the starling editorial committee aims to breathe new life into our editorial perspective and support young writers in this next phase of their careers
The Editorial Committee is made up of three Starling alumni who will assist with the reading and selection process for each issue. Other than the Editorial Committee Lead, each member may hold their space for a maximum of four consecutive issues, at which point applications will reopen. This opportunity is made possible by support from Creative New Zealand.
editorial committee lead
TATE FOUNTAIN
Tate Fountain (she/her) is a writer, editor, theatremaker, and production coordinator based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her poetry collection, Short Films (Tender Press), was released in 2022. She has been published in Sweet Mammalian, In The Mood and eel, among others, and regularly covers theatre and live performance for bad apple. She has also held coordinating and digital marketing roles at various arts festivals, including samesame but different, Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki | Auckland Arts Festival, and Whānāu Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival. Tate was a member of the inaugural Starling editorial committee (2021–2023) and now continues her work with the journal as Editorial Committee Lead.
current members
khadro mohamed
Khadro Mohamed is a poet and writer from Wellington. Her poetry is often inspired by her love for food, texture, history and her whakapapa. Her most recent collection of poetry, We’re All Made of Lightning from Tender Press, was shortlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards 2023. You can find her earlier works in a range of online outlets such as The Spinoff, Starling, Sweet Mammalian, and The Pantograph Punch.
nina mingya powles
Nina Mingya Powles is a writer, zinemaker and librarian from Aotearoa New Zealand, currently living in London. She is the author of several poetry pamphlets, zines and poetry books, most recently Magnolia 木蘭, Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai, and a collection of essays, Small Bodies of Water. She is a pamphlet selector for the Poetry Book Society in the UK, and writes an occasional e-newsletter about food and memory called Comfort Food.
past members
Photo by Petra Mingneau
CLAUDIA JARDINE
Claudia Jardine is a writer and musician from Ōtautahi. She graduated from Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka in 2020 with a Master of Arts in Classics and now works as a free-lance arts administrator, educator and editor. BITER, Claudia’s first book of poems, was published by AUP in April 2023. Her poetry chapbook The Temple of Your Girl was published in AUP New Poets 7 (2020), and her writing can be found in many of Aotearoa's literary journals and poetry websites. Her debut music release, North EP (2019), made it onto the national independent radio charts, and she frequently features in the local gig circuit as both a performance poet and a solo music artist. She has participated in the public programme at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and has completed residences at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora and VERB Readers & Writers Festival.
sinead overbye
Sinead Overbye (Te Whānau a Kai, Ngāti Porou) is a researcher, writer and editor from Te Tairāwhiti, currently based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She holds an MA in creative writing and a BA in Art History and Spanish. Her work has been published in Turbine | Kapohau, RNZ, Starling, Oscen, Sport 47, Tupuranga Journal and other places. She has worked as a co-editor of Te Rito o Te Harakeke and Stasis Journal, and is currently the Kaiwāwāhi Kaupapa Māori | Kaupapa Māori Editor for The Pantograph Punch.