Halfway Down the Stairs is a biannual literary magazine established in 2005 to publish cutting-edge fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by talented writers. New issues are published every June and December.

If you would like to contact us, feel free to drop us a line at halfway · stairs @ gmail · com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates. We are an entirely not-for-profit publication and our talented team of editors are all volunteers. This allows us to keep this website advertisement-free.

Most of our photography or art is sourced from open access repositories. We’re particularly grateful to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s open access archive and to Unsplash. Any photos taken by our editors, or submitted to us, are credited. 

POETRY EDITOR

Phillip Watts Brown lives in northern Utah and works as a graphic designer. He is the author of the chapbook Boy with Flowers in His Mouth (Gold Line Press, 2025). He earned his MFA in poetry from Oregon State University, and his poems have appeared in various journals and anthologies. In his spare time, he enjoys movies, podcasts, and drawing. He also loves almost every kind of tea.

FICTION EDITOR

Carrie Bachler has a Bachelor’s degree in English from Case Western Reserve University and lives in Michigan, where she works in academic services. She enjoys spending as much time as she can with her husband and her two boys. Her hobbies include traveling, listening to music and going to concerts, spending all day cooking, and reading.

NONFICTION EDITOR

Ellen Herbert is the author of The Last Government Girl, which won a Maryland Writer’s Award for Best Novel and was published by AH, Loyola Press. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Sonora Review, and other publications. Her YA novel, Don’t Hide from the Night, will be published by Melange Books in June 2025. Her website is http://ellenherbert.info.

MANAGING EDITOR

Alison Stedman lives in Aotearoa New Zealand and works in the public sector. She has grown accustomed to earthquakes and enjoys playing music and escaping to the mountains. Alison looks after the overarching or everyday business of the journal, including publication.