poet. writer. editor. reviewer. brand storyteller. budding traveler. photographer.

McKenzie Lynn Tozan

For years, I’ve tried to keep “me” out of bios like this and just focus on my work experience and “what makes me a writer”—but this isn’t Severance. In 2025, I’ve started leaning into all of the things that make me, me, and it’s infiltrated my work in surprising and satisfying ways and made it better. So who am I? I’m a woman who scored highest for engineering on all aptitude tests even though I wanted to be an artist and writer, and I met in the middle by teaching for 9 years, while also finding my way into the publishing industry, first by editing and formatting fascinating and complex dissertations, tutoring in libraries and writing resource centers, and reading from the slush pile for the community’s literary magazine. That started me on the path to where I am 15 years later: now a mom of three, wife of almost 15 years, still very Midwestern at heart, living in coastal Croatia, and learning to embrace my inner Julia Child, Stanley Tucci, and maybe even Gertrude Stein. I love being by the sea, I love spooky things, I miss pumpkin patches, and despite being introverted, I’m a very bubbly person and will inevitably be one of your story’s greatest cheerleaders. And beyond wanting to write a few memorable books of my own in my lifetime and raising three good and kind people, I dream of raising a few chickens, growing a pumpkin patch on the coast, getting scuba certified, swimming with sharks, and serving the community through coastal clean-up, coral reef restoration, and animal rescue, all while inevitably writing poems and stories about it.