Masthead

Sarah Jordan (SJ) Stout
Co-Founder and Publisher             

SJ (she/her) is an editor, poet, and PhD dropout. She got her start in the arts as an actor performing in community theater, in college and regional theater productions associated with the Clarence Brown Theater at the University of Tennessee–and, for a time– in bars, libraries, and living rooms across the Upper West Side and Williamsburg. After New York City, SJ completed her Masters degree in English literature at West Virginia University. While there, she taught freshman composition courses and interned with the Appalachian Prison Book Project. She moved to Houston, Texas to pursue a PhD in literature at Rice University, where she met fellow PhD student, Kelly McKisson. Initially focusing on ecocriticism and early modern plays and poetry, SJ took a leave of absence after completing her PhD course work and started canvassing and organizing for local environmental issues before moving into climate justice communications. In the fall of 2025, she and Kelly McKisson founded Bundle Press. She has published poems in Rust&Moth, Connotation Press, SWWM, and others, and is currently an Associate Poetry Editor at Stirring. She is the Communications Director at a Texas-based environmental advocacy and grassroots group, where she manages media relations, outreach, website, and social strategy. In all her work—whether theater, writing circles, or advocacy— she seeks community and creative collaboration. In her free time, she overcommits to book clubs and cloud watches in Houston,Texas with her partner and two perfect cats. 

Kelly McKisson
Co-Founder and Editor

Kelly McKisson (she/her) is a student of feminist and ecological theory, specializing in American literature and culture. She holds a Masters in English from Portland State University and a PhD in English from Rice University, and she is Managing Editor of a scholarly journal. She has worked as a college instructor, writing consultant, copyeditor, and editor, and she is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association. As an editor, Kelly is passionate about supporting authors through the writing process to develop and refine their projects while retaining their voice and vision. Kelly met SJ in 2017, when they began a PhD program together, and they co-authored, with others, the essay “Radical Collegiality and Joy in Graduate Education,” published in Graduate Education for a Thriving Humanities Ecosystem (2023). Kelly has been published in the scholarly journal American Literature, has reviewed for various publications including Western American Literature and Ancillary Review of Books, and reads constantly. 

For questions, please reach out to us at contact[at]bundlepress[dot]org.