Camille Aguilar
Camille is a senior at the University of Chicago where she studies Literature and Philosophy. There, she is a reporter for the Maroon, as well as a photographer for the student run culinary magazine: Bite. Her activism extends largely towards youth education, and she is currently an organizing executive of MUNUC the Model United Nations conference put on by UChicago students for over 1,500 international high school students annually. After college, Camille plans to continue writing creatively and professionally as she pursues a career in international human rights reform.
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Daniel Aguilar
Daniel is currently a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying Creative Writing. During his high school years, Daniel attended Chicago Bulls College Prep where he had been a video editor and also a frequent participant in skits. He has also worked closely with the Chicago Public Library Library of Games as a content creator, artist, writer, and video editor. During his free time, Daniel likes to draw cartoons, write creative stories both short and long, and work on small video projects.After college, Daniel plans on writing creatively and professionally as an editor and writing stories for multiple forms of media.
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Victoria Albert
Victoria can often be found talking energetically and at length, to the slight dismay of people around her. Although she may seem bright and cheerful on the surface, she has a secret passion for vampires, ghost stories, and murder mysteries. If she had a time machine, Victoria would be curious to visit 19th-century Britain. She feels drawn to explore and try new things in her life, but she also loves to curl up, watch TV shows about sharks, and unapologetically enjoy cheesy foods.
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Nomin Altansukh
Nomin Altansukh moved to the U.S.A. at the age of nine from Mongolia. For the first two years she couldn't speak English, heavily relying on visual cues to understand what others were trying to communicate. During this time she developed an appreciation and greater desire to study non-verbal communication. Nomin enjoys several forms of art that predominantly use visual rhetoric in its narrative -- paintings, sculptures, film, and theater.
In her free time, Nomin is painting landscapes or watching her favorite hockey team, the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Kaitlin Balasaygun
Kaitlin Balasaygun’s love for the arts began at an early age when she first picked up her dad’s old camera and started photographing everything. From the pancakes she had for breakfast to her sunbathing pup, everything turned into art and something worth capturing. Through this passion for photography, Kaitlin soon fell in love with various other forms of art like writing, painting and music. When she’s not spending time indulging in the arts, the majority of Kaitlin’s time is spent training for her competitive swim team, as swimming is another passion that she discovered at a young age.
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Joe Barabe
Joe Barabe shares that he fell in love with photography when he bumped into The Family of Man exhibition catalog, and then studied photography under photojournalist Martin Huss in Mannheim Germany. He then ran a photo center for the US Army’s Recreational Services. Joe Barabe works as a Scientific Photographer and Research Microscopist specializing in art materials and documents analysis (Barabe & Associates LLC) and now is focusing more on promoting his fine art photography, including the remarkable images you see here. and recently launched his photography website to promote his fine art photography. Please Visit Joe Barabe photography website.
Nell Beck
Nell Beck is a rising senior at Oberlin College, where she is pursuing a BA in English. At school, she is co-editor of the literary nonfiction magazine and eats in a dining co-op. Raised in Montclair, New Jersey, she is passionate about books, art, and writing. Looking ahead, she hopes to pursue an arts-related career, travel a lot, and become a better baker.
Chase Becker
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Chiara Berzieri
Chiara Berzieri –brings a keen eye for detail and multi-lingual expertise to be the copy editor for Picture This Post European travel stories. She has a deep interest in architecture, photography and culture.
Born and raised in the sixties in Milan, the Fashion City, Chiara moved to Varese, 40 km north, near Switzerland, famous for its Italian Liberty Style and for its stunning position around the Italian Lake District, one of the most beautiful environmental areas of Europe. After graduating in Varese, she worked for many years for Attorney at Law firms. In 2005, Chiara moved to Modena, the City of Pavarotti and car makers as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati.
2009 was the year that Chiara discovered Umbria – the green heart of Italy – by chance, touring the country by car. She says, “I found in the green landscapes of Valdichiana the authenticity of its welcoming people. In 2010 I bought a 19th century building, totally abandoned, Podere Molinaccio, and started the renovation and modernization work with great satisfaction. Today I’m an enthusiastic, curious and happy host at Podere Molinaccio of people from all over the world!"
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Jeffrey Bobb
Jeffrey has had a love for writing ever since reading the works of J.R.R. Tolkein and H.P. Lovecraft. Throughout his life he life he has strived to read as much as possible, including the classics, science-fiction, philosophy, horror, psychology, fantasy, and politics. A self-proclaimed political junkie, he always has an opinion for any current event or issue. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, listening to vinyls, getting lost in bookstores or libraries, and watching movies.
