The Creative Minds Behind the Timberline Review

By Dana Haynes 

The Timberline Review, Willamette Writers annual literary journal, doesn’t come together by chance or accident.

A group of editors gets together every year to make the magic happen.

The Timberline Review is an all-volunteer literary journal published by Willamette Writers, with a focus on showcasing emerging talent. Under the direction of John Holloran, editor-in-chief, a rotating group of three other editors take on genre oversight each year. For the 2026 edition, the editors include Stacy Johns as fiction editor; Sage Stanton as poetry editor; and Martha (Marty) Mitchell as non-fiction editor.

Non-Fiction

Mitchell has served as a non-fiction reader for the Timberline for several years. This is her first year as non-fiction editor. She is working on a book that reflects her background in physical geography and the mountain forests of the Pacific Northwest, including the lumber and ecology.

But taking on a project like the Timberline can mean a lot of time and energy, especially for someone with their own work-in-progress.

“We’re all learning,” Mitchell said. “Reviewing submissions to the TR gives us a chance to see in others’ work what we have learned or need to learn.”

As a writer, Mitchell has been on the other end of the process: Submitting works and hoping readers and editors will see them as worth publishing.

“Personally, querying gives me hope, and sometimes, I get that surprising contact from an editor that reinforces for me that my writing has met with someone else’s delight,” Mitchell said.

Editing the Review is “hard work, reading dozens of pieces,” she added. “Yet there is a certain fun to it, like opening a letter or a mysterious package.” 

Giving Back

For Stacy Johns, it’s about giving back. “Willamette Writers has been a supportive resource for my writing journey for a ridiculous number of years,” she said. “Helping with Timberline is a way to give back — although, since participating is fun in itself, it’s a privilege to be included.”

Johns writes mysteries that delve into the shadows of lived experience and the delusions and illusions that twist dreams, memories and relationships. A long-time librarian on the Oregon coast, she now resides and plots her mysteries in the Willamette Valley.

It’s Cooperative

Writing can be a solo endeavor. But not so when working on an anthology. “So many people pull together in a cooperative process, in all kinds of ways, which is inspiring,” Johns said. “And then the synthesis of the submissions creates a new and beautifully unique work of art! I really appreciate the opportunity to be part of it.”

Editor in chief John Holloran lives and writes in Portland alongside his husband, Rick. An intellectual historian by training, Holloran taught in independent schools for two decades before stepping back to focus on writing. Essays of his have appeared in Oregon Humanities and — yes, once upon a time —the Timberline Review.

He is serving his second year as editor in chief of the Review.

Kate Ristau, Willamette Writers Executive Director, notes that working with editors like Marty, Sage, Stacy, and John make the literary journal a success. “These editors bring their passion and particular skills to the editing table. Poets like Sage look at language and line with a keen eye, while Marty takes a careful look at the framing of non-fiction and Stacy is so wonderfully community-minded and widely read. What a joy to get to work with these editors.” 

Marty Mitchell summed up the balance between the time consuming work of being a Review editor, and the joy of the work. “It is good to be part of a community,” she said, “to be part of the camaraderie; to help create something bigger than ourselves.”

Find out more about the Timberline Review at Timberlinereview.org, and thank you to the volunteers who make this work possible!