Gint Aras has been trapped on planet Earth since 1973. His prose and translations have appeared in such places as Quarterly West, St. Petersburg Review, ReImagine, STIR Journal, Antique Children, The Good Men Project and other publications. His novel, The...  read

Parneshia Jones is the author of Vessel: Poems (Milkweed Editions), winner of the Midwest Book Award and an Oprah.com pick for 12 Poetry Books to Savor. After studying creative writing at Chicago State University, earning an MFA from Spalding University,...  read

Britt Julious is a writer born and bred in Chicago. She currently pens a weekly column for the Chicago Tribune and previously edited for Vice. She's written feature profiles and personal essays for the New York Times, Rolling Stone, GQ,...  read

Jeff Ruby is the chief dining critic of Chicago magazine. He is the author of the middle-grade novel Penelope March Is Melting, which comes out on November 14th, and coauthor of Everybody Loves Pizza: The Deep Dish on America's Favorite...  read

Aaron Cynic is an independent journalist and photographer based in Chicago. His interest in the tapestry of politics and media began in the '90s when he stumbled into a table of zines at a punk show at the Fireside Bowl....  read

Maya Kuper and Paul McComas explore the intersection between performing arts, and progressive outreach & healing. As the Dayna Clay Project, Maya & Paul raise awareness and funds for The Kennedy Forum's suicide-prevention and mental-health leadership initiatives, and for RAINN...  read

Karen Clanton is an attorney whose law degree did not stifle the English major lurking within. She has forged a career as a writer in the legal profession, where she develops internal communications strategy for a major law firm. Karen...  read

Benjamin Goluboff teaches English at Lake Forest College. In addition to some scholarly publications, he has placed imaginative work -- poetry, fiction, and essays -- in many small-press journals, recently Unbroken, Bird's Thumb, and War Literature and the Arts. His...  read

Kellye Howard is a writer, speaker, actress, and stand up comedian who has been featured on Comedy Central, TBS, NBC, FOX, WGN, and many more. She also currently performs improv with Second City every Saturday night in the Blackout Cabaret....  read

Norman Doucet hails from the den of the southern rebellion, Charleston, South Carolina. Influenced by the duality that exists there, he made some interesting decisions, starting with attending the college--founded after a slave revolt--which also has the dubious distinction of...  read