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Ann Boland
Reviewer Ann Boland is committed to Chicago theater. Involved in the audience since the early 80’s, she’s witnessed firsthand the rise of our theater scene, our exceptional local talent, and the vigor of each new generation. Ann handles public relations for authors and works on programs to help seniors with neurological movement disorders. Please visit her website for more information.
Destynee Bolton
Destynee Bolton is a senior at Trinity Washington University studying Human Relations. While at college she deepens her education in psychology and sociology. In her spare time, Destynee creates jewelry, works out, and collects crystals.
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Julia Bristol
Ever since she was a young girl, Julia has loved being creative, and frequently enjoyed all aspects of art. Whether that was going to the museum, watching a movie, or getting lost in a new book for hours, she found her passion through these stories being told. Growing up in a family with a love for the outdoors and traveling, she never had difficulty discovering new worlds to write about, and new scenarios to imagine. In addition to this, her free time also typically consists of going to concerts, hanging out with her friends, and traveling.
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Aliza Brylinsky
Aliza Brylinsky is an aspiring writer based in Ithaca, New York. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, Aliza spent much of her life surrounded by pieces of literature, which fostered a deep love for the written word and the effect that it can have on a wider audience. Often writing short fantasy stories for fun and imagining the intricate plotlines that the characters would be involved in as a child, this eventually led her to pursue a path to writing professionally. When not focusing on both creative and professional writing, Aliza can be found enjoying the bounties of nature around her home, reading works of fantasy and sci-fi, and smothering her various pets with all the love she can give them. She has a deep interest in the history and culture of any area she happens to find herself in.
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Tori Clinevell
Since she was old enough to hold a pencil, Tori has been reading and writing to pass her time. At the age of ten, she read over 100 books to be able to attend a pizza party; it could have been just for the pizza, but she still enjoyed doing it. After reading, she would curl up next to her dog and write fictional stories about her pets at home living alternate fantasy lives together. Although those stories written on scratch pieces of paper may not have much merit, the urge to write and create has followed Tori into adulthood. Now studying at Roanoke College, Tori jumps at any opportunity to try new things, follow new passions, and to be creative.
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Davis Cobb
Davis Cobb is a writer, researcher, editor, and cinephile from Georgia. Hoping to pursue a career in reporting or writing novels after graduating, he spends his free time diving into whatever topic of the week interests him--as well as hobbies like drawing and collecting old video game memorabilia.
Rhys Conoley-Marsh
Rhys is a young writer living in the heart of Seattle, Washington. Being a State Department brat, he moved around for his entire childhood, living in Australia, North Africa, The Middle East, Mexico, the United States, then Australia again before finally resettling in Washington State. His nomadic lifestyle meant that his personal literature and media collection was small, leading to his love of public libraries and the free access to escapism of every stripe, especially comic books. To Rhys, the most important thing is that everyone finds their heroes in the stories they enjoy, just like he was lucky enough to do from a young age.
When he isn’t writing, Rhys enjoys playing video games, tabletop RPGs, his neighborhood food scene, and learning about the intersections between activism and writing.
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Jacob Davis
Jacob Davis has lived in Chicago since 2014 when he started writing articles about theatre, opera, and dance for a number of review websites. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Theatre, where he specialized in the history of modernist dramatic literature and criticism. While there, he interned as a dramaturge for Dance Heginbotham developing concepts for new dance pieces. His professional work includes developing the original jazz performance piece The Blues Ain’t a Color with Denise LaGrassa, which played at Theater Wit. He has also written promotional materials for theatre companies including Silk Road Rising.
Michael Dean Adams
Michael Dean Adams is a freelance writer and poet obsessed with the art scene. Michael spends his free time reading and writing poetry, watching and analyzing Avant-Garde television, or reading Eastern European history.
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Lucas Delahunty
Lucas Delahunty is a recent Spanish and International Relations graduate from Valparaiso University. Passionate about the Spanish language and its cultures, Lucas will continue his graduate studies in New Mexico by specializing in Hispanic Literature. During his free time, Lucas enjoys traveling abroad, watching documentaries, and playing the piano.
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Mingyuan Dong
Ming has lived in China, the United States, and France. She speaks the languages of all three of these countries, as well as German. With these tongues, Ming enjoys traveling, visiting art museums around the world, and discussing all kinds of art with fellow art enthusiasts.
Ming grew up studying drawing in studios. Today, Ming spends most of her time making art, or studying the arts. She especially enjoys making works about linguistics, the natural environment, and living situations.
