Our Team
Meet the Editors
Grace Chung
Editor in Chief
she/her
Grace is a senior in creative writing. Blooming from her obsession with matcha lattes, you can usually find her making various drinks while watching 500 Days of Summer on the TV for the 100th time. Following her passion for romantic (or arguably, horror) movies, she tends to write mostly screenplays about people she is not even remotely similar to- she finds a lot of appeal in pretending to be someone else.
Kate Kim
Editor in Chief
she/her
Kate became a writer soon after she learned to read, when she realized that she could just make her own stories instead of having to read her favorite ones over and over. She loves the idea of being able to construct a whole intricate world based wholly on her own creation, and as a result, her writing reflects whatever occupies her mind at the moment—ranging from talking dogs, relationships between friends, fantastical stories, cultural contemplation and endlessly more. At the moment, her favorite genre has been realistic fiction in both her reading and writing. In her free time, she likes watching any and all movies (although she has a random affinity for borderline unrealistic, cheesy action movies—think Mission Impossible—as well as thriller k-dramas), spending time with her goldendoodle Coco, and playing tennis.
Sam Holt
Senior Editor
she/her
Like the weenie she is, Sam is more than happy to be caught under a blanket fort watching an obscure, foreign childrens cartoon you’ve never heard of. Or maybe a popular one you have heard of. Probably a popular one. If one thing’s for sure, you’ll never spot her watching something in a 3:4 aspect ratio (especially if it’s black and white). When prompted to write anything at all, there’s about a 98.4% chance she’ll spin you a fairytale, her crutch of choice. Blame it on her formative years as a pegasister and her sci-fi loving dad. Though on first impression she may seem shy, give her a week and she’ll reveal her true colors: loud, obnoxious, and stubborn. Self-taught snowboarder isn’t exactly a title earned through sound sense. And she’ll do anything to get a chuckle, if not a guffaw, knee-slap, teehee, or even a violent exhale from the nose. But, while she waits, she’ll be wondering why she can’t order a pastrami on banana bread with cottage cheese.
David Bae
Senior Editor
he/him
If you’ve always wanted to know someone who has more cats than family members, a rather debilitating obsession with tea, and a love for Guy Ritchie, then look no further than David. The type of guy to enjoy long hikes and fishing trips, he’s always had a knack for all things nature, and it comes to most people’s surprise that he has five cats. However, more varied than his feline friends (or the weirdly shaped moles on his face) is his music taste; one day he’ll be listening to jazz and the next day it’ll be UK drill or k-rnb—it’s scary how all over the place it is. His feats are as listed: set a new record in his friend group for falling while ice skating, ate 10 breadsticks at olive garden (plus three entrees) in a single sitting, squatted 285 pounds while blindfolded, and petted a wild feral wolf at night. Don’t worry, he didn’t get rabies from petting that wolf, at least to the best of his knowledge...
Via Le
Senior Editor
she/her
She is paying attention. When she’s crocheting, that just means she wants to listen closely to what you have to say. If you ask her what she’s making, it’ll be along the lines of a stuffed animal, a shirt, or “I'll figure it out”… If she could, Olivia would spend all her time reading and writing in cafés with a strong cup of matcha. Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, and Ocean Vuong would be among her most welcome acquaintances. She also loves to spend time at the beach and hopes to pursue marine science in the future. Olivia takes pride in being a foodie for good food and especially loves making bánh xèo with her whole family. Poetry and dance are her main forms of expression and she couldn’t imagine what she’d do without them.
Iris Wang
Senior Editor
she/her
Iris has no idea what to write for this bio, but she has a few fun facts that maybe you’d be interested in. She lives with two cats that she loves very much, she’s an Alien Stage enthusiast, Rochester (from Jane Eyre) hater, has never watched the Titanic, and is a Jonathan (from Stranger Things) sympathizer. Outside of that, she mostly spends her time reading sad poetry, finally finishing a book she started a year ago, fishing lost items out from strange places, and updating herself on the latest news. Also, she writes sometimes, usually at eleven pm when inspiration hits and she’s just about to go to bed, but ends up at a desk frantically writing or typing only semi coherent lines.
