Head of Tonic
Sabine Wilson-Patrick is originally from Barbados and is in her third year at Cardiff University studying English Literature & Creative Writing. She has performed at the Hay Festival and her writing has been nominated for the Best of the Net and Best Small Fictions anthologies. Her work can be found in Midnight & Indigo, Aster Lit, Nawr Magazine and Ethereal Magazine. She is the Managing Editor of Rover Magazine and the Love Section Editor of Quench Magazine. She created Tonic Magazine because she loves the diversity of creative writing that literary magazines foster.
Poetry Editors
Caitlin Tina Jones is a third-year Creative Writing student and emerging poet from Hengoed, South Wales. Her poems have been published by The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network, Poetry Wales, and Propel. Her poems have also featured in various anthologies, including He, She, They, Us: Queer Poems (Pan Macmillan) and Beyond/Tu Hwnt: Anthology of Welsh D/deaf and Disabled Writers (Lucent Dreaming). She is currently working with Edge Hill University as a Lived Experience Consultant on Arts4Us, a £2.5m research project using creative solutions to alleviate stress from children and young adults with mental health struggles.
Sam Davies loves all things literature, particularly Greek myths and philosophy. Passionate about retellings and classics, he is currently working on his own novel while researching the intersections of celebrity culture, fandom, and digital activism for his dissertation. When not reading or writing, Sam is immersed in pop culture, dissecting the latest album releases or media trends. In his final year of university studying journalism, he hopes to build a career in magazines and publishing. With a love for storytelling in all forms, he finds inspiration in everything from classic literature to modern music.
Hannah Coyle is part of the poetry and design teams. They love all sorts of writing but in their course, English Literature and Creative Writing, they have focused their poetry skills and are working towards their dissertation. A skill they want to practice more is their sfx makeup, which they used to do a lot more, but now that uni work has picked up, the makeup brushes have done down In their free time, they love to read, draw and play instruments! They also love food and are always up for ordering a take-away and watching a film with friends or going out for drinks and playing board games.
Prose Editors
Bo Burt is a creatively driven, bubbly third year student studying English Literature with Creative Writing. She loves reading personal essays and contemporary fiction, both offering a perfect balance of relatability and escapism that allows her to connect with diverse perspectives. A recent, and favourite, read was Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. She loved its raw exploration of sisterhood and it has since become a key source of inspiration for her final year creative project. She is over the moon with her role as prose-editor, excited to contribute to shaping the literary community at Cardiff University.
Megan Ingram-Jones is the Prose Editor for Tonic and a part-time MA English Literature student at Cardiff University. She has a background in editing and marketing, with experience refining prose for clarity and accessibility. As co-head of DAPS at the University of South Wales, she oversaw editing and publishing for the anthology, showcasing emerging voices. She is especially drawn to magic realism and narrative essays, appreciating bold storytelling and immersive prose. Always seeking work that resonates beyond the page, she values writing that explores identity, memory, and culture in meaningful, thought-provoking ways.
Angela Griffith is a final year English Literature and Creative Writing undergraduate at Cardiff University, originally from Manchester. Her favourite reads are usually literary realism and short stories, but recently she’s been looking for a book to help her learn Spanish! Angela’s writing remains rooted in her home city (despite her travels across Europe, Southeastern Asia, Australia and North America). Currently, she is working on a collection of short stories set against the backdrop of the 2024 race riots in Manchester. As prose editor of Tonic, Angela is thrilled to see the first submissions of talented writers, poets, and artists of Cardiff University and wants to encourage everyone to submit their work!
Ally-Joh Gowan-Day has a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing and is currently studying an MA in Creative Writing. Her writing focuses on life with trauma, specifically dealing with childhood trauma and PTSD. Previously she has worked as an editorial assistant for Wales Arts Review and as a freelance editor and researcher for companies such as Open Genius and Kogan Page. She originally hails from Somerset but has lived in the Valleys for 6 years now and can’t imagine herself anywhere else, even with the rain and the hills her car engine hates.
Visual Arts Editors
Millie Higgins is a third-year English Literature student at Cardiff University, with a passion for reading, writing and art. She has contributed extensively to Cardiff Student Media throughout her three years at university. Millie’s love for literature started with Roald Dahl and has grown to span various genres, particularly thrillers and memoirs, and cover many literary forms. Art has also been a long-lasting hobby, shaped through school classes, teaching it at summer camp and frequent visits to art galleries. Alongside her academic pursuits, other hobbies of Millie’s includes traveling and spending time with friends and family.
Charlotte Hardie-Watts is a second-year Journalism & Politics student. She was born in England but grew up in the South of France for most of her life. From as young as she can remember, Charlotte recalls always having a creative spirit. She participated in many art classes and did anything that required drawing or painting. At 18, she was able to complete several artistic projects like paintings or installations and participated in a project to help blind people imagine art pieces through touch. Through this role at Tonic, she aims to encourage students to showcase their art pieces and be proud of their creativity.
Design
Julia Bottoms is a Deputy Editor of Quench Magazine and Opinion Editor at Empoword Journalism. She is also a writer at Buzz Magazine and Cardiff Times, writing about anything and everything from Wales’ 20mph speed limit to interviewing Aberystwyth Kink Society. Currently finishing her final year of her Journalism and English Literature undergrad at Cardiff, she will be moving to London in September for a Masters in Magazine Journalism at City University. Her favourite things in the world are The Toe Rag Magazine, David Lynch, Talking Heads and digital cameras. Julia has bylines in The South Wales Argus, Buzz Magazine, Cardiff Times, Quench, Rover, Multippl, Empoword Journalism and Grey Bear Literature Magazine.
Olivia Nilsen hails from an island in the U.S. moving over when she was twelve, living in the UK ever since. In 2020, she moved to Cardiff to study her English Literature BA. After finishing her degree, she continued to live and work in the city before deciding to return to study. Currently, she is in her first year of a part-time master’s. Alongside her studies, she has become an illustrator for both Quench and Tonic. She enjoys spending her time reading literature, painting, knitting, and gardening. She aspires to become an academic while continuing to create artwork.