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Grace Downing
Grace has been an aspiring writer since she got in trouble in second grade for scribbling down ideas for her burgeoning fiction story instead of paying attention to the teacher. Since then, Grace has written a mix of fiction and poetry, penned a number of opinion articles for her high school newspaper, and has published one of her poems in a local newspaper in Venice, California. Reading lengthy fantasy series is a favorite pastime of hers as well. Grace is a part-time tutor, and when she is not reading or writing, she can likely be caught rewatching one of the Marvel movies or their many television shows.
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Kiah Durham
Kiah Durham is a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (A&T) pursuing a B.S in Journalism and Mass Communication, with a discipline in Public Relations. Since attending A&T, she has involved herself in a few organizations, such as the Public Relations Student Society of America, the A&T Register, and HER campus. In January 2020, she launched Shea Butta Babies, her growing skincare line (Instagram: @sheabutta_babies). Kiah also enjoys sewing, watching movies and spending quality time with family.
Maryam Emami
Maryam Emami is a sophomore college student with a brain of an imaginative seven-year-old. She might appear introverted but that is because she explodes on her laptop keyboard, typing away anything from frustrations to the joys of life. One of her dear friends is Devvo, a Devotion Echeveria succulent, to whom she talks and reads Persian poems. She is on her way to becoming a responsible adult, but that is only a seven-year old's dream. In the meantime, she tries to learn and dance through life as much as she can.
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Brent Ervin-Eickhoff
Brent fell in love with storytelling as a 2nd grader, making a movie about wizards in his backyard with his mother's borrowed camcorder. Since then, he has worked on countless creative projects as a filmmaker, writer, and stage director. In all of his work, Brent's goal is to foster creative experiences that offer others a deeper understanding of the impact their choices have on the world around them.
When he isn't working on a creative project, Brent enjoys trying out new recipes, attending live concerts, and playing Ultimate Frisbee. While he wouldn't claim to be particularly athletic, competing in pick-up games where "spirit of the game" is just as important as skill is right up his alley.
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Lydia Evans
With a love of writing in all forms, Lydia hopes to inspire emotion of any kind in those who read her work. Lydia has a passion for living life to its fullest, garnering as few regrets as possible. She finds it’s her responsibility to put her all into all she does, whether it be baking a batch of her chocolate chip cookies, playing tennis with friends, or looking for her next show to binge.
Gwen Flatland
Gwen is a Colorado native recently relocated to Bozeman, Montana. Their forever life dream has been to be a ‘writer someday’, and most of their notebooks and her notes- app are full of half-baked narratives based on frustrations, imagination, and more often than not crazy dreams. Their favorite things are reading outside, basking in the morning sun, running on a mountain trail, and cuddling her puppy.
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Holly Fontanetta
Holly Fontanetta is inspired by narratives that capture the idiosyncrasies of human experience. She has driven absurd distances on a whim in search of character, including two road trips from New York to California. Holly spends her free time hanging out with cats (her own or strays - either is fine) and swimming in the ocean (Atlantic or Pacific - either is fine). Her favorite stories to read and write feature women overcoming extraordinary circumstances. Currently, Holly is learning to paint and filling her walls with strange art.
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Francisco Gallardo
Truly a jack of all trades (it’s boring being a master of one), you’ll find Francisco Gallardo playing the viola or guitar, preparing his next calligraphic work, coding up a helpful script, eating way too much sushi with the boys, or, more recently, trying his hand at writing and translation. Fortunately for him, “Hay más tiempo que vida”, so it’s only a matter of time before he finds something else to append to this list…
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Nichole Gould
Today, she does things a little differently and her writing covers topics of disillusionment, nature, family, homecoming, and growth. She attempts to tackle these topics in an experimental and dreamy way, through both nonfiction and fiction, and sometimes, when she’s feeling confident, poetry. Nichole also spent a semester in Oregon, studying writing and hiking among the moss. Although she misses traveling, she enjoys exploring the magic of the Great Lakes in her home state of Michigan. When she’s not writing or traveling, you can find her reading, bookstore hopping, looking for her dream job as a recent grad, or hanging out with her 16-year-old cat, Kyle.
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Connor Grehan
Connor Grehan is a History and Film student at Vassar College. A longtime music student, he plays the French Horn, participating in the school orchestra and even a whistling a capella group. He likes to read books and play video games in his spare time, organizing tournaments and other events at school.
