At the start of the fall 2025 semester Atlantis: A Creative Magazine welcomed their new Editor-in-Chief, UNC-Wilmington senior Dalin Klebanow. Atlantis is UNCW’s oldest creative magazine, founded in 1971. Atlantis publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art and photography from undergraduate and graduate students at any four-year or two-year institution in North Carolina.
Klebanow is a philosophy and religion major with a concentration in philosophy. Their minors include creative writing, classical studies, evolutionary studies and psychology. Through all their different courses, creative writing has been a special subject of interest for Klebanow. They shared their writing journey began after reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan at a young age.
Klebanow started as a writer of exclusively long-form works, with the goal of creating novels. Atlantis changed their perspective by allowing them to branch out to short stories. Getting into publication and reading short works from fellow students has made them a much stronger writer. Klebanow’s first publication was a fiction piece entitled “Snow.” This piece is published in Atlantis Issue 94, Fall 2023. You can also find their fiction piece entitled “An Aesthete in Bloom” in the Issue 98, Summer 2025 Staff Chapbook.
Klebanow has been involved with Atlantis since their freshman year in fall 2022. Each semester Atlantis holds committee meetings where volunteers can help editors select pieces for publication. This process is a blind juried process. Klebanow was involved in the selection committees before becoming the Nonfiction Editor in fall 2024.
As the Nonfiction Editor, Klebanow’s role consisted of selecting creative nonfiction pieces for publication in Atlantis. “I worked with writers to fine-tune their work and enhance their vision,” Klebanow said. They shared that they worked to take “already amazing pieces and make them as good as they can possibly be.” While leading volunteers for the selection process and enhancing work before publication, Klebanow also spent spring 2025 preparing for their role as Editor-in-Chief.
Almost the entirety of the Atlantis team except for Klebanow graduated in spring 2025. Therefore, they felt it was the ideal time to apply for Editor-in-Chief. “I had been planning to go for it, but this was the perfect chance. I figured I should try for the opportunity.”
As Editor-in-Chief, Klebanow’s job consists of creating the publication schedule, planning events and leading meetings. They find it important to be available to support staff members. This role is fulfilled by aiding team members and ensuring everyone executes their jobs.
Atlantis has also welcomed nearly an entirely new staff this semester. Klebanow states that they are very excited that everyone is going into this new position together. This will allow for an updated set of ideas and voices to grow the Atlantis community.
Atlantis has been a space for Klebanow to find creative inspiration and gain experiences that will be useful after graduation. Many of the people they have met through the magazine have left an impact on their personal work.
One of Klebanow’s biggest inspirations is previous Editor-in-Chief Nitya Budamagunta. Budamagunta served as Editor-in-Chief from fall 2023 – spring 2025. She specifically has shared poems of her own with Klebanow that have guided them out of previous writing slumps.
After getting involved in selection committees, it was Budamagunta that encouraged Klebanow to stay involved in Atlantis. They feel they are following in Budamagunta’s footsteps as she went from Nonfiction Editor to Editor-in-Chief the same way Klebanow has.
Klebanow describes Budamagunta’s leadership style as very hands-off. She took charge when scheduling and planning events but trusted everyone to complete their roles. This management style was very inspiring to Klebanow. “I admire Nitya a lot. I plan to implement a lot of what she did,” Klebanow said.
The previous editors created some new ideas to enhance the magazine that in the end, did not come to fruition. Budamagunta and Klebanow brainstormed together to figure out why these systems fell short and how the new team can bring them to life. Klebanow states that some of these ideas include collaborations with organizations, incorporating more volunteer opportunities, and expanding events and creating online monthly features. Though none of these events are guaranteed, they plan to try their best to implement them.
Through all this planning, Klebanow is most excited that Atlantis will hit its 100th issue while they are Editor-in-Chief. Atlantis plans to host an event to celebrate this achievement with more details to come.
If you’re a student looking to get into creative writing or submit work to Atlantis, Klebanow advises you to be persistent. “We hear and see a lot of people who do not submit [to Atlantis] since the acceptance rate is so low.” Atlantis has an acceptance rate of 2 – 20% depending on how many works are received. However, Klebanow states that they do not want anyone to feel disheartened. “We have to reject pieces all the time that we would love to publish and are amazing.” They share that choosing pieces is one of the hardest decisions. Part of being a writer is getting rejected, but that makes it all the more important to have persistence.
Atlantis welcomes all students with a goal of providing an opportunity to find community and have their creativity shared. Klebanow states that they have held leadership positions before, but this is their first time being the head of an organization. “I could not wish for a better organization to do this with. Atlantis is very close to my heart.” They look forward to what this new position has to offer and how they can leave their mark on the magazine during their last year at UNCW.
