Rising Shadows

By 826CHI

Rising Shadows, the 2021 Teen Writers Studio (TWS) chapbook, is a deep-dive exploration on the theme "historical selves," a term derived from Claudia Rankine's Citizen. In this collection, writing takes the form of letters to family members, personal histories, stories of imagined

• Language: English
• Publisher: 826CHI
• Release date: Nov 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798868979002

826CHI

826CHI is a non-profit writing, tutoring, and publishing center dedicated to amplifying the voices of Chicago youth.

Book preview

Rising Shadows

Rising Shadows

Writing by 826CHI’s Teen Writers Studio

826CHI

826CHI/826 Books

Contents

Student Foreword

List of Pandemic Inspirations

Response to Four Artifacts

Angeliki V.

Worship

Bella F.

Celestial Bodies

Esperanza R.

Overtaken

Esperanza R.

Stood Up

Joia B.

Cathedral

Antonio P.

On a Scale from 1 through 10

Daniela M.

Family

Daniela M.

Little Ol’ Me

Lucia M.

Little Sadist

Isabel Izzy R.

I was born in the spring

Isabela H.

finger paintings

Isabela H.

Thaw

Joelle R.

Letter To The Sky

Henry F.

love letter to jellyfish

Henry F.

the moon is trans

Henry F.

Acknowledgments

About 826CHI

About the Wicker Park Secret Agent Supply Co.

Our Programs

Our Staff

First Edition, 826CHI 2021

Print ISBN: 978-1-948644-77-8

Copyright © 2021 by 826CHI

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All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form. This book is a work of nonfiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors’ personal experiences. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely intentional and emerges from the minds of these authors as truthfully as memory allows. The views expressed in this book are those of the authors and the authors’ imaginations. We support student publishing and are thrilled you picked up this book! Proceeds from your purchase of this publication support 826CHI, a non-profit creative writing, tutoring, and publishing center. www.826chi.org

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Cover art: David Heo

Layout Designer: Fred Sasaki

Director of Programs: Asia Calcagno

Manager of Education: Natasha Mijares

Publications Program Coordinator: Joshua Bohnsack

Vellum flower icon Created with Vellum

Rising Shadows: Writing by 826CHI’s Teen Writers Studio

You are not immune to your own consciousness.

—Tyehimba Jess

Student Foreword

Teen Writers Studio

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We’re sitting in front of a computer screen, however many miles apart. This might be our tenth hour of zoom meetings. We all have smiles on our faces and engage in animated conversation around a poem. It’s a weird feeling. To have so many deep conversations with people we have not met, and yet hold this hour and a half as a sacred place to gush over writing, our own and other people’s. We want you to know these are the conditions this chapbook came to be under, and that it’s the result of a shared love for writing and appreciation of each other as writers.

TWS gives us a space where creativity, in all its forms, is celebrated. During workshops, the zoom comments are flooded with compliments and astute feedback on scripts and poetry and comedy writing. We go from analyzing poetry, the kind we'd likely never see in school, to laughing over silly animal pictures. We want to thank Josh and Natasha, who made zoom TWS engaging, and both an intellectual space and one where we could be goofy and have fun.

Being able to have this writing studio gave us an understanding that people think very differently. And, like most groups that have a history, you feel a sense of estotericness. But, over time, with this studio, we really feel like a genuine community. Especially in these hard times, having the ability to just relax and write down thoughts and express yourself while also having others do the exact same feels very therapeutic in a way. You don’t always have the chance to laugh with people over small little critters.

Despite Zoom fatigue and loss of motivation, we’ve all managed to somehow get our creative juices flowing and each create pieces that we’re proud of. It has been difficult to get into the headspace of a writer, but 826CHI Chi has made it possible to do so with the space we’ve created.

Despite raging viruses and variants, racial tension, and pandemic fatigue, we've found it in ourselves to create a space in 826CHI—whether it be virtual or in person—where people can feel safe enough to share and grow into better human beings and writers.

List of Pandemic Inspirations

All the pieces in this chapbook came about during a tumultuous & tiring time. In this world we turned to our favorite stories (books, movies, tv shows) and found comfort in sharing our own.

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Here are the things that inspired us…

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The Florida Project

Surf’s Up

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Julie and the Phantoms

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

The Half of it

A Constant State of Ohio EP by Lincoln

Children of the Whales

The NYT modern love column

Little Women

10 Things I Hate About You

Dreams gives me the answers

Idea of seasonal emergency

The Queen’s Gambit

Archery—trying to shoot through axe handles!

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (lol)

Tetris 99 in Switch

Bullet Journaling

Those lofi hip-hop thumbnails

When becoming a nerd becomes cool. Oh, also the types of nerds:

May the force be with you vs.

may force= mass * accel

What if blind prosecution causes the people wanted to prosecute

Questioning if the history we know is the correct one

Reading more

Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity by Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo

You’re writing not just because of who you are but because of the people who made you who you are.

—Allison Cuddy

Marilynn Thoma Artistic Director,

Chicago Humanities Fest

Response to Four Artifacts

Angeliki V.

letters written in greek sent from rutherford, new jersey to kalamata, messinia ; 1926

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your name slips neatly over mine the way your bible fits into my palm

& the way your expression slid onto my face at birth.

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we found the letters you saved. i wonder how it felt to receive them

from a world away,