DO YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE? by Maxwell Bushey,

“Finally, they snapped, and their fantasies became blueprints. So they packed up their rucksacks and walked down to the station at 5:00.” Twin brothers plot an escape on a train, leading them on a journey and the possibility of unknown danger.

Maxwell Bushey is an undergraduate studying creative writing at Columbia College Chicago.

“I am dancing through the shadows of the shimmering depths/ Where silver scales whisper and darkness wept.” Marty Pavlik’s poems explore the collision of our natural and inner states.

Marty is a poet and musician studying creative writing at Columbia College.  Their poems blend the intimate rhythms of daily life with dreamlike longing, turning ordinary moments into feelings of freedom.

Written by Marty Pavlik and Narrated by Vivienne Casaletto

“Juno,” the people would cry. “Our crops have withered and died, please help us.” And Juno would bring the crops back to life, more robust than ever before. “Juno, my house has caught flame, please save it.” Juno, a young magic-user, forms a complicated relationship with a witch.

David Gonzalez is a lifelong Chicagoan and the youngest of six children. For as long as he can remember, he's been drawn to stories and storytelling and has always loved experiencing them through books, movies, and video games.

Read by Sydney Richardson

“He was lying. Kaori may have been a regular, but she was still a customer like everyone else.” Ashe, a host at a host bar, is forced to negotiate a demanding customer and his other responsibilities.

Written by Marshall Harmon, a sophomore Creative Writing student at Columbia College Chicago. He has a love for all things fiction. When he isn't working on world building for his characters, he is drawing or playing RPGs instead.

Narrated by Dallas Michaelis

“She laughed under her breath but there wasn’t any humor in it.” When Lucky is offered a job in New York, he and Cleo must confront the end of their relationship.

Sia Tsiranidis is a junior B.A. student studying Communications and Design Management at Columbia College Chicago. Her work focuses on intimate storytelling that explores love, change, and the emotional in-between moments of growing, letting go, and moving forward. This piece invites readers into reflective spaces shaped by distance, ambition, and becoming.

Photo by Kevin Escate on Unsplash

“Pages fanned out like a white flag. She had given up before she had started.” Layla attempts to convince her mother, Monique, about her plans for the future.

Nicole Stanton is a Journalism minor student at Columbia College Chicago. Her nonfiction piece, "The Weight of Quiet," explores the trials and tribulations of a young woman entering college and the uncertainty of her future.

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Extraterrestrial

“This night was sure to be awful.” The shift at the restaurant is going well enough until coworker Mitsi arrives, bringing drama and the potential for conflict suddenly skyrockets.

Victoria Cornelson is an ASL-English Interpreting BA at Columbia College Chicago. Victoria writes fiction stories to explore life outside of her own eyes.

The Way Things Go

“But never did the boy I walk with imagine the girl he loved and his friend would end up together.” A young man and young woman negotiate the complexity of their ever-changing relationship.

Vianca Zagal is a Mexican-American writer born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. They are a senior at Columbia College Chicago and will be graduating with a degree in Creative Writing in Spring 2026.

“Wendell's saving grace is the morning bell, signaling the end of homeroom.” A young high schooler named Wendell—annoyed by a pair of outgoing students—finds himself unexpectedly drawn into their lives.

Autumn Rogers is currently a third-year creative writing student at Columbia College Chicago. In her writing she focuses on pulling from previous social experiences in hopes of providing a comedic approach to the often-gloomy points of life.  

“Her laugh rises behind trees and shrubbery while I pretend to be dumbfounded as to where she could’ve gone.” Through a series of short remembrances, a young person pieces together their complicated relationship to their family.

Sam Kagan is a fiction writer from Illinois who enjoys addressing a variety of themes within his writing. Family, transness, culture, and blending fantasy & horror within it all.