What began in the classrooms at the University of Wis-consin-River Falls has evolved into a career centered on the written word. For Cassie Wang, a 2024 creative writing alumna, her passion for writing began long before graduation. Today, she uses the skills she developed at UWRF to help shape the work of emerging writers and artists through her role at the independent literary journal Radical Catalyst.
Wang graduated from UWRF in December 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and a minor in graphic design. After starting her studies at a private college in Iowa, she transferred to River Falls to join its English program.
“I thought I was going to major in art but ended up deciding that I really couldn’t resist that pull when it came to English and writing. I just loved it so much. But then they ended up downsizing their English program. So that’s when I saw River Falls and how they have an amazing English program. So I ended up transferring and it was absolutely amazing,” Wang said.
Wang’s academic experience included working closely with adviser Joe Ryan. These experiences helped her develop a passion for the editorial process and creative writing while continuing to explore her love for art through graphic design.
“He was my adviser, and I worked with him a lot because he does a lot of the creative writing classes there, and I loved him so much. He’s amazing, and I just had such amazing classmates. It was just such a good community, and I learned so many skills. Also tying in my graphic design minor was super fun, and seeing how some of my stuff actually correlated from graphic design into creative writing, and being able to just grow in general. I don’t think I would change a thing about going to River Falls,” Wang explained.
The literary journal Radical Catalyst, founded by Megan Kirk and Olivia Berry in late 2024, focus-es on uplifting marginalized voices and challenging systems that stifle creativity. Wang de-scribed the journal as being a space “to uplift all those people that tend to get pushed to the side, and to create a space for them to do their thing, talk about what they want to talk about, and in the hopes that showing other people different perspectives, we can create the change that we want to see in the world.”
Wang began her work with Radical Catalyst as an editorial intern during the publication’s inaugural issue. She later became a senior editor before moving into her current role as managing editor.
As managing editor, Wang oversees editorial interns, associate editors and senior editors while helping them develop their editorial skills. She also works with the publication’s copy editors.
“Looking back, it’s just so crazy that I was there for that [Radical Catalyst’s first edition],” Wang said.
Wang explained that independent publishing gives Radical Catalyst opportunities that larger publications may not have. Independent outlets can provide space for pieces and perspectives that might not fit the priorities of mainstream publications.
“I think that a lot of times larger publications tend to be limited in what they can publish because they have a larger audience. They are the face of the company, they have to come off a certain way, and a lot of times they’re scared to upset those audiences and lose readership. Whereas with smaller independent journals, unfortunately, we don’t have as big of a readership, but that does allow us to have that freedom to publish pieces that other journals might not, which I think is super important because it’s those small pieces that oftentimes make the biggest difference, in my opinion,” Wang said.
Wang also noted that independent journals can work closely with artists to refine their work through collaborative editing rather than just changing it to fit a mold. Small journals can offer more freedom than large publications because they are not pressured to protect massive audi-ences or specific brand images.
For Wang, editing is not about reshaping a contributor’s work into something that fits the publication. Instead, she sees the editor’s role as creating space for the contributor’s voice.
“I like to say that our job at Radical Catalyst is to be the canvas that our contributors’ works are painted on and not to change the pieces. Whereas I feel like a lot of other places, even if we’re not talking about journals and pieces, they tend to change things until it is how they want to be perceived. I think it’s more important to let people share their opinions and their thoughts, so that we can actually change the world and see different perspectives instead of only seeing what we want to see,” Wang said.
Wang hopes readers leave Radical Catalyst with more questions than answers. She wants the journal’s stories and artwork to encourage readers to pause, consider perspectives different from their own and reflect on the issues presented.
For Wang, that reflection is the beginning of change. Before people can understand another person’s experiences, she said, they first have to be willing to stop and think about them.
Radical Catalyst accepts applications for editorial and design internships on a rolling basis. Interns can gain experience in editorial review, social media, press and layout design.
Wang explained the internship as being on a “rolling basis where we go based on what we need at the time.” Anyone is always welcome to submit. She added, “Right now, we’re specifically looking for editorial interns and some designers, and a lot of our interns experience everything, so we give them a little bit of design work, a little bit of editorial. They also see the press and the social media side of things because our goal is to get them familiar with everything. That way, they can kind of get a feel for what they want to do.”
Wang advises students pursuing journalism or creative writing to practice persistently because there are no shortcuts to skill development. She suggests that college students build daily writing habits to maintain their craft after graduation. She also recommends taking advantage of travel opportunities, such as studying abroad while still in school.
For students hoping to pursue writing after college, Wang’s advice is simple: keep practicing.
“There really aren’t any shortcuts,” Wang said. “It’s all about that persistence and about just keeping at it, really.”