I’m extremely proud to share that my short story, “The Beating of a Nazi,” has been published by Another Chicago Magazine. I’ve been submitting to ACM for over a decade, and am elated that they’ve accepted this story.
This story was inspired by two marches I participated in during late August of 2017. These protests were reported on extensively, and I mark them as the moment the public became aware of Antifa, and that the media began to classify Antifa as a terrorist movement, more frightening than Proud Boys, or The Oath Keepers, or the Three Percenters, or any of the other high profile extremist groups that ended up responsible for January 6th and the deterioration of our constitutional rights since.
After the protests, KTVU broadcaster, Frank Sommerville, posted to Facebook an account of the violence he witnessed, titled “I experienced hate first hand today.” That post has since been removed, but the account was simultaneously published on SFGate, and is linked here.
Two of my closest friends – Broke-Ass Stuart, and Sayre Piotrkowski – and I were upset by Somerville’s representation, and we chose to co-write a response to that article, titled “An Open Letter To Frank Somerville Inspired by #IWasThereBerkeley.” Our response also went viral, and contributed to a heated local discussion about Antifa and effective strategies of resistance. I urge you to check out that article as well.
According to their “About” page:
Another Chicago Magazine is independent of any institution, and has lived on volunteer efforts and grants. Each editor has autonomy and publishes work that ranges from conventional to experimental. We adore writing that is engaged with the world without being polemical or didactic. We support small publishers whenever we can—those enterprises that Raymond Carver called “the backbone of the national literature.” To that end, we run interviews with (mostly) small-press authors; publish excerpts of books from independent presses in our new Forthcoming series; and (again mostly) review books published by small presses. New in 2025 is a dedicated focus on promoting abolition and examining the carceral state. We proudly support DEI.
Unlike other lit mags, we also review political books, and publish interviews with activists and artists. Many pieces are illustrated by original artwork. ACM was born in 1977 and became an online journal 40 years later. We usually post new work twice a week. ACM was founded in Chicago and remains based in the city within walking distance of Wrigley Field. We showcase Chicago writers as well as those writing on other continents. We publish work written in English and we run pieces in translation alongside the original languages, including French, Turkish, Serbian, Catalan, Kannada, Mapuche/Huilliche, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Arabic, Chinese, and others.
The magazine has received awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, the city of Chicago, and SALT (for travel). ACM pieces have been reprinted in Best American Essays 2020, Best Literary Translations 2024 and 2025 and the Pushcart Prize 2026.
We have published early work by Samantha Irby, David Sedaris, Jenny Boully, and Ira Sukrungruang. Other notable writers published in ACM: Kathy Acker, Kim Addonizio, Sterling Plumpp, Robin Hemley, David Trinidad, Stuart Dybek, Virgil Suarez, Angela Jackson, and Eve Ewing. The magazine has also included interviews with many literary luminaries, including Allen Ginsberg, Daisy Zamora, Aleksandar Hemon, and Carlos Fuentes.
We’ve had 259,000 views in the past five years from the US—with readers in the thousands from each of these places (in descending order): the UK, Canada, India, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, the Philippines, and China.
Another Chicago Magazine began in 1977 as a publication to showcase work of University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (as it was called) graduate creative writing students. ACM published as part of Left Field Press before becoming a subsidiary for a few years of the fine indie publisher Curbside Splendor. ACM‘s last print issue was #54. Two online issues came after. Then we decided we’d like to publish new work more frequently. Look for a new piece of fiction, nonfiction, drama, poetry, art, or a review, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Keep on top of things by subscribing and following us on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and Twitter.
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