Ink Well

Ink Well is a collaborative online showcase for emerging talent in art, creative writing, and photography organized around a central theme. We review year-round and publish six volumes a year, interspersed with other artsy fartsy content. Creative types, unite.

Now accepting submissions for VOLUME 14: POWER & CORRUPTION at submissions@inkwellmag.com.

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120 Seconds With…Cali Chesterman

Cali is the author of “Two-Millionths Sneeze”.

  • Day job: High school senior.
  • 3 favorite authors: Cassandra Clare, Charles Bukowski, Augusten Burroughs.
  • 3 artists you most admire: Artemesia Gentileschi, Henry Asencio, Henri Matisse.
  • How do you get going with your work?: Either to pass time on the bus or procrastinating an assignment.
  • If we googled your name, what would we find?: An organization I volunteered for once, the online copy of my school’s cultural newsletter that I write articles for and profusely advertise, my name listed under “Honorable Mention” for pieces I had submitted to the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition.
  • What’s your favorite way to waste time at work without getting caught? Daydreaming or conversing with friends… I don’t really waste a lot of time. I take my work very seriously. 
  • Name two words you always misspell: Definitely and conundrum.
  • What’s the last song to get stuck in your head? “You Know I’m No Good” Amy Winehouse Ft. Ghostface Killah.
  • What’s a movie you can rewatch or a book you can reread over and over again? Forrest Gump.
  • Describe your dream workspace/studio: Near Center City, where there is a lot of hustle and bustle, cultural crossovers, varying age groups, and history, all in one convenient location. I need culture and chaos in order to flourish in art and writing. Ideally, my inner studio/ workspace will have three rooms, all with wooden floors. One room will be my living space, complete with a cabinet full of candy. One room, the largest, will be my workspace, with my desk and computer set up on one side of the room and artworks in progress on the other side. A huge stereo system will be in the middle of the rooms. There will be a few windows for ventilation and lighting, but that’s it. The third room will be a storage space.

Vol. 13 MOMENTUM: Cali Chesterman - “Two-Millionths Sneeze”

“It is about two friends who are in some unspoken, petty argument. It relates to the theme of momentum because there is a need to move on: either the friend can apologize to mend the friendship or they both go on to see new, unplagued people.”—Cali

***

You sneezed and filled my head with a thousand pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words, so a sneeze must be worth a million.

The point is, I don’t want your sickness anymore, your lack of self-control to PLEASE cover your nose or at the VERY least bring with you a goddamned box of tissues, it’s an issue when your runny nose drips onto that doorknob, the one I gripped just yesterday so it didn’t hit this sultry lady’s heels.

Those fine, red heels.

 Now she has it too, the flu. All thanks to, well, me. See I too am plagued by your friendship, it’s difficult to quarantine myself from a commitment built over ten whole years, a commitment you had “accidently” forgotten, so willingly threw away, just like that tissue you never seemed to get hold of.

And what am I to do? Perhaps I could be like you, abandon everything. I’d rather follow this sultry lady with red heels, I trust that when she gets sick her sneezes aren’t so carelessly lethal, that she keeps them calm and contained and somewhat friendly.

Or maybe you could swallow your pride like that glob of phlegm that just made its way down your throat and utter the two millionths of a sneeze we need to repair our friendship:

 I’m sorry.

__________________________________________________________________________

Cali Chesterman, a senior at Central High School in Philadelphia, spends her time people watching. These mundane observations develop into fictional characters that she uses in art, writing, and film projects. She plans to study digital animation in college.

120 Seconds With…Louis McGill

Louis is the author of “Hypnic Jerk”.

  • Day job: Education reporter in New Mexico. It mostly consists of me trying not to curse in front of children.
  • 3 favorite authors: Hunter S. Thompson, Raymond Chandler, Kurt Vonnegut.
  • 3 artists you most admire: Salvador Dali, Jose Posada, Fancisco Goya. Apparently I like dark, weird Spanish-speaking people.
  • How do you get going with your work? First, I drink enough coffee to make me see God. Then, I sit down and start typing out whatever comes to mind.
  • If we googled your name, what would we find? Mostly dead people who aren’t related to me and McGill University employees. 
  • What’s your favorite way to waste time at work without getting caught? Sorry, that’s top-secret. If my boss happens to find this, the jig’s up. 
  • Name two words you always misspell. Desperate and maintenance.
  • What’s the last song to get stuck in your head? “Got My Own Thing Now” by the Squirrel Nut Zippers.
  • What’s a movie you can rewatch or a book you can reread over and over again? Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • Describe your dream workspace/studio. An adobe casita looking out on the Sangre de Cristo mountains which also happens to sit on the corner of Lincoln and Damen in Chicago. Because dreams are weird like that.