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Samantha Hartzell
Anything Samantha does, she does it while singing and dancing. She grew up very musically — taking four years of singing lessons, being involved in hip-hop and tap dance, along with learning a little bit of piano. She enjoys caffeine a little bit too much. Samantha’s favorite activities include hiking, beach trips, traveling, reading/writing, cooking, going to baseball games and trying new things.
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Max Harris-D’Amato
Max Harris-D’Amato is a freelance writer, who graduated from Columbia College Chicago in the spring of 2019 with a B.A. in multimedia journalism. In addition to both short and long form writing he has also directed a documentary, Surfing the Rust Belt, which he personally pitched, shot video, edited and conducted interviews for. In addition to writing, he has served with AmeriCorps on the Pacific Crest Trail and teaches English as a foreign language. He is passionate about traveling, current events and conservation.
Watch Max D’Amato’s film SURFING THE RUST BELT here.
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Annabelle Harsch
Annabelle has perpetual graphite smears on her hands from stories she wrote. She’s written about secrets and regret, but her favorite things to write about are love and dragons, good or bad. When Annabelle isn’t reading and writing, she’s usually hiking or buying plants and books.
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Keaton Hemminger
If you told Keaton she could live in a library she’d jump at the chance and then never be heard from for years. Keaton is an avid consumer of all media, always wanting to be invested in a story being told and guessing how it ends. One of her favorite activities is people-watching, she loves considering each person’s destination. A good book, a window above a busy street, and a mug of earl grey tea and Keaton could be occupied for a lifetime.
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Breanna Henry
Almost 10 years ago Breanna sat in her tiny room she shared with her younger sister in Houston, Texas writing songs, stories, and poems on the rough carpet. She mimicked songs she heard on the radio and imitated books she's read from the Scholastic Book Fair. By fifth grade, she knew creative writing would soon be her passion. Now a sophomore at Loyola University New Orleans, she has published works on her university's newspaper, literary journal, and on her own blog. When she's not writing and working towards her Mass Communication and English Writing degree, she's watching Criminal Minds re-runs, doing photoshoots with friends, and dancing wildly in her dorm room while music blasts through her speakers.
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Ellen Hernandez
With a love for music, film and communications, Ellen Hernandez enjoys spending hours online to search for new artists and movies during her free time. Miss Hernandez is also fond of doing translations for some of her favorite musicians ever since falling in love with linguistics and interpreting back in 2019. Outside of entertainment, she often searches for new fun topics regarding public pedagogy and culture.
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Summer Hoagland-Abernathy
Summer Hoagland-Abernathy is a Columbia College Chicago senior, working toward a double B.A. in journalism and playwriting. Her two passions coalesce in her love for theatre review, but when she's not writing, she can be spotted with a mug of chocolate milk in her hand and her hair piled high in a scrunchie, attempting to organize get-togethers with family, friends and her beloved. And if that doesn't help, look for the woman with a background in martial arts, who seems to be kicking the air for no apparent reason.
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Tyler Holland-Kasparov
Growing up in rural Appalachia gave Tyler the perfect backdrop for nurturing his love for the arts. With local artistic offerings being scarce in the area, he sustained his appetite by scouring the local library and the internet, devouring every piece of literature and film he could access. From obscure ancient literature to forgotten Soviet animation, he’s determined to experience it all. His life-long love of all things cultural and artistic is now invigorated by the diverse offerings in the Southern California city of sunny San Diego.
In his free time, he enjoys discovering new books, writing, waiting for Halloween to roll around, chatting with his dog, and pondering what exactly the true theme of Goblin Market by Rossetti is.
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Claire Hou
Claire Hou is a sophomore at Brandeis University, where she is pursing a degree in English. Raised in Beijing, China and Long Island, New York, she takes every opportunity to travel and explore new cultures. In her free time, Claire enjoys reading, watching movies and visiting art museums.
Harold Jaffe
Harold Jaffe is a poet, playwright, freelance greeting card designer, and aspiring librarian. He earned a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Olin College and studied poetry at Wellesley College under Frank Bidart and Alison Hickey. Since returning to Chicago, Harold has worked with Oracle Productions, Cave Painting Theater Company, the Old World Theatre Company, and Locked Into Vacancy Entertainment. He lives in Chicago with his wife Liana and their cat Paloma.
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Diana Jordan
A few pieces of paper, folded in the middle with two staples on the crease. That was all Diana needed to spark her imagination and get her pencil moving. This happened at age six, and now Diana is still writing seventeen years later, however in a more modern way…on a computer. Books are her escape, knowing it’s a world away from reality that anyone can vanish in. She is inspired by characters, their actions, and the lessons they learn. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s tanning at the beach. Check out some of Diana’s sample work at dianajordan website.
