Hey there.  I’m Ilana Shabanov, a Chicago writer and storyteller. That translates into: I spend a lot of time at home staring at a computer screen, waiting for the magic to happen and wondering why I wasn’t better at math.

I worked in restaurants as a line cook for a very short time until I realized that was, perhaps, not the best career choice for me. Let us give thanks for the amazing people who stand over a blazing stove for 15 hours a day for your dining pleasure.  I left kitchens to work as an event planner for a catering company that shall remain cloaked in mystery.  I have seen things. There are stories. So, I went back to school to learn how to write about them.

I have a degree in Culinary Arts from Kendall College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago. The culinary degree came with a medal on a ribbon, the writing one did not. For good measure, everyone should have a medal on a ribbon.

I have told stories with the hybrid performance series 2nd Story, and fidget around as the Associate Essay Editor for the online magazine Hypertext.  My writing has been featured in the story anthology Hair Trigger (vol. 30, 31, 33),  Fictionary, Reservoir, Hypertext, and the blog This May Get Awkward. I am completing my first book, a memoir, which I hope to finish before I begin to think better of it.  Cheers to all that.