A quiet reverence echoed through the main hall of the Hemingway Center as a crowd of more than 50 people gathered on the peaceful Sunday afternoon to soak in the works of Boise State’s emerging writers and celebrate the revival of a little-known Boise State literary tradition.
They had gathered to commemorate the release of Bitterbrush, a literary magazine publishing the poetry, fiction and nonfiction works of undergraduate students. At the reading, several of the published writers took to the stage to read their pieces aloud to the audience.
“There are a lot of really talented undergraduate writers at Boise State,” said Grace Nunamaker, a student studying poetry and one of the magazine’s editors. “We wanted to limit [Bitterbrush] to just undergrads to make sure there’s an equal opportunity for everyone in Creative Writing and other majors to demonstrate their talent.”
This year’s edition of Bitterbrush, penned “The Screech Owl” issue, features fifteen undergraduate writers, each of whom submitted unique works ranging from lyrical poems to short stories and personal essays.
The idea of Bitterbrush isn’t exactly new. In fact, according to Nunamaker, this literary magazine was originally started in the late 90s or early 2000s, but information about its origins is hard to find. No remaining copies of the original Bitterbrush magazines can be found, making it a publication lost to time. However, its memory has lived on through those in the Creative Writing scene who remember its existence.
“This has been an activity at Boise State for 20 years now, in a very technical, sputtering on-and-off kind of way,” said Lewis Millholland, another editor of Bitterbrush and graduate student at Boise State.
Decades later, in the spring of 2025, alumna Kira Compton decided it was time to bring the forgotten publication back to campus. Compton revived the modern Bitterbrush, planning for it to be a one-off project.
In spring 2026, three current students set out to not only continue what Compton had started but also create something more permanent out of it. Nunamaker, Millholland and Adrianna Monsivais, another editor of Bitterbrush studying fiction, aimed to turn the magazine into an annual collection of undergraduate student work for years to come.
“We are trying to really bring it back from the far past for it to be an annual thing again,” Nunamaker said.
The trio began brainstorming the magazine’s logistics back in the fall semester, months before they put out the call for submissions. According to Nunamaker, starting a literary magazine was “challenging,” but the path carved out by Compton and previous generations of “Bitterbrushers” made it easier to navigate.
“It was nice to have the knowledge that there were students, even if I don’t necessarily know them, who did this before and were able to keep this going,” Nunamaker said. “It helped me to feel more confident that the three of us could make this a real thing.”
“It feels very cool that we get to do this as students and build our own door when it comes to opportunities for publication and getting experience,” Monsivais added.
The team opened up submissions to all undergraduate students in February, and works were chosen through an anonymous selection process throughout March. Monsivais said they didn’t want to place strict parameters on what students could submit, so there weren’t any specific themes for submissions — just a word count limit.
The three editors put a great deal of time and energy into the selection process, hoping to make the experience positive for everyone who submitted, whether their work would be chosen or not.
“I continue to be surprised at how much care I feel and how much responsibility I feel, in a positive way, to treat everything that everyone is submitting to us as a gift and as something they’re opening up to us,” Nunamaker said. “It’s very difficult to do this and to not get emotionally invested in it, because you really do want every piece to be the one to succeed and to thrive.”
After selections had been made, the team focused on generating buzz for the magazine, placing fliers around campus, highlighting their writers on Instagram and preparing for the reading in April. One of the most exciting parts of the process was the creation of the physical copies of Bitterbrush.
The simple title sprawls across the front cover, a colorful swirl of landscape painted behind it. The cover art, created by Shannon Castor, sets the tone for the flowing, dramatic display of written work held within the magazine’s pages.