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Cassidy Junyi Zhou
Cassidy Junyi Zhou is a rising sophomore at Vassar College pursuing a B.A. in English and Film Studies. She was born and raised in Chongqing, China, a city known for its rich Bashu culture and spicy food. In her free time, Cassidy enjoys watching movies, reading, and daydreaming about having a pet cat in the future. She is currently learning French (because of her interest in French avant- garde cinema!) and trying to master the art of cooking.
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Rob Kent
Rob Kent is a cook by trade who tends to overseason his food. His free time is usually spent wrapped up in cultural goings-on and a desire to be places he's never been. He's inspired to write by the many metaphors for the way we live, found in the ways we eat.
Lately, he's also exploring the architectural styles of America's major cities and writing about them for Picture This Post.
Alicia Kobasic
Alicia has been writing stories as far back as she can remember. More recently, she stokes her love of stories with crime shows—if they are about creepy serial killers all the better! Her deepest passions, however, are for the rock bands like Palaye Royale, Waterparks and Badflower. Once Alicia graduates from Bowling Green State University, look for her landing her dream job as a music journalist traveling the world.
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Jay Ku
When not homesick for Hong Kong's sizzling street food and bustling nightlife, Jay is a freelance writer with a deep fascination with the fantasy sci fi genre. His idols are Rick Riordan, Andrej Sapkowski, and Brandon Sanderson. When he is not writing articles or working on his creative writing project, Jay is playing video games (his all time fave is Witcher 3), watching anime, reading, playing the bass guitar, and doing digital art. Follow Jay @jac0kieran.
Paul Lee
Paul Lee is a fervent video editor who has been creating videos since his middle school years. He finds the flow and process of video editing and production to be gruesome, but worth it at the end.
While video editing has been a main hobby for him, Paul has also been a performer his entire life — singing, acting, and dancing since he was 5-years old. Like most performers during the pandemic, Paul longs to return to the stage and perform in front of an audience.
Sabrina Lee
Sabrina Lee is a sophomore at Hofstra University pursuing a B.A. in Journalism. Raised in Orange County, California, she has been a gymnast, dancer, and coach. In her free time, she loves watching movies, eating Korean food, and practicing her poker skills. Sabrina's favorite place to be is in the audience of a Broadway show.
Gisela Levy
Gisela Levy (she/her/hers) is a Senior at Columbia University majoring in East Asian Studies and International Affairs. She has worked or volunteered at museums in Washington, D.C. and New York, and hopes to work at more. Having lived in Brazil, Bethesda, and Beijing, she enjoys making art about cultural collisions.
Ben Lindner
Ben Lindner loves stories wherever he can find them. Sometimes it’s a story he and his friends collaborate on while playing Dungeons and Dragons. Mostly he gets his story fill watching movies, or diving into video games, comic and podcasts of the compelling tale telling variety.
Outside of finding new stories to love, you can usually find Ben spending too much money at Target and trying to find new pins for his extensive pin collection— that is, when he isn’t working toward his Journalism major and Film minor at Ohio University. Looking to the future, expect to see Ben as a full-time film writer.
Najee Manning
Najee Manning a self proclaimed media connoisseur. Having moved to various locations across his home state of New Jersey from a young age, Najee was constantly introduced to new environments filled with unique interests, sparking his fascination with diving into the world of the arts and always having an intriguing media analysis or fun fact to discuss with friends.
Now as an adult, Najee has furthered his deep interest in delving into the unique and experimental themes that are expressed within the world of film, music and other forms of art. Najee is fascinated by human creativity and is continually on the hunt for creations that incorporate fresh and innovative concepts.
When not enjoying quality time with his dog, Najee jumps back and forth through the realms of games, film, music, art and books to find a new story that stimulates his imagination.
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Madalena Martins
Madalena is a young writer and actress based in Chicago. She was born and raised in Lisbon (Portugal- the home of soccer and custard tarts) then moved to Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and finally made it to the United States! Her international background resulted in a deep love for languages, cultures, travelling, and food. She is also a lover of theatre, cinema, music, and literature. In her free time, she enjoys writing, going to the beach, doing improv comedy and sketches with friends, talking to strangers, and suffocating her dog with love.
Besides this, she is interested in climate activism, feminism, and queer studies, and is interested in the intersections between these fields.
