Our Mission
TELLING Your Story IS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT.
Unless she did something very incredible (or very, very bad) most women don't get named in history. HerStry wants to rewrite the narrative and put women’s stories front and center.
Since 2015 we have collected hundreds of stories from women all over the world. Stories about love, loss, motherhood, friendship, and so much more. We all have something to say, and we all have experiences worth sharing. HerStry wants to get every woman writing, talking, and sharing her story.
Our Story
Julia Nusbaum created HerStry after graduating from Vanderbilt University Divinity School in 2014 with her Master of Theological Studies. You might think a background in theology would make her an odd candidate for creating a feminist storytelling community, but we beg to differ.
In 2014 while finishing her master's thesis work at Thistle Farms, a recovery community in Nashville, Tennessee for women who have survived trafficking, addiction and life on the streets, Julia started a writing class. It was there, writing with the women of Thistle Farms, that she discovered the deep need women have to tell their stories. She became interested in the way our narratives shape how we see the world and how we perceive ourselves. Julia realized that by telling our stories and claiming our voices we start to become strong, confident, and empathetic women.
Meet The HerStry Team
Julia Nusbaum, Founder/Editor-in-Chief
Julia is the founder and Editor in Chief of HerStry. She is a native of rural Northern Illinois where she grew up on a farm. She earned her bachelor's degree from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, her Master’s of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago. Her Work appears in The Wisconsin Review, Mutha Magazine, The Feminine Collective, and elsewhere. She currently lives with her partner and son in Milwaukee, WI. To read her writing check out julianusbaum.com.
Kris Busch, Staff Editor
Kris Busch (she/her) is a lesbian non-fiction writer and editor from the Twin Cities. She has work published or forthcoming in the Rumpus, Anime Herald, and more. Follow her on Instagram @itskriskringle.
Selena Raygoza, Staff Editor
Selena is a graduate from the University of California-Riverside with a BA in Creative Writing and a focus on Nonfiction. She began her journey as an editor with Mosaic, UCR’s Literary Journal. She has found her inspiration as a writer from her mother’s life stories and her own experiences as a daughter. When she’s not writing nonfiction pieces she loves to experiment with poetry.
Gretchen Corsillo, Director of Operations
Gretchen is a native of the greater NYC area. She received her BA in Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Political Science from Ramapo College and holds a Master's in Library & Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh. By day, she works as the director of a public library and also owns a small tarot business. An avid writer, she is working on a novel and enjoys dabbling in personal essays and poetry too.
Molly Stites, Editorial Intern
Molly Stites grew up in a small coastal town in Maine. She has always loved storytelling, both about herself and others. She traveled down the east coast all the way to Washington DC for college, where she studied Film and Creative Writing at American University. She dreams of sharing stories with the world, whether on screen or on paper. Despite the distance from home, her pen draws her to write about the rocky coasts and icy waters back home. Her writing encompasses the experiences of young women, focusing on girlhood, love, home, and friendship, with nature as a force that ties her language and visuals together. When not writing, she can be found walking her three-legged rescue pup or watching movies with her roommates.
Briana Gwin, Critique Group Instructor
Briana Gwin embraces multitudes as a neurodiverse, Afro-Latina hybrid creative and multicultural Citizen. She received a BA in Literature and Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, and an MFA in Fiction and Nonfiction from The New School. She is the current senior editor of prose at The Seventh Wave magazine, and the former editor & storyteller of Milkweed Editions. Her words have appeared in Midnight & Indigo, The Seventh Wave, Guernica, and elsewhere. She currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her three hairless cats and more books and houseplants than she can count.
CJ Scruton, Critique Group Instructor
CJ Scruton is a trans writer and musician from Tennessee who currently splits their time between Milwaukee and Brooklyn. They received a Ph.D. in ghost stories and folklore from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and currently teach poetry and nonfiction workshops alongside horror fiction, dystopian sci-fi, and research writing. Their poetry-performance collection, Suite for Hallucinated Voices, is forthcoming from Half Mystic Press in 2026.
Volunteer Readers
Khushi Bajaj
Khushi Bajaj (she/her) is a multilingual poet and writer from Lucknow, India. Her work has previously been published by Penguin Random House, fourteen poems, The Bombay Literary Magazine, Feminism in India, Film Companion, and more. She has won the international Briefly Write Poetry Prize, and been highly commended for the Disabled Poets Prize and the erbacce-prize. She is passionate about intersectional feminist politics, supporting local communities, and radical kindness.
Chrysanthemum Crenshaw Cohen
Chrysanthemum Crenshaw Cohen is a passionate advocate for serving vulnerable communities and animals. With a background in animal welfare, homeless services, and sexual assault victim advocacy, she recognizes the power of using lived experience to affect change. Chrysanthemum believes in storytelling as an essential part of healing, and she aims to help amplify underserved voices in her work.
Michael Delsine
Writer, actor, director, producer, film critic, and entertainment journalist, Michael spent the majority of her career in Chicago and Los Angeles, before relocating to New England and returning to her earliest creative passion -- theatre. She now calls Maine's Southern Seacoast home.
Virginia Laurie
Virginia Laurie is a visual artist, educator, and poetry MFA candidate at UNC Wilmington.
Jennifer Martin
Jennifer Martin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Susquehanna University in Creative Writing and Publishing & Editing where she found solace in everything literary. When she is not immersing herself in the literary community, she can be found crocheting, reading thriller/suspense novels, or rewatching a comfort show.
Sarah R. New
Sarah R. New (she/her) has recently been published in journals including The Hooghly Review, Hearth and Coffin, Litmora, and in anthologies such as Broken Olive Branches, and it always finds us (Querencia Press). Her Gothic horror novella, Amissis Liberis, was published by Alien Buddha Press in May 2024 and her travel memoir, The Great European Escape is available for free from https://sarahrnew.wordpress.com/.
Ada Onobu
Ada Onobu (she/her) is a neurodivergent writer living in Abuja, Nigeria. Her work has been published in Isele Magazine, Paragraph Planet, and Pencilmarks Scribbles. Connect with her on Twitter and Instagram at @lafemmeidoma.
Leigha Rossi
Leigha is a curious soul who believes in the power of stories, always searching for connection and magic in everyday life. When she is not coffee hopping, she is crafting her own stories that venture into the unknown.
Katie Shepard
A sophomore studying English and Art History at Boston College, Katie loves all things writing. When not typing up a paper, you’ll catch her watching musicals in the Boston area or baking banana bread in her dorm kitchen.
