We're proud of CutBank's forty-plus years as Montana's foremost literary magazine, founded in 1973 by the Creative Writing program at the University of Montana and helmed initially by favorite literary son William Kittredge.
We publish two print issues a year of compelling poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction by established writers and new voices alike. We're global in scope, but with a regional bias.
Over the years, we've been privileged to feature work by Wendell Berry, Louise Erdrich, Richard Hugo, Seamus Heaney, James Welch, Patricia Goedicke, James Lee Burke, Chris Offutt, Aimee Bender, Steve Almond, and a number of other writers whose work we're fond of. That's the joy, we think, of both publishing and reading a publication like CutBank: discovering and developing a fondness for new work.
the poetry, the fiction ... Who could ask for more?"
Nicole is a former journalist, legal assistant, and cupcake chef who has spent the past seven years teaching English in Granada, Spain. She is originally from El Paso, Texas and has a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University. She is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Montana. She is passionate about politics and social activism, and when she's not reading, you'll find her in the kitchen whipping something tasty up.
Amelia Morand grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before coming to Montana, she completed her BS in Economics at Portland State University where she was awarded the Tom and Phyllis Burnham Scholarship for fiction. She recently received an Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train's 2018 Short Story Award for New Writers, and her work is forthcoming on apt.
Catalina Baker is an MFA candidate in fiction. Before coming to the University of Montana, she worked for several years as a technical writer and professional editor. She proudly hails from the East Coast, did the obligatory stint on the West Coast, and currently calls Missoula home. She’s working on a novel and short stories that explore the (in)stability of memory and the nature of (mis)communication.
Kylie Westerlind was born and raised in Reno, Nevada, where she received her B.A. in English at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is currently an MFA candidate in fiction at the University of Montana. Her fiction has appeared in Carve Magazine.
Born outside of Dallas, Amanda Wilgus is an MFA candidate in fiction at the University of Montana. She earned a B.A. from the Plan II Honors program at UT Austin and came to Missoula following years living in Los Angeles and her mother’s native Taiwan. Unexpected adventure leads her in her pursuit for truth in fiction.
Tommy was born in Detroit, Michigan, and has lived on both of the Mitten's coasts. He has worked as a barista, a university writing instructor, and a chef on a ranch in Wyoming. He's a second-year poet in the MFA program at the University of Montana.
Melissa is a second-year MFA candidate in the poetry program at the University of Montana. Originally from New Paltz, New York, she migrated out west after completing a BFA in creative writing.
Jason Bacaj is a writer from West Virginia who's taken up residence in Montana the last six years. He's a fan of precise, varied language, and has skied every month of the year several times. In the summer, Jason is most often found on his mountain bike waiting (im)patiently for his dog to catch up.
Miranda is an MFA candidate in nonfiction and a writing instructor at the University of Montana. She was born in Santa Fe, NM, and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She’s worked in film development in LA and Austin. She feels most at home in the mountains.
Laura is a third year MFA candidate in creative nonfiction. She grew up in New York and earned a BA in English from Yale University. She has worked in trail maintenance, book selling and ecological restoration and as a writing instructor at the University of Montana. She loves essays that take risks and embrace the possibilities of the form.
Bryn Agnew has an MFA from the University of Montana and an MA and BA from the University of North Texas. Raised on a rodeo ranch in Texas, he loves the music of Townes Van Zandt, cold weather, and never having to shovel a horse stall again. He enjoys honest writing regardless of form and language that crackles with life. His stories and essays have appeared in North Texas Review, Mid-American Review, and The Nottingham Review. For questions about CutBank Online's Weekly Flash Prose and Prose Poetry, you can reach him at flash.cutbank@gmail.com.
Miles Jochem was born in Pocatello, Idaho, but escaped to the (relative) leftist metropolis of Bozeman, Montana, after second grade. He graduated from Bozeman High School, attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and witnessed the empirically determined final years of Portland being “cool” before its ultimate surrender to overpaid tech bros who think they like art. After stints as a kayak guide and bread delivery driver, he returned to Montana to pursue degrees in literary analysis and poetry. His other interests include hiking, hiking with dogs, skiing, and the killing and eating of Montana’s native deer population.