“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. 

“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. 

“I had watched the unused takes of Lionel and my sister enough times to know that when he kissed me for the first time, under that dead tree, he did so in a manner most similar to take number twenty-seven.” An emerging filmmaker finds herself becoming obsessed with the young man she’s chosen as her leading man in an independent film. 

Joshua Hoover is a Chicago-based writer originally from Chesterton, Indiana. He is a student at Columbia College Chicago, pursing a dual major in Creative Writing and Stop Motion Animation. 

What dangers must Fae face in order to provide for her family? In this folkloric short story, a young girl must confront the terror of the nearby woods.

Xochitl Marines is majoring in animation at Columbia College Chicago. She says, "I adore story telling I used to wrote stories all the time centered around my life. I've always been drawn to creepier stuff and love to tackle morality and character relationships even those less than pleasant I hope to one day create a story people can find comfort and recognize themselves in as I've found myself in many I've enjoyed."

How do you find your future? In the late seventies, a young woman faces the challenges of high school and his small town when a rumor takes hold.

Chris Derek Van currently studies film and television at Columbia College Chicago. From Chris: "I come from a Cambodian background and am a queer artist/filmmaker in Columbia College Chicago. Through the years of being in this institution I've developed skillsets such as networking, and independence. I maintain that I've unlocked self-sufficiency and am always creatively driven to do the things that aesthetically interest me with other or on my own."

Inspired by myth and fantasy, this suspenseful story explores the frightening allure of the unknown.

Katie Peters studies in the undergraduate creative writing program at Columbia College Chicago. She’s currently an acquisition editor for Allium, seeking to promote impactful literary voices.

Backstage drama knows no bounds. Alex King’s hilarious, dramatic short story details the secret world of high school theatre students and their mercurial relationships.

Alex King is a young writer and artist from Missouri who is also a creative writing major specializing in fiction at Columbia College Chicago.