen

This collection of 13 stories from the first year of pulp legend Weird Tales--including 9 that have never previously been reprinted--represents the best stories first published in The Unique Magazine. Includes H.P. Lovecraft, Paul Suter, Herman Sisk, Frank Owen, and Farnsworth Wright--who would later go on to edit the magazine! Edited by John Gregory Betancourt, former editor of Weird Tales, a... read more

This collection of 13 stories from the first year of pulp legend Weird Tales--including 9 that have never previously been reprinted--represents the best stories first published in The Unique Magazine. Includes H.P. Lovecraft, Paul Suter, Herman Sisk, Frank Owen, and Farnsworth Wright--who would later go on to edit the magazine! Edited by John Gregory Betancourt, former editor of Weird Tales, a... read more

The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals: Stories by Rae Bryant

Rae Bryant

In this visceral collection of stories by Rae Bryant, we explore the wits, moralities, edges and sometimes broken realities of lovers and friends, life and death, and the mundane tragedies in a normal day. From detachable women to cow tipping, kingfishers to drive-thru sex, Bryant pushes the boundaries and creates for her readers the amusing, the heartbreaking and the magically bizarre conditi... read more

In this visceral collection of stories by Rae Bryant, we explore the wits, moralities, edges and sometimes broken realities of lovers and friends, life and death, and the mundane tragedies in a normal day. From detachable women to cow tipping, kingfishers to drive-thru sex, Bryant pushes the boundaries and creates for her readers the amusing, the heartbreaking and the magically bizarre conditi... read more

Love Songs for a Lost Continent

Anita Felicelli

From the glittering heat of India's Pink City to the palm-lined streets of Silicon Valley and the vanilla-bean fields of Madagascar, Anita Felicelli's debut collection delivers a dazzling array of precisely drawn characters searching for identity in the seemingly narrow spaces of their everyday lives. Imbued with magic, Felicelli's stories center on first- and second-generation Tamil Americans... read more

From the glittering heat of India's Pink City to the palm-lined streets of Silicon Valley and the vanilla-bean fields of Madagascar, Anita Felicelli's debut collection delivers a dazzling array of precisely drawn characters searching for identity in the seemingly narrow spaces of their everyday lives. Imbued with magic, Felicelli's stories center on first- and second-generation Tamil Americans... read more

Eckleburg No. 19

Cris Mazza, Rick Moody, Eurydice Kamvyselli

Fiction, poetry, essays, artwork and intermedia from contributors in the contemporary spectrum from traditional to innovative, including Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Eurydice, Stephen Dixon and more.

Fiction, poetry, essays, artwork and intermedia from contributors in the contemporary spectrum from traditional to innovative, including Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Eurydice, Stephen Dixon and more.

The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review No. 18

Rick Moody, Cris Mazza

"Eclectic selection of work from both emerging and established writers...." (The Washington Post), Eckleburg is a collection of stories, poetry, translations, and artwork by award-winning and emerging talents such as Rick Moody, Stephen Dixon, Cris Mazza, and Eckleburg's 2013 Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction winner, Jill Birdsall. Eckleburg No. 18 is a textual and graphic innovation for both th... read more

"Eclectic selection of work from both emerging and established writers...." (The Washington Post), Eckleburg is a collection of stories, poetry, translations, and artwork by award-winning and emerging talents such as Rick Moody, Stephen Dixon, Cris Mazza, and Eckleburg's 2013 Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction winner, Jill Birdsall. Eckleburg No. 18 is a textual and graphic innovation for both th... read more

Moon Milk Review 2011

Karen Heuler, David Wagoner, Alexandra Chasin, Feng Chen, Roxane Gay, Lisa Marie Basile

Stories, poetry and artwork by award-winning and emerging authors, poets, and artists. Moon Milk Review 2011 is a ravishing exhibition of what happens when the boundaries come off. A "refreshing departure...edgy...classic...compelling" (Flavorwire), MMR 2011 promises to take readers and art aficionados to places they've never been.

Stories, poetry and artwork by award-winning and emerging authors, poets, and artists. Moon Milk Review 2011 is a ravishing exhibition of what happens when the boundaries come off. A "refreshing departure...edgy...classic...compelling" (Flavorwire), MMR 2011 promises to take readers and art aficionados to places they've never been.

