A writing group focused on literary fiction.
Current Members
Diane D. Gillette’s work has appeared in over 70 venues and was a Best Small Fictions selection for 2021. She earned her MFA from Emerson College and teaches writing in Chicago.
Lori Barrett is a writer living in Chicago. Her work has appeared in Salon, The Wall Street Journal, Necessary Fiction, Barrelhouse, and Paper Darts. She's an assistant fiction editor at Pithead Chapel, and volunteers as a writing tutor at a local public high school.
Billy Gee is a fiction writer from Chicago who loves to ride his bike all year round and dreams of one day writing the perfect sentence, a sentence so good he can die happy. His stories have appeared in Maudlin House, Broad River Review, Gravel Magazine, and others. He is a member of the Chicago Literary Writers and an Assistant Editor at Narrative magazine.
D. A. Hosek’s fiction and poetry have been published here and there. He has an MFA in fiction from the University of Tampa. He lives and writes in Oak Park, Illinois. He spends his days as a cog in the machinery of corporate America.
Aaron Mayer Frankel is a writer, musician, artist and publisher in Chicago. His fiction has appeared in Other Voices, Reform Judaism Magazine, The Penman Review, NPR Three Minute Fiction, Alimentum, Inkwell Magazine, RFD, Mochila Review, The Rambler, and other publications.
Laura Nelson is a fiction writer and science writer living in the Chicago area. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in English literature from the University of Illinois.
Dan Portincaso is writer of short stories, flash fiction, sometimes poetry, with novels in the works. His writing has appeared in publications such as: F(r)iction, the Hoot Review, and Pank. He has been a fiction reader for PostRoad magazine and the Chicago Quarterly Review. He also served a year as Managing Editor of the Chicago Quarterly Review.
Stay tuned to new publications from the CLW members
Recent News
"Place de Stalingrad" by D.A. Hosek asks is it better to make art that matters or art that makes money? If nobody wants art, what does the question matter? Find it in here in Ligeia Magazine, Spring 2022.
This fun quiz-in-poem-form kicks off with a question all writers and bakers can relate to, “Can you guess which of the statements below are from judges sampling baked goods and which are from editors sampling my writing?”
Check out Whale Road Review’s December issue featuring Diane’s new Ruby flash, “God Forgot.” The story drops the reader and little Ruby into a conflict between her father and her grandmother. Time stops for Ruby while she’s stuck between two forces out of her control.
Diane D. Gillette's "We're All Just Trying To Make It To January 2nd" is a collection that seeks to question the meaning of the holidays whilst expertly examining emotive aspects of life that often coincide with celebration. Gillette work adds sardonic flair to often overly scripted depictions of the holidays. Instead, Gillette takes the reader through a variety of experiences presented neatly in bite-sized writing.
Check out CLW’s Lori Barrett new story, “Did You Eat a Lot of Paint Chips as a Child,” in Bull magazine. This is a funny and heartbreaking tale of a mid-life man’s adventure working retail.
“The Norton Anthology of Self-Destructive Behaviors” by D.A. Hosek provides us list-lovers with a short story we can keep on our wall. Well, maybe a little dark for that, this well crafted story uses lists to build it’s drive and leave the reader lingering on the edge.
“Stingrays in Captivity” appeared in Lost Balloon, an online publication inspired by the ‘birthday balloon that slips from your fingers and floats into the horizon, or the dropped ice cream cone.
“The walls were snug around us, five hard-luck girls sharing a two-bedroom apartment alone-together in a candy-bright city that made promises it couldn't keep.”
In a recent interview with the online magazine Hair Trigger, CLW’s Dan Portincaso talks writing process and new projects. Great interview, Dan!
Kalisha writes about “Card Parties,” this “little story gave me the boost at that hard time to push through to write more and that is what writers NEED. And it shows you never know where things we write will go or what it will impact.”