Israel Solis Jr is a sixteen-year-old Latino writer, He is a junior at the Chicago High School For The Arts. He’s been writing for five years and is majoring in poetry. He wants to work as a journalist but also enjoys drawing and painting. As a kid he kept his writing and art to himself, hoping no one would judge him. Growing up he was always closed-in and kept to himself, but going to ChiArts helped him find a community where he could share and expand his ideas to a community of artists. Now he hopes to help others develop their dream into a reality. He wants to help others know that there is a community of writers out there always willing to lend a hand. Levitate Magazine gives him a chance to help others and create something for every person to enjoy. Jonah Weber has been living in Chicago since he was three years old, without realizing all those years he was gaining inspiration for his writing. Now a seventeen-year-old junior at the Chicago High School for the Arts, he is majoring in creative nonfiction and is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine Levitate,where he is also an editor of fiction and creative nonfiction. He writes creative nonfiction and poetry about food, music, and all kinds of emotions.
Daniela Morales is the Lead Editor for Fiction for Levitate Magazine. She’s an emerging 16-year-old Colombian writer. In 2019, she became Chicago Rising Star Honoree as well as a Silver Medalist in Poetry for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Her work has been featured in 826Chi’s Teen Writing Anthology This is What It Feels Like to Exist and Ricochet Review. She loves to experiment with storytelling and is currently exploring the story through the camera.
This is Julian’s first time being an editor, but he’s been writing for several years. He is currently majoring in Fiction at the Chicago High School for the Arts, where he spends his time balancing homework, writing, reading, and working on Levitate. An avid consumer of prose, Julian is looking to read unique submissions featuring a well-built world and authentic characters.
Luca Favis is a sixteen-year-old Filipino writer with a niche in poetry, and an editor for Levitate’s poetry team. He’s lived in Chicago his whole life and written poetry for five years. Most of his work is image-based and concentrated on the small details. In his poetry, Luca often explores reflection, nostalgia, and home (both literal and about the people in his life). Emily Sanchez is a first-generation, Mexican, queer artist and a senior fiction writer at the Chicago High School for the Arts. She bounces between writing speculative fiction, short stories and non-fiction pieces regarding the more everyday events in her life. She is a 2019 Rising Star and has been awarded multiple honorable mentions in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. She volunteers at 826CHI and attends their after-school programs. She spends her time drawing the characters and scenes in her story and studying the deeper meaning of modern art pieces. She aspires to be a screenwriter or graphic novelist and adores cats, coffee, and cold weather.
This is Aiyana Alexa-Marie Thomas’s first year in a literary magazine. She has been attending The Chicago Highschool For The Arts for three years as a Creative Writer and is now a Poetry Major. As a kid, she was very interested in writing fiction and poetry and stayed with poetry as she got older. As an editor for Visual Arts, she loves how artists can express themselves through visual expression and how people can interpret the art in multiple ways.
Hi there! I’m Rasa, a Junior creative writer at ChiArts. I’m part of the prose team, but my main focus is fiction. I began writing in seventh grade and my English teacher was awesome. He was the one who encouraged me to become a creative writer. I love children and I plan on going into some form of Psychology. Whether with children arguing over crayons, or assisting law enforcement after traumatic events I plan on being fair. But I’m still in high school so I might as well apply it to creative writing as well and show how fair I can be with the submissions I hope to get—from you!Claudia Gonzalez was born and raised on the north side of Chicago. She has always had a passion for writing and tries to surround herself with as much art as possible. Now a senior at the Chicago High School for the Arts, ChiArts, she is a fiction major in creative writing conservatory. She writes realistic fiction short stories, as well as screenplays and plays scripts.
Trinity Simmons-Brooks is a sixteen-year-old, African American, Creative Nonfiction Major at The Chicago High School for the Arts. She is the Lead Editor for Social Media and one of the editors for the Art in this year’s Levitate. This is her first year collaborating with Levitate for the literary magazine. She aspires to become a Production Designer and/or screenwriter for movies.Jocelyn Vertiz is currently a junior at The Chicago High School for the Arts. She is a proud second-generation Mexican woman. She’s the big sister of Jacob and Matelio. Hobbies she enjoys are improv, writing poetry, and listening to music.
Samuel Nelson is a writing student living in Chicago, studying fiction at the Chicago High School for the Arts. He has received a Silver Key and Honorable Mentions for his works through the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards program. He is a fan of science fiction and loves “the little details that bring the story to life.”
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