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Cameron McKeon
After Cameron McKeon spent 34 days walking the Camino de Santiago, he gained a new perspective on travel. The pilgrimage route in the north of Spain opened his eyes to experiencing new cultures through conversation, local cuisine, and studies. Cameron has traversed much of Europe, spending time in the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, France, and more. With a background in journalism and anthropology, he has an eagerness to write about his experiences abroad.
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Kena McDaniel
“Elendor is a conglomerate of kingdoms that survived the disappearance of magic and the introduction of ancient deadly beasts, but must now weather a global war or risk being torn apart.”
That is the description of Picture this Post writer Kena McDaniel’s work-in-progress fantasy story. A burgeoning writer and an aspiring marketer, Kena has taken to publishing reviews and helping to manage this site’s social media. She double majors in English and communications at Berea college and works on her story while listening to music in her free time.
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Adriana Moore
Adriana Moore is an aspiring editor who recently graduated from Wheaton College with a B.A. in English Literature and Philosophy. During college, she worked as a copyeditor for her school’s newspaper. A lover of music, she has sung in choirs throughout her life, most recently Women’s Chorale during college. In her free time, Adriana enjoys reading books, taking her dog on walks, and introducing her youngest sister to the world of Marvel movies.
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Anushka Mukherjee
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Elly Murray
Elly Murray decided she liked writing best at the ripe old age of six and has stubbornly refused to change her mind since. To this date, she has only published a few short stories and articles, but she hopes to someday publish a book or twelve.
When not writing, she can be found harassing her cat, attempting to keep her bookshelf from toppling over, or staring at an empty Google doc, hoping desperately that some words will show up.
For more info, visit Elly Murray
Elena Panettiere
As a young girl Elena often found herself rummaging through magazines looking for new recipes or the latest fashion. The layout of a magazine has always drawn her in. Alongside this sparked an interest in costuming and special effects makeup. She enjoys nothing more than putting on a floor length ball gown to sit down and do her homework in. This is always accompanied nicely with a fake wound in her neck.
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Pritesh Patel
Raised in California’s Inland Empire, Pritesh became a lover of classic books and impressionist music. These opened windows to life outside suburbia -- the surreal and the sublime quickly became a staple of his loved art. Over Aslan waters, fourteen-year-old Pritesh jumped from voyaging the Dawn Treader onto London’s Ghost, and later deep underground above Verne’s electric sea. Today, Pritesh spends a lot of time ruminating on how harmonic, unconventional, and sometimes even jarring music interacts with literature and film. He is interested in how different cultures react with one another, particularly with Indian music, film, and books.
When he’s not painting, Pritesh is running long distances, and stretching his imagination far and wide under leafed arcs and shadows. At the end of the day, you might find him unwinding his clarinet to play some jazzy tunes, reading with his cat, or enjoying a good cup of ginger tea.
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Yash Pathak
Yash keeps an extensive back catalogue of ideas circulating around his head and his room- papers and papers of impractical but still meaningful thoughts written mostly in English, other times in Hindi, and sometimes in gibberish. There was a lot of his mind he found represented within the medium of film. Ever since discovering the likes of Truffaut and Godard, he started theorizing, thinking, and reading as much as he possibly could. He has a keen knowledge of niche facets of its history, and can give a lecture on just about any decade of movie-making. He keeps an eye and an ear on the heart of San Francisco, his home, and when he isn't writing he is working on making films, playing music, repairing old film projectors, curating art for small venues, sewing, or just relaxing in a park he will eventually get around to learning the name of.
Sara Perez
Opera singer, acoustics nerd, and activist, Sara is a deeply curious individual who loves the Arts and their influence on communities. She loves reading nonfiction adventure stories like Ballad of the Whiskey Robber and does aerial arts for her health and physical expression. On weekends, you’ll find her cuddling with her beagle and cat or on an adventure exploring Chicago with her husband.
Peyton Warren
It was years before the pandemic when Peyton looked around and realized she was the only one who raised her hand. The teacher had asked who would risk their lives to end a virus outbreak. At the time, Peyton had been reading The Hot Zone, a book that tells the origin stories of Ebola outbreaks around the world. Even now, it remains one of Peyton’s favorite books, and it has sparked her interest in biology. When she’s not focusing on science or looking up odd facts to feed her vivid imagination, she enjoys watching movies, drawing cartoons, writing her own stories, or taking pictures of wildlife.
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Jessica Purdy
When Jess asked her friends to describe her, they unanimously said three words: outgoing, funny, and spontaneous. She has a passionate voice for the things she cares about, including politics, animals, lgbtqa+ and women’s rights. Growing up in the suburbs of Manchester, England, Jess has a special place in her heart for British sport. Her ideal Sunday would be spent on the couch watching Manchester United, while eating homemade vegetarian lasagna. Besides that, you’ll find her on a tennis court, whether it be cheering on her teammates during rigorous collegiate competitions or playing herself.