Vol. 13 MOMENTUM: Louis McGill - “Hypnic Jerk”

“‘Hypnic Jerk’ is a story about the momentum of life, and how it can
run off without you if you let it.”—Louis

***

It felt like a splash-down from a jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.

I woke up with a start after that half-asleep feeling like I was hurtling downward. At two in the morning, I still couldn’t get to sleep. My mind reeled after the past few days. Life felt like it was gaining speed, slipping away and I couldn’t hold on. Soon it may run off without me.

I sat up and picked a glass of water up off the bedside table.

Didn’t I just graduate yesterday? I thought.

No, that was at least two years ago, said that know-it-all little voice in the back of my head.

Quiet, I said.  I graduated, moved, moved again, left everything behind, and here I am. How long have I been here?

Nearly a year, now.

When did that happen?

Well, I guess it sort of crept up on us.

Smartass. I took a sip, set the glass back down, and tried to go back to sleep. I knew sleep wouldn’t come easy. It hadn’t for days, ever since this thought latched on to my psyche like a tick.

Well it’s not like you didn’t see this coming, the voice said.

She’s getting married, I said. Everyone’s getting married. Everyone’s having kids. Everyone’s moving on, and I’m halfway across the country from anyone I give a damn about.

Wah, wah, wah. You knew this would happen when you left.

I didn’t have much of a choice, now did I?

Sure you did. You had two choices: go or stay.

Like the Clash song.

Now who’s the smartass?

Read more

120 Seconds With…David Comfort

David is the author of “The Kiss”.

  • Day Job: Writer, painter, sculptor, furniture maker
  • 3 favorite authors: Chekhov, Kafka, Jean Genet. Runners up: Dostoyevsky, Rimbaud, Henry Miller, Raymond Carver, Flannery O’Connor, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Donald Barthelme, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Denis Johnson, Thom Jones, Peter Handke, Roberto Bolano
  • 3 artists you most admire:De Kooning, Rothko, Paul Klee. Runners-up: Bosch, Breugel, Vermeer, El Greco, Grunewald, Van Gogh, Corinth, Rouault, Modigliani, Munch, Nolde, Kokoschka, Dubbufet, Sautine, Gorky, Kline, Basquiat
  • How have you changed as an artist since you began creating/writing?Less optimistic about getting into Gagosian, or winning the Nobel.
  • Describe your dream studio/workspace.2,000 sq. ft +, cathedral ceilings, skylights, overlooking Banff/Lake Louise.
  • Where do you feel the most “at home”? At home, alone. Or in dreams.
  • Something you never leave the house without: Anti-depressants.
  • How do you unwind and get in the mood to create/write?Unwind: Meditation and/or controlled substance abuse. Or watching Colbert, Maher, or “Breaking Bad”. Mood to Create/Write: Burn effigy of Hemingway, Bret Easton Ellis, or Julian Schnabel (among others). Reread: Ward Six, Notes from the Underground, or “Cathedral.” Relisten: Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” (slight return)
  • Tell us about a favorite holiday/wintertime tradition.Burning my Simon & Schuster holiday sell-out title, Just Say Noel, on the yule log.
  • Name the last song that got stuck in your head.Beethoven’s Ninth. Muskrat Love.

Vol. 12 HOME: David Comfort - “The Kiss”

“This is a story about an elderly widow who loses her home during a home invasion, but gains something far greater.”—David

She was taped to her high-backed chair at the dining room table. There, in front of the bay window, beside her husband’s military portrait over the mantelpiece. Scattered on the floor was the Sunday newspaper she had just walked up the lane. Lying next to the paper was her cane and her Audubon calendar. She put everything on her calendar. The little white boxes were filled with her meticulous print. She included the weather, when her boys drove home, when she visited the cemetery. 

She was beginning to lose sensation of her right hand now. They had wrapped the tape tighter on this. It had been the first one. She didn’t recall them taping it. When she had opened the back door, carrying the paper, they had been behind it, waiting. Then she heard the explosion. Later, she had opened her eyes, as if from sleep, to the sound of panting behind her.

Now, the tall one was already upstairs, in her bedroom. She could hear the sound of telephones being torn from the walls and smashed. Of lamps falling to the floor. Of her dresser drawers being thrown open. The other one, the shorter one, was standing beside her. He wore a stocking over his face, with three holes. He had kind, gentle eyes.

When his partner disappeared upstairs with the gun, he put his hand lightly on her shoulder. He wore thin white rubber gloves. The medical kind.

“You believe in Jesus?” he said. “You believe he is the Savior?”

She tried to look around again. Behind, her Labrador retriever was lying on the kitchen floor eyes open, legs quivering, blood pouring from his mouth.

Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT! The Theme for Vol. 14 is “Power and Corruption”

Did you know Ink Well Mag is based in Chicago? As the Windy City reels from yet another tale of political corruption this week, we figured it was a timely moment to announce the theme for Volume 14: “Power and Corruption”.

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For this issue, show us what these big ideas inspire in you. Maybe important social or political causes come to mind. Maybe you want to draw awareness to a particular injustice. Or maybe there’s a powerful spark in your personal life that you want to explore. If life imitates art imitates life, as The Onion joked recently…why are you inspired to create works of art around these themes? What is the story you are trying to tell, the reaction you want to provoke, with your work? Send us your stuff. We want to hear from you.

We’re accepting submissions (click here for our very important guidelines  please) through Friday, March 29!

120 Seconds With…Dan Beatty

Dan is the author of “Roots”.

  • Day job(s): Clinical Social Worker, Outpatient Therapist, Adjunct College Professor.
  • Three favorite authors: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Joyce Carol Oates, Mark Brazaitis; Honorable Mention: my 11-year daughter Kenzie Beatty.
  • Three artists you most admire: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Vincent Van Gogh.
  • How have you changed as an artist since you started writing: I now can hardly read a good novel for pleasure, I am becoming more interested in their writing style than the plot. Hopefully, that won’t last forever.
  • Describe your dream studio/workplace: Isolation and beautiful scenery. This can be anywhere as long as these two elements are present
  • Where do you feel the most “at home”: When I’m with my wife and daughters, no matter where. And I love driving around my hometown of Chariton, Iowa since I have lived so far away for so long
  • Something you never leave the house without: A diet Mountain Dew
  • How do you unwind and get in the mood to create/write: isolation, a Newcastle beer, and music with great lyrics
  • Tell us about a favorite holiday/wintertime tradition: Going to get our tree with my wife and daughters the Saturday after Thanksgiving (LEAST favorite: trying to get said tree in the door and standing upright, which has yet to go smoothly)
  • Name the last song that got stuck in your head: As I write this, “Under Pressure” by Queen is stuck in my head. And that is OK.

120 Seconds with… Richard J. Fleming

Richard is the author of “Dis Place”.

  • Day job: Factotum.
  • 3 favorite authors: Arthur Rimbaud, Thomas Hardy, Ogden Nash
  • 3 artists you most admire: Kasimir Malevich, Giacomo Balla, Franz Marc.
  • How have you changed as an artist since you began creating/writing? I used to be a Classical Poet, now I am catering to Fringe Groups.
  • Describe your dream studio/workspace. Undersea Habitat.
  • Where do you feel the most “at home”? Stonehenge.
  • Something you never leave the house without: Brushing my teeth.
  • How do you unwind and get in the mood to create/write? Beer for Breakfast.
  • Tell us about a favorite holiday/wintertime tradition. Book burning.
  • Name the last song that got stuck in your head. Cars 4 Kids.

120 Seconds With…J’Sun Howard

J’Sun is the poet behind Home.

  • Day job: Grocery Store Associate.
  • 3 favorite authors: Toni Morrison, Haruki Murakami, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
  • 3 artists you most admire: William Kentridge, Pina Bausch, and Bill T. Jones.
  • How have you changed as an artist since you began creating/writing? Then I didn’t know what I was writing. I just know I had to put words to page as it felt the right to do in my own self’s solidarity as I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. A constant has been to master haiku, but overall my voice is not as narrow as it was in the beginning. I have listened, observed and listened more to appreciate how subtle language is, and how to choreograph it such a way that germinates emotion. Opening to the potentiality of the world around me has strengthened my sensors to create and write.
  • Describe your dream studio/workspace. Not to far from a city, a cabin that has pastures of great beauty and serenity (there must be a waterfall somewhere in the forest behind the cabin somewhere only a few people know about), a studio for choreography, a farm that I can nurture, spaces for fellow artist to come to rest and create, a library that is connected a state of the art writing lab, has the ability to go off the grid when technology is not being used, and every Sunday would be church over brunch with an established artist we all admire…just the easy living we artists deserve, essentially.
  • Where do you feel the most “at home”? Cooking for the people I most care about
  • Something you never leave the house without: My backpack that has everything in it; you never know when you may have to get up and run away from something.
  • How do you unwind and get in the mood to create/write? Usually after taking a walk to let my mind decompress from the tortures of the day.
  • Tell us about a favorite holiday/wintertime tradition. The best one would be watching childrens’ animated films and gauging when my aunt will fall asleep, through it as she is the one to corral everybody together to watch them.
  • Name the last song that got stuck in your head. “Dancing on My Own” by Robyn.

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