Staff
Robbin Farr, Founder, Editor
(She/Her/Hers)
Robbin Farr is a founder and the editor of River Heron Review since 2018 and River Heron Writers’ Workshops, offering a variety of workshops and retreats since 2019. Returning to her own writing after twenty-three years facilitating high-school education as a literature and creative writing teacher, she has since published two books of poetry, Transience (2018) and Become Echo (2023) and has published poems and lyric essays in numerous journals and anthologies. Robbin has also presented panels and informational sessions at conferences and with various writers’ groups. When not helming River Heron, she mentors novice writers and is on the board of the regional arts council, where she is instrumental in providing support for its literary arts programs. Robbin lives in Pennsylvania with her husband Richard, cat Charlie. and precariously piled stacks of poetry books.
Dawn Terpstra, Poetry Editor
(She/Her/Hers)
Dawn Terpstra is the poetry editor for River Heron Review (2023) and a River Heron Writers’ Workshop instructor. Dawn began serious pursuit of poetry after working in corporate communications and with marketing teams, teaching high school and college English and social studies, and working in the broadcast industry. She has published a chapbook, Songs from the Summer Kitchen (2020), and is currently shopping a collection, Jello in Hard Times. Her poetry has been published in several journals and anthologies. She is currently the president of the Iowa Poetry Association and hosts a monthly Zoom program, IPA LIVE, focused on poetry craft and community. Over the past few years, she has been involved with bringing live regional and national poetry events to Iowa. She is currently a low-residency MFA student in creative writing at the Rainier Writing Workshop, Pacific Lutheran University. She and her husband, John, live in rural Iowa where they plant trees, enjoy birding and keep bees.
Joanell Serra, Interviews Editor
Joanell Serra is a Northern California writer with work published in numerous journals and anthologies. Her books include The Vines We Planted (Wido, 2018) and (Her)oics Anthology, a collection of women’s essays about the pandemic (Regal House Publishing, 2021). A licensed therapist, she offers personal coaching, women’s retreats, and writing workshops. She is currently an MFA student at Randolph College.
Lindsay Rockwell, Poetry Staff
Lindsay Rockwell is poet-in-residence for the Episcopal Church of Connecticut and hosts their Poetry and Social Justice Dialogue series. She's recently published, or forthcoming in CALYX, EcoTheo Review, Gargoyle, Radar, River Heron Review, The Dewdrop, among others. Her first collection, GHOST FIRES, was published by Main Street Rag, April 2023. She’s received fellowships from Vermont Studio Center and Edith Wharton/The Mount residency. Lindsay is also an oncologist.
Juanita Smart, Poetry Staff
Juanita Smart holds a Ph.D. in English and Composition from Washington State University, but received her best schooling in the humanities after college, while working the 3 to 11pm shift at the Salvation Army Crisis Intervention and Emergency Shelter in Hartford, CT. Her work has appeared in About Place Journal, Rise Up Review, and others. She finds nourishment and joy in the company of other writers and animal lovers, and drafts her best ideas for poems while rummaging through local Pennsylvania wilds “off leash” with her three dogs Gabe, Liberty, and Wilson.
Virginia Smith, Poetry Staff
An award-winning Penn State Professor of Teaching and founder of Philadelphia’s Chancellor Writing Services, VA Smith home chefs for her husband, friends and family, travels, hikes, practices yoga, and negotiates with her Peloton. Following her first two books of poetry, Biking Through the Stone Age and American Daughters (2022 and 2023, Kelsay), she is currently preparing her third, On Evolutionary Adaptability, for publication. Her current profession is to bear witness and practice grace with gratitude.
