Robert O'Connor is a writer and editor in Chicago, who has edited books for the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography and magazines for the Public Media Institute. His work has been published in Mash Tun, Proximity, the Lumpen Times,...  read

Christopher Sweet spent virtually his entire working life cunningly disguised as a high school English teacher in the Chicago suburbs. He blogs irregularly at Chicago Now, "Truth and Absurdity Spotting in Chicago," under his boyhood nickname, Kit. Please join Christopher...  read

James Gordon better known as G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive) is an international award winning author and poet and was recently named UBAWA's Children's Author of the Year. He can be seen on episodes of Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med,...  read

Gint Aras is the author of the cross-generational family epic, The Fugue, set for release in December from The Chicago Center for Literature and Photography. His writing has appeared in The St. Petersburg Review, Quarterly West, Curbside Splendor, Antique Children,...  read

Britt Julious is a journalist, critic and essayist. She currently serves as the local music columnist for the Chicago Tribune and contributes regularly to Vice magazine, The Guardian, Pitchfork, and MTV News where she is interested in writing about the...  read

Clayton Smith is a writer of speculative fiction whose work includes the play Death and McCootie and the novels Apocalypticon, Anomaly Flats, and Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the Sun. Some of his nonsense has been featured on...  read

Bill Savage teaches Chicago literature, film, history, and culture at Northwestern University and the Newberry Library of Chicago. He regularly writes book reviews for the Chicago Tribune, op-ed essays for Crain's Chicago Business, various random things for other publications with...  read

Kyle Thiessen emerges from creative hibernation every few years to half-ass things that could have been really good. Previous endeavors include 2011's YouTube parody—the hastily researched but marginally entertaining “Fake Month at the Museum”—as well as a short film in...  read

Elaine Hegwood Bowen is a veteran journalist and native South-Sider who has covered both Chicago's urban and suburban communities. Elaine has been writing for the Chicago Crusader newspaper since 1994. In her book, Old School Adventures from Englewood--South Side of...  read

Sarah Hollenbeck has published personal essays in Dogwood and TriQuarterly. Her essay "A Goldmine" was nominated for a Pushcart and received a Notable Mention in Best American Essays 2014. She has performed at Story Club, Guts & Glory, Essay Fiesta,...  read