Meet Our Team

The Bayou Review provides a platform for emerging and established writers and artists to feature their work. Our dedicated team carefully reviews all submissions and selects work ranging from prose, poetry, translation, and visual work.

Spring 2026 Editors

Alex Beltran

Bella Bright

Alex Dangtuw

Samara Gaona

Titan Lightfoot Carrillo

Maryann Lopez

Alexa Beltran (she/her) is a senior at the University of Houston-Downtown majoring in Creative Writing. She aspires to not only be an author but a screenwriter for movies and TV shows. Alexa’s favorite genres to read, watch, and write are fantasy and science fiction with her current rewatch being Doctor Who. After graduation she hopes to finally complete her novel and pursue an MFA in Creative Writing. She looks forward to reading every submission!

Bella Bright is a junior at the University of Houston-Downtown, pursuing a BA in English with a Film Studies concentration, who intends to have a long, bold career in film as a director and producer. They got their start in the industry with their father, a preacher with a techy side, and served time as a writer, producer and talent of every production they could help him with. Bella co-hosted QTNA: Questions That Need Answers on Amazing 102.5 for three years and worked as an administrative associate for two. Now they are focused on finishing their degree and continuing their career moving into film in 2026!

Alex Dangtuw is a senior at the University of Houston-Downtown graduating this spring with a BA in English. He has previously participated in several writing groups, workshops, and literary events. Alex has a love for writing, music, and art. He has experience as a social media assistant, and aims to pursue a career in publishing after graduation. Alex enjoys reading and watching movies in his free time. He looks forward to reading every submission sent to The Bayou Review.

Samara Gaona (she/her) is a senior at the University of Houston-Downtown. She is graduating this spring with a bachelor’s degree in English, Creative Writing concentration, and a minor in Technical Communication. She serves as the Event Coordinator of the Creative Writing Club and is a member of the Library Book Club at UHD. Following her summer internship with the Houston Public Library, Samara began her position as an interlibrary loan student worker at UHD’s W.I. Dykes Library. After graduation, Samara plans to pursue a master’s degree in Library Sciences.

Titan Lightfoot Carrillo (he/they) is a Houston native innately drawn to thought-provoking speculative works and exploring the disgusting spaces between identity, self-discovery, love, and hell. They are currently pursuing a degree in Film Studies and Creative Writing from the University of Houston-Downtown, where they serve as the Creative Writing Club VP, with their two cursed children, Rikka and Saya, for a shadow.

Maryann Lopez is a senior at the University of Houston-Downtown. This spring, she will be graduating with a BA in English. She has a deep gratitude and love for music and is oftentimes muttering a song to herself. She also has an affinity towards reading and learning new things, hoping to broaden her world views.

Jordan Moon is a junior at the University of Houston-Downtown, pursuing a BA in English with a Creative Writing concentration. He is the current president of the Creative Writing Club at UHD. Jordan plans to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing. Over the years, he has extended his pursuit of writing to include hunting workshop groups, open mics, and community spaces where he can grow as a writer and as a person. His current genre focus within fiction sits on the fence of poignant, relevant allegory and scifi/fantasy.

Jordan Moon

Rue Thompson is a third-year student at the University of Houston-Downtown, currently pursuing a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. She aspires to pursue a career in publishing and hopes to become a fiction and poetry author. Rue has maintained a consistent interest in music, vampires, and film, and is currently hyper-fixated on how to be a better writer than the Duffer Brothers.

Rue Thompson

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Faculty Advisor

Dr. Lau Cesarco Eglin

Dr. Lau Cesarco Eglin (she/ella/ela) is a poet and translator from Uruguay. She is the author of six collections of poetry, including the chapbooks Between Gone and Leaving—Home (dancing girl press, 2023) and Time/Tempo: The Idea of Breath (PRESS 254, 2022). Her poems and translations (from the Spanish, Portuguese, Portuñol, and Galician), have appeared in many journals such as Zócalo: Public Square, Asymptote, Figure 1, Eleven Eleven, Puerto del Sol, Copper Nickel, SRPR, International Poetry Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Columbia Poetry Review, Timber, and more. Cesarco Eglin is the translator of claus and the scorpion by the Galician author Lara Dopazo Ruibal (co•im•press, 2022), longlisted for both the 2023 PEN Award in Poetry in Translation and the 2023 National Translation Award in Poetry. She is also the translator of Of Death. Minimal Odes by the Brazilian author Hilda Hilst (co•im•press), which was the winner of the 2019 Best Translated Book Award. Her most recent translation is The Mistaken Place of Things by Gabriela Aguirre (Eulalia Books, 2024). Cesarco Eglin is the publisher of Veliz Books and teaches creative writing at the University of Houston-Downtown.