Bethany Kim
Contributing Editor
she/her
Strangely enough, Bethany’s most perennial memories of her favorite books and films come from these spontaneous insights at night. It has always been this way—especially after indulging in a Kdrama with the meanest ending, like Mr. Sunshine. You might find her scribbling such a thought down right after she says she is finally going to bed. She categorizes these revelations as “quotes and understandings” and will revisit said notes on another night just to make sense of it all again. Bethany isn’t exactly sure when this tradition came to be, but these homemade precepts have gently guided her creative writing journey seemingly forever. She hopes she isn’t the only one doing this. Lately, what has been keeping her up is a quote—one that has been jotted down and would surely be scrutinized again—from a new favorite novella by Ted Chiang. Let Bethany warn you that legal thrillers, video essays, and the speculative genre are particularly prone to fueling her nighttime workshops. So, here’s the latest making: “The familiar was far away while the bizarre was close at hand.” Anyone?
Paige Hines
Junior Editor
she/her
If glancing at Paige’s screen time, one might find she spends a lot of time on Instagram. More precisely, Instagram Reels. She often finds herself in these loops, promising, “Only five more minutes” (that’s a lie). When she isn’t ignoring her many obligations, she’s likely flipping through the pages of a thriller novel spending time with her friends, listening to music, going to the beach, or watching movies.
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Joy Jin
Junior Editor
she/her
Joy Jin (they/them) is a sophomore at Orange County School of the Arts, in the Creative Writing Conservatory. They’re an editor for the literary magazine Beneath the Mask and also the social media manager of Persimmon Review, previously received an honorary mention from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and has been published in several literary magazines. Apart from writing, they like playing video games, watching (and possibly crying over) anime, and eating (too much) grapefruit.
Eros Garcia
Junior Editor
he/him
Illuminated by the too-bright light of his laptop, Eros spends his days and nights thinking about one thing. Vampires. It doesn’t help that their color palettes lean heavily on his favorite colors (particularly deep shades of red). On days he does manage to get his mind off the creatures and into a writing mood, he spends more time on pinterest carefully curating his characters’ aesthetics than he actually spends putting his fingers to the keys of his laptop. Or perhaps, he’s doing a theoretical tarot reading on his characters to decide their fates. It’s all part of the writing process–or so he tells himself. Don’t worry though, he eventually gets things done and begins the next battle. Preferably, that battle will be more imaginary and accompanied by a good few dice. Just know that if you catch him of guard, he’ll probably be reading his horoscope and sending cheesy predictions to all his friends.
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Sam Boswell
Junior Editor
he/they
While frying in the Santa Ana sun, Sam wishes to be caught in a rainstorm. Or better yet to be cozily tucked inside with a hot cup of tea, a good book, and the rain as ambience. On school days off you can find them with their headphones on boogying and whipping up a batch of cookies, muffins, or anything in between. He may not say it out loud, but if you receive food from him rest assured that he cares about you. From daydreaming out the window to queuing up the right music for each car ride, they are truly a distracted thinker at heart. No matter how hard he tries, the world around him will always be the basis of all his writerly inspiration. They just can’t help it! If you have sat with the crashing waves or tried to memorize the music of wind blowing through trees, you’d understand. Like any respectable child, sometimes all he needs is a good snack and a sorting game to be happy as a clam. Just don’t ask about their sleep schedule, they're trying their best. That can also apply to the puns, the many bad puns.
About Us
Inkblot is the Orange County School of the Arts' award-winning literary magazine. Staffed by Creative Writing, Digital Media, and Visual Arts students and overseen by the Director of Creative Writing, Josh Wood, we produce a volume of the publication annually and review submissions of writing, visual art, photography, and music compositions throughout the school year.