A Short End of Semester Update: New Editorial-ship, The Abraham Hunsaker Gala for Literacy and the Literary Arts, Puerto Launch Party, and other ends.
Editorial Changes and Thanks:
As the spring 2026 academic year comes to a close, we first want to send a warm thank you to our Editor in Chief Brandon Hobson. Brandon has recently accepted an appointment as the David A. Burr Chair in Letters at the University of Oklahoma, and we wish him the best as he steps into this exciting and prestigious role.
As for the future, Kelly Krumrie, the MFA's newest fiction professor, will be taking over as the Editor in Chief starting in the Fall 2026 academic year. As a previous editor of Denver Quarterly, we know Puerto del Sol will be in good hands. Current Managing Editors Myles Varga and Madelyn Parker will be graduating this spring. Current Genre Editors Joshua Ball (prose) and Tia Credle (poetry) will be taking over as the Managing Editors for the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year. We wish them the best as they move into these new positions.
We also want to give a warm thank you to Connie Voisine, Professor of Poetry. She will be retiring this year after 25 years at NMSU. Thanks for all you have done, Connie!
The Abraham Hunsaker Gala for Literacy and the Literary Arts:
As a final send off to the 2026 academic year, Jack Bylund, president of the Creative Writing Graduate Student Organization (here after referred to as the CWGSO), organized The Abraham Hunsaker Gala for Literacy and the Literary Arts. The Gala was a celebration of the literary arts community here at New Mexico State University.
This Gala took place at Pete's Patio. The campus body was invited to attend readings from the MFA students and MFA faculty. This Gala also doubled as the launch party for the spring 2026 issue of Puerto del Sol, where students and faculty were allowed to take free issues of the journals and learn about Puerto's mission and aesthetic. The Managing Editors also read selections from the Winter 2026 and Spring 2026 editions of Puerto del Sol.
The Gala was a huge success, serving as a final send off for outgoing faculty and graduating MFA students. Thanks for the good times, everyone!
Other ends:
Overall, the spring 2026 semester was a big success. All outgoing graduate students successfully defended their thesis's and navigated all the university requirements for graduation. Many students and faculty also attended conferences. Kelly, Myles, Tia, and Joshua attended AWP, where they tabled for Puerto del Sol and organized an offsite reading with Laurel Review and Mooncity Press. Kelly and Jay attended the New Orleans Poetry Festival and Small Press Fair. There were many visiting writers for the Nelson Boswell Reading Series, with invited authors reading from recent books and third year MFA's reading from their theses. And once again we are excited at the news of Brandon's new position and Connie's retirement, both which are well deserved.
As we head into summer break we hope everyone has a productive and restful summer full of reading and writing.
Myles, Managing Editor Spring 2026
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I loved reading about the Gala for Literacy! How do you see events like this influencing young writers in today’s digital age? Also, did you ever think about incorporating Skribbl IO to promote literacy? They can spark creativity too!
Congratulations to Brandon Hobson on the Oklahoma appointment and to Kelly Krumrie stepping into EIC—Denver Quarterly experience will serve Puerto del Sol well. It’s also lovely to see Joshua Ball and Tia Credle moving into managing editor roles, and Connie Voisine’s 25 years at NMSU deserve a standing ovation. End-of-semester transitions always leave me needing small, refreshing breaks between reading submissions. Lately I’ve been unwinding with Play World Guesser, a free street-view guessing game that’s perfect for five-minute literary procrastination. Wishing the whole Puerto team a restorative summer.
Congrats to Brandon Hobson and best wishes to Kelly Krumrie, Myles Varga, Madelyn Parker, Joshua Ball, and Tia Credle as Puerto del Sol transitions into a new editorial era. The Abraham Hunsaker Gala and Puerto launch party sound like wonderful ways to celebrate literary arts and community. After all that reading and event planning, I sometimes unwind with a quick browser race; I recently tried the PolyTrack game for low-poly custom tracks and community courses. A fun, no-download break between submissions.