Faculty

David Mathews earned his MA in Writing & Publishing at DePaul University. His work has been nominated for Best of the Net, a Pushcart, and he was a finalist in the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards. His recent publications include Midwestern Gothic, Eclectica Magazine, Belt Magazine’s Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology, and Open Heart Chicago: An Anthology of Chicago Writing.

Cecilia Pinto has been a teaching artist in the City of Chicago for over twenty years and has worked in a variety of settings and with all age groups. Her novella, Imagine the Dog, winner of the Clay Reynolds Prize, was published in 2021. Her writing has appeared in publications including Esquire, Fence, Diagram, TriQuarterly and elsewhere. In addition to her creative writing classes at ChiArts it has been her pleasure to serve as coach for the competitive spoken word team and dramaturg for two school plays. She received her undergraduate degree from Knox College and an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute.

Kenyatta Rogers is a Cave Canem Fellow and has been awarded scholarships from the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference. His work has been previously published in Poetry Magazine, Jubilat, Vinyl, Bat City Review, The Volta, PANK, MAKE Magazine among others. Kenyatta is a Lead Teacher for the Poetry Foundations Teacher Institute and Chautauqua Institution’s Young Writer Institute. He is as a co-host of the Sunday Reading Series with Simone Muench and is the Creative Writing Department Head at The Chicago High School for the Arts.

Jeremy T. Wilson is the author of the short story collection Adult Teeth. He is a former winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award for short fiction and was recently named one of “30 Writers to Watch” by Chicago’s Guild Literary Complex. His stories have appeared in literary magazines such as The Carolina Quarterly, The Florida Review, Hobart, The Masters Review, Sonora Review, Third Coast and other publications. He holds an MFA from Northwestern University.

Nick Yokanovich is a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where he received degrees in English Education and Creative Writing. Nick is currently working on a serialized magazine exploring humor, surrealism, absurdity, and their interconnected roles in contemporary authenticity. His previous work has been featured in Steam Ticket: Third Coast Review. Outside of writing, Nick enjoys drawing, playing catch, and riding his bike.