Philip Jude Weitl is the creator and director of TNX. He is a native of York, Nebraska, and has lived most of his life around the Platte River Valley. He is a Professor of English at Doane University, where he was named the 2010 Teacher of the Year. He is the current chair of the English Department and past holder of the Ardis Butler James Endowed Chair. He also created and directed The Writing Center at Doane from 2008-2013, before taking over as faculty advisor of Xanadu. He earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska, as well as a Master of Arts in English from Kansas State University. He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Technical and Professional Communication. His stories have been recognized by literary magazines around the country, as well as the prestigious Best American Essays anthology series. He also worked as a campaign operative and then Speechwriter and Deputy Press Secretary for Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns from 1998-2002.

Bradley Johnson has been a Professor of English at Doane University in Crete, Nebraska since 2001. He holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Duke University as well as M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Connecticut. His dissertation won the St. George Tucker Society’s M.E. Bradford Prize for the best dissertation on the American South. He has spent much of his career on interdisciplinary teaching and has received both Planning and Implementation grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. As a result, he co-founded and co-directs the Integrated Humanities Program at Doane. His published articles include analyses of the works of William Faulkner, Augusta Jane Evans, Herman Melville, and others. In 2015 he was awarded the Ardis Butler James Endowed Chair, and he was named the Student Congress Teacher of the Year in 2007 and 2016. He is married to Michelle DeRusha and has two sons, Noah and Rowan.

Melanie Ritzenthaler is an Assistant Professor of Practice in English, and has taught at Doane Universityin Nebraska since 2022. She received her MFA and MA in Fiction from McNeese State University and her PhD at Ohio University, where she also received a certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies. In addition to fellowships through Monson Arts and the Chautauqua Institution, her fiction and nonfiction has been published in Guernica, Mississippi Review, Gettysburg Review, Colorado Review, and in the “Other Required Reading” of Best American Short Story’s anthology collection in 2021.

Jeremy Caldwell serves as Director of the Writing Center for Doane University in Nebraska. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Northern Iowa, and a Master of Arts in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His writing has been published in Comstock Review, Work Literary Magazine, Potomac Review, and Prairie Schooner, among others. Jeremy also leads Write Out Loud and the Sandills Writing Marathon each spring.

Coming soon.

Jessica Himmelberg is the Editor of Xanadu, the art and literary magazine at Doane University. A native of Lawrence, Nebraska, she also created and leads Fireside. She is involved in shotgun sports at Doane and the Hansen Leadership Program. She has also received the Student Congress Impact Award. Her majors include English and Psychology.

Morgan Craig is currently the Associate Editor of Xanadu and Social Media Coordinator for TNX and the English Department. A native of Seward, Nebraska, she is pursuing an English major with a Secondary Teaching Endorsement. She is a member of the Doane Honors Program and NSEA Aspiring Educators. She also competes for the Track team and won the Marianne Clarke At-Large Writing Award as a first-year student in May of 2023.

What is your story? It would look great here.