3 Women 4 Towns 5 Bodies

Townsend Walker

These twelve stories are rooted in foreign places, cemeteries, violence, and strong women. The worlds the characters construct are unforgiving. Their paths cross in tangled and sometimes deadly ways. In the title novella, three women use wit, seduction, and weapons to master the men they meet. The ribald reverend in "The Second Coming" meets his match in nineteen-year-old Charity. In "Super Se... read more

These twelve stories are rooted in foreign places, cemeteries, violence, and strong women. The worlds the characters construct are unforgiving. Their paths cross in tangled and sometimes deadly ways. In the title novella, three women use wit, seduction, and weapons to master the men they meet. The ribald reverend in "The Second Coming" meets his match in nineteen-year-old Charity. In "Super Se... read more

Eckleburg No. 20

"Refreshing... edgy... classic... compelling." Flavorwire - "Progressive...." NewPages - "Eye-grabbing... fun... bold... inviting... exemplary." Sabotage - Listed among Wigleaf's Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions - "Eclectic selection of work from both emerging and established writers...." The Washington Post - "Literary Burroughs D.C.... the journal cleverly takes its name from the The Great Gatsb... read more

"Refreshing... edgy... classic... compelling." Flavorwire - "Progressive...." NewPages - "Eye-grabbing... fun... bold... inviting... exemplary." Sabotage - Listed among Wigleaf's Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions - "Eclectic selection of work from both emerging and established writers...." The Washington Post - "Literary Burroughs D.C.... the journal cleverly takes its name from the The Great Gatsb... read more

Gargoyle 60

Richard Peabody, Lucinda Ebersole

60th issue of an international literary magazine based in the Washington, D.C. area. This volume features a cover photo by British photographer Cassia Beck (cassiabeck.com) plus artwork by Dmitry Borshch, cartoons by Nin Andrews and Kathy Ferrell, photos by Eleanor Leonne Bennett, plus a section of pix of Baltimore Poets and Writers by Leslie F. Miller. Number 60 also features creative nf by J... read more

60th issue of an international literary magazine based in the Washington, D.C. area. This volume features a cover photo by British photographer Cassia Beck (cassiabeck.com) plus artwork by Dmitry Borshch, cartoons by Nin Andrews and Kathy Ferrell, photos by Eleanor Leonne Bennett, plus a section of pix of Baltimore Poets and Writers by Leslie F. Miller. Number 60 also features creative nf by J... read more

Rae has 19 reviews

Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality

Brian Dearborn
Rae is a fantastic editor and I could not be more thankful to have worked with her on my first novel! She really takes great care and attention to detail with her edits. She offers such valuable advice that will take your manuscript to the next level, without compromising the author's original intent/purpose. The workshops she offered were extremely insightful and this was a unique service offe...
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Brian Dearborn, November 2022

Rae Bryant
Thank you, Brian! Such a pleasure working with you and your novel. Please let me know if I can be of help in the future. All my best, Rae

Reply from Rae Bryant


Eliot Cashell
I am extremely happy with Rae's services. She took the time to professionally read my 30,000 word manuscript, provide an outline, and give me feedback on each chapter or narrative summary. Since I work on my manuscript on a part-time basis, she accommodated my timeline despite my busy schedule. Her positive attitude jumpstarted areas of my manuscript where I thought lied dormant. The one ho...
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Eliot Cashell, August 2022


Jeniya Mard
Rae is a wonderful editor and wonderful person. She was very considerate and understanding when working through a story, and even broke scenes up into passages and sections, kind of like a storyboard— even including workshop sessions to further work through the story. She understands that everyone's story has heart, and does an amazing job not only supporting the project but making it the best ...
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Jeniya Mard, August 2022

Rae Bryant
Thank you for your kind words, Jeniya. Such a pleasure working with you and your novella. I look forward to seeing your work out in the world. All my best, Rae

Reply from Rae Bryant


Charles Parsons
I've used Rae before and her insight, suggestions and appreciation of the fledgling writer's effort is both dependable and inspiring. She's a great developmental editor.

Charles Parsons, June 2022

Rae Bryant
Thank you, Charles! Such a pleasure. I look forward to working with you and your words, again. All my best, Rae

Reply from Rae Bryant


Laurel Osterkamp
I cannot recommend Rae enough. She gives thoughtful, honest feedback that breathes new life into my writing, without deviating from my style, intention, or voice. Rae worked with me to discover my potential, and to realize the full potential of my stories. Her suggestions for how revise and edit my work were seriously life changing - I know that sounds hyperbolic, but I mean it. I have an MFA i...
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Laurel Osterkamp, June 2022

Rae Bryant
Such an absolute pleasure working with you, Laurel! Your narratives are fun, smart and textured. I can't wait to work with you and your words, again. All my best, Rae

Reply from Rae Bryant

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