About
Strip Mall Magazine is a literary publication based out of the MFA program at California Institute of the Arts.
As writers trying to enter the broader literary and artistic community as both creatives and professionals, we believe that a student-led publication is an important way to form meaningful connections with a larger community of artists at CalArts and beyond. To us, being a part of that community means more than just sharing your own work or even collaborating with others—it means establishing resources for everyone to gain professional skills, and getting other artists’ work out into the world. So, while Strip Mall was started by MFA students in the CalArts Creative Writing Program, we decided it would be open to everyone and anyone who wanted to submit; current and former students, faculty, and non-students all play an important role at Strip Mall.
Our Team
Berlin Mair
Editor in Chief
Berlin is a fiction writer, screenwriter, and current MFA student at California Institute of the Arts. She is interested in animals, ghosts, animal ghosts, and very old country music. Her favorite strip mall is in Salt Lake City, and includes a local ice cream cafe, and what used to be a dollar movie theater, but has sadly now been converted into a Texas Roadhouse.
Analise Roth
Head Fiction Editor
Analise is a fiction and non fiction writer focused on genre blending, the human body, and the outer limit of ordinary experience. Born and raised in Orange County, California, Analise left to New York to get a degree in Literary Studies and has now returned to the land of strip malls and cul-de-sacs. Her Favorite strip mall is in La Habra, CA and is made of crumbling wooden structures painted a light beige with all but one of its storefronts lying empty.
Katie Clemmer
Head Non-fiction Editor
Katie is a writer with a background in and love for research. They are currently interested in studying sociopolitical/transglobal systems of violence (“other”-ing/erasure), mythology/folklore, tattoos, and plants! Their favorite strip mall is Porta, located just near JR Isetan in the depths of Kyoto Station, where you can find them ordering (copious) nikuman/shumai from 551 Horai, shopping for tsukemono at Nishiri, and waiting for Minori Cafe’s strawberry parfait to be in season.
Tamar Bresge
Head Poetry Editor
Tamar Bresge is an artist/writer from Toronto, Canada, who is very happily basking in the SoCal sun. She is an MFA candidate at CalArts in the Creative Writing program and holds an MFA in Studio Art from SMFA at Tufts. Her favorite strip mall is a smudge on the map in West Palm Beach, FL where she got breakfast with her grandparents growing up. It’s apparently called Shoppes at Oakbrook and there is absolutely no reason for you to visit.
Jason Peckham
Visual Arts Editor
Jason is an LA based queer writer and artist. His most recent favorite strip mall has been the strip mall on Sunset that contains the Ruby Fruit, a sapphic wine bar, that hosts “Transcendent Tuesdays,” a mixer for trans people to meet each other as well as many other fun events!
Anna Dória
Poetry Editor
Anna Dória is a Brazilian writer, filmmaker, and performer. Born and raised in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Anna hopes her artistic practice emulates the same emotions an 80s power ballad mildly distorted with synthesizers would. Her works as a filmmaker and performer have been selected for festivals internationally. Her favorite strip mall is in Burbank, LA and has a gigantic Chuck E. Cheese, which, in the same way as Los Angeles, both haunts and mesmerizes Anna’s mind.
Caroline Vasquez
Non-fiction Editor
Caroline is a writer, curator, and big sports guy from the Antelope Valley. She received her BA from Rutgers University and is a Creative Writing MFA candidate at CalArts, where she hopes to write about and create transformative works told by fandoms. Their favorite strip mall was Sol Plaza in Lancaster, CA, which is no longer operational as of writing but had housed a soul food restaurant with some of the best oxtail Vasquez ever ate.
Jay Odansen
Fiction Editor
Jay is a writer who will write anything. When they are not writing they will spend their time watching anime, playing video games, and finding other stories and art outside of their own. Their favorite strip mall has a Bath & Body Works, a Trader Joe’s, and their home.
Grace/West Lyde
Social Media
Grace/West is currently doing their best. They’re constantly writing because if they don’t, they’ll die. (They don’t make the rules, that’s just how it works.) She got her BFA from Scripps College and if everything goes alright, she’ll get her MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts in 2026. They write about magic because it’s what the world is made of and they can’t stop shouting it from the rooftops. His favorite strip mall is the one with Mateo’s Ice Cream and Fruit Bars, a few blocks down from Midtown Crossing.