

Selections from Media and Professional Writing -

Students in the Media and Professional Writing course at the University of Illinois at Chicago go out in the city and suburbs to find people, places and events that rarely get noticed but are part of the vital core of Chicagoland life. The best of their stories will be featured on this website.
Fall 2008
FEAR OF BORING
By Vicky Lim
James Joyce fussed with the overhead projector. He rolled it forward, then backward, then side to side, then twisted the stiff knob, hoping to enlarge the sentences on his sheet of transparency, which had been reduced to the height of a fingernail....MORE
Spring 2007
BLACKSMITH BOWS OUT
By Kate McCarter
John Gruber loved his job hammering hot steel at a forge on Chicago’s West Side. But the day his lizard really started screaming, he knew he had to quit for good. “That’s eighty pounds of metal…that missed me by an inch only because my lizard started screaming,” Gruber explains....MORE
Spring 2009 2009
THE VINTAGE UNDERGROUND
By Rosie Gillam
Betty Dinsdel’s frail, wrinkled hand grasped the blue fabric of the 1950’s style party dress. Betty appeared undeterred by the size of the dress, an extra large, as she pressed the aged cloth against her withered body....MORE
IT’S ABOUT THE PATIENT
By Anothai Kaewkaen
A bold red line runs along the floor at the entrance to the operating facilities at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center. A plaque on the receptionist's desk declares in capital red letters: RESTRICTED AREA. PROPER ATTIRE ONLY....MORE