Akhira Mahal is a first-year MFA creative writing candidate specializing in fiction and a graduate instructor. While her strength is fiction, she also dabbles in poetry and nonfiction. In recent years, her focus has been on journalistic lifestyle and feature writing. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in December 2020 with a bachelor's in print journalism and English. Her articles have been local, statewide, and national finalists and award-winners. She also has over five years of copyediting experience, much of which is attributed to her time working for the Kentucky Kernel. What she is most looking forward to being back in the Department of English is getting to read, appreciate, and workshop her peers' and students' work. Outside of the world of literature, she enjoys traveling, cooking, gaming and watching anime and home design videos.