Annabelle Carvell, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief
@AnnabelleCSyn
Annabelle has been shortlisted for the 2012 Cinnamon Press Short Story Prize and has work published in Litro Magazine, pioneertown, CHEAP POP, Coal Magazine, Lime Hawk, wildness, amongst others. She was nominated for Best Small Fictions 2017 for her story 'Bryce Canyon' in WhiskeyPaper.
Annabelle is in public relations by day, and runs the explosive world of Synaesthesia by night. She is fascinated by fractured relationships and quiet voices, and her short stories are influenced by Ian McEwan and anything else that challenges boundaries.
Annabelle heads up Synaesthesia alongside Carlotta, and runs the Instagram, press enquiries, art competitions, newsletter and more.
LOVES: The earth, stories with burnt skin and fleshy scars, tongue-poetry
PEEVES: Comic Sans MS / bad fonts
Carlotta Eden, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief
@1chae
Carlotta is an editor and writer and her stories can be found in Wigleaf, matchbook, Necessary Fiction, WhiskeyPaper, CHEAP POP and elsewhere. Sometimes she writes nonfiction on food, books and travel, like peaches or New Orleans.
She was nominated for two Best Microfictions 2018 for her stories, ‘Before The Ceiling Collapses’ (also shortlisted for the 2018 Mythic Picnic Prize in Fiction by Wigleaf) & ‘Words Your Boyfriend Calls Your Pussy’ by Jellyfish Review. In 2015, her WhiskeyPaper story 'The Snow Grouse' was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She is Digital Communications Manager at the Society of Authors, and also runs The Word Factory’s social media.
Carlotta runs Synaesthesia with Annabelle, and heads up the Twitter and Facebook, artist features, publicity, newsletter and more.
LOVES: Bon Jovi, rollerskates, milkshake-diners, peaches, lipstick
PEEVES: 'Dear Sir'
Caroline Icke, Editor
@carolineicke
Caroline gained a First Class (BA) Hons degree in drama and creative writing from Royal Holloway, University of London, where she was awarded the Philippa Hicks Memorial Prize for innovation and originality in her work. After parting with her career as an editor to pursue her writing dreams, Caroline is now working part-time in the charity sector while she completes her first novel, and helps read and edit Synaesthesia submissions and commissions features.
Inspired by the gothic and mysterious, the fantastical and fairytale, Caroline can be found writing outdoors, in thunderstorms, or at her leather-topped desk by candlelight.
LOVES: Long walks, fountain pens, cowboy boots, new-book smells, wolves
PEEVES: Overuse Of Capital Letters
Kaz Gargano, Poetry Editor
@k_gargano
Kaz is a poet and editor recently transplanted to Milwaukee, WI. She’s working on her PhD in Creative Writing from UWM, and has been published in magazines and journals such as The Fem, Indicia, Synaesthesia, and The Colorado Review.
She works as a teaching assistant and a part-time writer for an advertising agency based out of Las Vegas. She is fascinated by mythology of all kinds, queer and feminist lit, Shakespeare, and anything involving witches.
Kaz will focus on our poetry from 2019, reading and responding to poetry submissions and making our poetry side fiery and brilliant.
Hana Qwfan, Nonfiction Editor
@itsaplatesworld
Hana is a Muslim Yemeni American writer. She is currently working on her undergrad degree at CSU Bakersfield, double majoring in Sociology and English Literature. During her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, reading and writing, as well as watching conspiracy theories and 'mockumentary' sitcoms such as The Office.
Her favorite literature is own-voice literature on different cultures and communities, particularly those that include transliteration text. Hana is also a proud Hufflepuff.
Hana will read and respond to nonfiction submissions, and re-energise our commitment to brilliant creative nonfiction in 2019.
LOVES: Stranger Things, Frank Ocean, sunflowers, sushi, early 2000s Rom-Coms
PEEVES: Unprofessional emails
Tania Hershman, Resident Writer 2019
@taniahershman
Tania Hershman's third story collection, Some Of Us Glow More Than Others (Unthank Books) and debut poetry collection, Terms & Conditions (Nine Arches Press) were published in 2017. Tania is co-author of Writing Short Stories: A Writers' & Artists' Companion (Bloomsbury, 2014), curator of ShortStops (www.shortstops.info) and has a PhD in creative writing inspired by particle physics. www.taniahershman.com
She won the 2018 Synaesthesia Flash Fiction Contest and, through that, became our Resident Writer for 2019 – an entirely new position for us. So this year, look out for her stories and writing and learn from a master of flash fiction.
Past Staff:
Jake Tucker – Editor
Bee Walsh – Poetry Editor