1. Miguel Jimenez, "There's an Owl Everywhere," nonfiction
   Miguel Jimenez is a writer and English instructor from Chicago. He teaches creative writing and composition at College of Lake County.

2. Jane Waller, "Dunlay Meadows, then and now," nonfiction 

Jane Waller is a retired attorney and a former Lake County Circuit Court Judge. In retirement, Jane is a chair of the Waukegan Arts Council and a watercolorist. In addition, she takes piano lessons, she is learning how to knit the cable stitch, and she is a grandma.

3. Ron Friedman, "Para las mujeres de Juárez," poetry 

Ron's love of poetics has continued unabated since he studied under Beat luminaries Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, and Robert Creeley at a monthlong creative writing workshop at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, in the early 80s. "Para las mujeres de Juárez" was "commissioned" in 2002 when Ron taught writing at College of DuPage. A decade later Ron entered it in a Chicago-area-wide poetry contest where it won first place. Ron works as a technical writer under contract with the Department of Homeland Security by day; and teaches part-time English Composition classes at College of Lake County.

4. Nicole Roth, "The World Above and Below," nature-inspired fiction 

Nicole Roth is a freelance writer who writes flash fiction, short stories, and novels about friendship, love, and family drama. Her work has appeared in East on Central and was selected for the Voyage YA Anthology longlist in 2022. She lives in Lindenhurst with her husband, a goofy dog, and a grumpy cat.

5. Cathy Colton, "Sweet Home, Chicago River," nonfiction

Cathy Colton is now a long-time Waukegan resident after spending the first half of her life in Chicago. She has taught English at CLC for 25 years. After retirement--which is coming up very soon--she looks forward to spending more time exploring the natural world on multiple continents, and being a more frequent lap for her very demanding cat, Marilla.

6. Heather McClelland, "This Is Nature," poetry

Heather McClelland’s poetry was awarded runner-up for the Press53/Prime Number Magazine annual award for poetry in 2021, and her prose and poetry has been nominated for two Pushcart prizes. She teaches part time at College of Lake County and lives in Grayslake with her partner, her pit-hound Louie, and several chickadee families.

7. Barry Jones, "Fishin' for Trouble," climate flash fiction

Barry Jones came to the love of books and love for reading early. When his father found him reading the recent editions of Wall Street Journal one night when he was 11, he imagined good things for his future. Barry was skittish about his chances of “making it” by writing for a living, but his love for reading everything has never abated. 

8. Mary Beth Bretzlauf, "The Pollinator," nonfiction

Mary Beth is life-long Waukeganite. She is the author of “The Path that Beckons: Poems About the Journey” and current president of Illinois State Poetry Society.

9. Fonda Ginsburg, "The Four Seasons," poetry

Fonda Ginsburg is an adjunct English instructor at College of Lake County, Harper College, and College of DuPage. She has been at CLC since 2013 and has taught Composition, Literature, Technical Writing, and Humanities. She loves music, films, reading, cooking, baking, NFL football, and her 3 cats.

10. Larry Starzek, selection from "Woods, Water and Plains," nonfiction

Larry Starzec’s fiction, poetry and essays have appeared in dozens of literary magazines and journals. He is the recipient of numerous awards in poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and holds a B.A. degree in philosophy from Northern Illinois University and an M.F.A. in fiction from Warren Wilson College. He taught creative writing and composition at CLC for more than thirty years, and is now newly retired, allowing him more time to focus on writing and participating in readings such as this one.