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Katy Repholz
Katy Repholz is a senior at James Madison University pursuing a B.S. in Media Arts and Design. She is an avid coffee drinker, lover of frogs, and art enthusiast. In her free time, Katy likes to watch movies, read, and root for Philadelphia sports teams.
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Ricardo Rico
Ricardo thinks it's unfortunate that there’s not enough time in the day or in a lifetime to see all the great works of art that have been made, are being made, and will be made. Luckily, this does mean that there’s always a new and surprising piece of art to be found wherever you look. That’s why he’s constantly adding new films, albums, books, and occasionally, video games to his list of pieces to check out. He likes to create just as much, whether it's with a camera, laptop or guitar, and is always working on shooting another film or writing another screenplay or song. This keeps his mind sharp, while soccer, weightlifting and walks with his dog give him the endurance to keep searching for the next great work he’s yet to discover.
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Grant Roulier
The final season of Lost broke something in Grant’s 12-year-old brain. No story had ever frustrated him more. Since then—call it love, call it masochism, call it both—all the stories he likes take big, messy swings. Fast forward ten years, Grant started dreaming of similarly frustrating 12-year-olds across America with his writing. Rumor has it the first script he wrote in high school was an anthropomorphic sock sitcom. Mismatched never got made, but if it does Grant hopes it’s after he’s dead. Until they bury him, Grant continues to write scripts, do improv, cook beignets, and have nightmares about that final season of Lost.
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Margaret Rose Smith
Margaret Rose Smith is an aspiring writer and museologist currently pursuing a BA in Creative Writing and Art History at the University of Chicago. Born and raised in Chicago, she’s spent a large amount of time in the halls of the Art Institute, both to study the history of art and to gain inspiration for future writing projects. In her spare time, Peggy enjoys sewing, collecting vintage Donald Duck merchandise, and petting her two cats.
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Hayley Ross
Hayley Ross is a writer, arts marketer, dancer, and fitness instructor in Chicago, IL. Originally from Ohio, Hayley has studied Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Jazz, Contemporary, and African dance and teaches Pilates and Barre fitness classes. She has previously worked for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Harris Theater for Music and Dance, American Dance Festival, OhioDance, and The Chautauqua Institution. She is currently the Advertising and Marketing Manager for the League of Chicago Theatres.
Elizabeth Rozmanith
Anywhere Elizabeth travels, the first things she looks for are art exhibits and museums. She is happiest roaming through exhibits and reading about artists working to break boundaries and explore intersectional issues in today’s world. As a visual artist herself, when not perusing other people’s artworks Elizabeth can be found painting, printmaking or crafting jewelry. Other favorite hobbies include singing and finding places outside to read a good book. Elizabeth is incredibly excited to be using her love for the arts to create previews and artist interviews with Picture This Post.
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Mariama F Regaignon
Mari has been drawn to stories and storytelling, especially through film, from a young age. Aside from film, her passions include backpacking, music (currently lots of R&B and electro-pop), fashion, jewelry-making and other arts and crafts, reading, and plant-based cooking. Mari is also passionate about social justice, especially in the criminal legal system, and hopes to use her art to make the world a better place. She can often be found snuggling with her cats or exploring her hometown of NYC with her younger sibling.
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Lisa Ryou
Lisa Ryou is from a suburb of Chicago. Having lived near Chicago her whole life, she is no stranger to the creative scene of the city. She is currently studying History, Museum Studies, and Art at the University of Michigan. She has been involved in fine arts her whole life and tries to use her works, both art and writing, as a way to give voice to BIPOC. When she is not at school, you can find her baking, reading, painting, or taking photos.
Alex Santoyo
Alex P. Santoyo is a California native and recent college graduate living in Los Angeles. She is creative at heart, and spends her time writing, brainstorming paintings, sketching portraits, and dabbling in graphic design. Her favorite (guilty pleasure) genre is contemporary romance and just about any book about design. She enjoys wandering costume exhibitions and galleries, chasing her dog on long walks, and a good cup of coffee.
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Jill Schuck
Jill Schuck is a student at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. There, she is majoring in creative writing and sociology. In addition to reading and writing, Jill is very involved with theatre (both on-stage and in the audience!), activism, and event planning. At school, she also enjoys improv comedy and making frequent stops at the student coffee shop.
Margaret Smith
Margaret Smith is a Chicago-based, multi-genre writer and editor. They are a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, a lover of all-things theater, and a crossword puzzle enthusiast. More of their work can be found on the Better Magazine website.
Photo by Mike Rundle
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Taryn Smith
Taryn Smith, Chicago Communities Associate Editor, graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago's BFA Performance program in 2011. After graduating, she co-founded Realize Theatre Group and served as Executive Director for the company. She has filled numerous roles while with RTG both on and off stage including making her playwriting debut with her play America, Inc . She has worked as a stage manage, designer, director, and actor. Outside of the theatre world, Taryn is a licensed massage therapist.
Isabella Sturgis
Isabella Sturgis is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago, where she earned a B.A. in Psychology and Creative Writing. A lifelong fan of the arts—from film to ballet to literature—Isabella is continuously searching for her next favorite piece or production. She hopes to pursue a career in public relations, journalism, or publishing and, if she’s lucky, even publish a book of her own. In her free time, you can find her reading David Sedaris or listening to the Cats soundtrack.
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Nzinga Temu
Novelists should know that Nzinga Temu is measuring you by what could be called The Goldfinch standard. She was 16 and ending an unusual reading drought caused by the demands of college applications and the like, when a friend gave her Donna Tartt’s prize winning novel. It’s a tome if measured by length; yet a gripping ride without a moment of drone by Nzinga’s measure.
When she’s on the other side of Howard University, expect Nzinga to apply this tough-act-to-beat standard to herself, as she delights the world with her first novel.
Avery Timmons
Avery Timmons is a student at Columbia College Chicago, currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. When she isn’t writing, she can be found working on her photography or playing Mario Kart with her younger siblings.
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Tonika Todorova
Tonika Todorova dabbles in writing, producing, directing, acting, singing, curating, parenting, meditating, experimenting, gardening, traveling, filming, people connecting and life navigating.
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Gabriel Torres
Story is the essence of life. Gabriel figured this out quickly, growing up on movies and anime. Whether it be intricate scripts or slice of life non-fiction, Gabe continues to search for that ever-eluding phenomena that captured his heart as a young boy.
When he isn’t analyzing film or riding his bike, he can be found at a local vinyl store browsing through rock EP’s or at the bookstore purchasing his favorite manga.
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Abby Utley
Abby Utley writes as a method of truth-seeking. Getting to the bottom of things is her prerogative, and so is keeping her music playlists fresh. Although she puts originality at the forefront of her written pieces, she finds the most inspiration after immersing herself in other art forms. When she's not writing, you may find her at the rock climbing gym, where she may take a break thirty minutes into her workout to write a satirical article. Finding humor where one may not expect is another one of Abby's prerogatives that allows her to think out of that stingy ole box that so many adults find themselves trapped in. She thinks tapping back into a childlike imagination is something all writers should work towards.
Nell Voss and Sylvia Holstein
Why have we ceded so much of our lives and our space to the automobile?
Nell Voss can think of many better uses for urban space. She spends most of her free time imagining cities with forests instead of traffic corridors and vegetable gardens instead of parking lots. She’s also spent a large part of the last fifteen years writing (plays, screenplays, novels and reviews), or directing (plays, films, her child’s schedule). She lives in Chicago where she loves to watch plays, read novels, grow food and spend as much of the summer at the beach as she possibly can.
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Fiona Warnick
Fiona Warnick is a Creative Writing major at Oberlin College. She has dabbled in ballet and theater, and speaks semi-passable French. Born and raised near Amherst, Massachusetts, she enjoys reading middle grade fiction and hiking in her spare time. She is trying to get better at Scrabble.
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Ben West
Benjamin West is a Filipino-American, born and raised in California. Having grown up somewhat disconnected culturally and physically from the Philippines, his connection to his heritage is bridged through eating copious amounts of lumpia and learning and writing about Filipino artists, one of whom was his grandfather. Ben spends most of his free time reading, listening to music, attempting to cook, and swimming.
Alex Winters
Although unsure of where his affinity for music and writing began, Alex Winters enjoys finding new, often unconventional music, reading novels, writing fiction inspired by the niche of eerie, post-apocalyptic sci-fi, and working on crossword puzzles. Being outdoors is another hobby he enjoys, which led him to take up long-distance running by himself at first, but he gradually warmed to the idea of meeting with a small running group (when it’s not freezing outside). When he isn’t listening to his instrumental rock playlists, writing, or both, he tries to find time to hike mountain trails with his family and friends.
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