café shapiro 2022
meet our student writers
Eli Neumann, Year: Senior, Major: English
Eli is an English major in the Honors Program and loves creative writing, film, and narrative video games. He intends to go to graduate school for a PhD and MLIS, and hopes to become a librarian. He is also currently writing a novel, so he hopes he can continue working on creative projects after graduation.
Eva Ji, Year: Freshman, Major: English
Eva Ji is a student who is passionate about writing fiction and poetry from Saratoga, California. She is a freshman at the University of Michigan this year and is planning to major in English. In her free time, she likes to write poetry, sketch, and hang out with her cats. Her favorite coffee is matcha latte.
Alaa Al-Kahalah, Year: Senior, Major: Psychology
Alaa Al-Kahalah is a poet from Ann Arbor who grew up reading books in-between library shelves. She enjoys painting and embroidering, where she learned how to do so while living near her homeland, Palestine. She started writing poetry in Arabic when she was 10, then expanded to writing English poetry once she started college. She is eager to experience different forms of writing and aspires to publish a poetry collection one day! Her poetry is usually about her homeland, family, and love.
Miguel O'Leary Herreras, Year: Freshman, Major: Undecided
Miguel is a writer from Oakland, California, and he is grateful to be here with you all. In his writing he aims to draw from personal experience while highlighting contemporary societal dilemmas. He looks forward to continuing to learn and grow at the University of Michigan. He cites his mother as his greatest inspiration.
Polina Chuikov, Year: Junior, Major: Neuroscience
Polina Chuikov is a writer from Ann Arbor, MI. While not formally pursuing writing, she strives to find time to write for herself. Particularly drawn to horror, she tries her hand at writing about gruesome broken things that can't sit still at night. Her goal as a writer is to get them to shuffle and get a good glimpse, if possible, before running away alongside her readers to the safety of reality.
Alyssa Bonebright, Year: Senior, Major: History & Ross School of Business Cappo Sales and Marketing Track
Alyssa is a senior from Commerce Township, Michigan and is a senior in LS&A pursuing a degree in History. She has always been fascinated with antiquity, and has found special interest in the history and culture of Bronze Age Mediterranean civilizations. Professionally, she has found her passion at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, and strategic marketing. After her graduation, she will join Microsoft as a Product Marketing Manager.
Lily Price, Year: Sophomore, Major: Film, Television, & Media
Lily Price is a sophomore studying Film, Television, and Media. She enjoys writing fiction, creative nonfiction, and screenplays. In her free time, she enjoys going to the movie theater and spending time with her dog.
Chelsea Padilla, Year: Junior, Major: Political Science and Creative Writing & Literature
Chelsea Padilla is a third year student from Grand Rapids, Michigan who has been writing for as long as she can remember. She has a passion for exploring the role of fantasy and magic in stories of otherness. When she isn’t writing, she can be found watching movies or making food with friends. She also loves researching Filipino folklore and mythology, and she hopes to share elements of these stories with others in the future!
Arianna Ontko , Year: Freshman, Major: Environment and on the Pre Law Track, Minor: Public Policy
Ari is a writer and poet from Canton, Michigan. She is a freshman with a passion for many things including environment, athletics, and animals. Her writing tends to be about the vibrancy of love and of life. The feelings that make and break us. She hopes to further develop her writing abilities and incorporate writing into her career somehow in the future whether it be journalism or a fun side hobby.
Mattie Levy, Year: Senior, Major: Oboe Performance Major, Minor: Creative Writing
Mattie Levy is a writer, poet, oboist, and composer. At the University of Michigan, she is in her 4th year pursuing a BM in Oboe Performance and a minor in Creative Writing. Mattie also works as a student advisor for the University of Michigan School of Music Theatre and Dance (SMTD) Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a musician for the SMTD Office of Engagement and Outreach, and as a contributor to the column arts, ink. where she publishes poetry weekly. She is also the co-founder and vice president of Black Leaders in Art Collective, an organization that works to support Black students in the School of Music Theater and Dance by providing a safe space along with performance and collaborative opportunities. Some of Mattie’s compositions can be found on her YouTube channel, her latest piece “Daydreams” features oboe, voice, and over 40 software instruments. She is also currently writing a musical about 4 Black musicians in the classical music sphere. Mattie’s poetry meditates on her experience as a Black woman, as a musician, and as a human. She processes life and all its tangles and misconceptions in her poetry and uses it as a vehicle to determine how she sees the world. You can connect with Mattie by subscribing to her YouTube channel @Mattie Levy or following her on Instagram @mattie_tvc15.
George Krippner, Year: Senior, Major: English and Political Science
George Krippner is a English and Political Science major from Chicago, IL. He has particular interest in social advocacy, non-profits, as well as campaign strategy, and is planning on going to law school post undergrad. He recently picked up creative writing as a hobby, and has used it to explore mostly the various facets of yearning as an emotion, but also frequently writes about familial relationships.
Kailey Kuhlman, Year: Freshman, Major: Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity and Creative Writing and Literature
Kailey is a current freshman at the LSA Residential College and is from the small town of Spring Lake, Michigan. She is the co-leader of the Creative Writing Forum and has a great appreciation for the literary arts. She loves nature, folk music, tie-dye, and sports. During her free time, you can find Kailey going on walks around Ann Arbor, doing yoga, drawing with oil pastels, and hanging out with friends.
Grace Andreasen, Year: Senior, Major: Creative Writing and Literature
Grace Andreasen is a writer from Grosse Pointe, Michigan. She enjoys writing short fiction as well as personal essays. Much to her surprise, most of her short stories have to do with the unsettling, weird, and macabre. She is most happy when she is going for a walk in the woods in northern Michigan with her dog, Blue. She has been inspired the most in her writing by her grandma, Ruth, who seems to have all the answers.
Princess J’Maria Mboup, Year: Freshman, Major: Biology
Princess-J'Maria Mboup is a regional gold medalist for ACT-SO in poetry performance and an avid poet and songwriter. She is passionate about many things in life which, as she claims, makes her life "busy, yet fulfilling". These passions include social justice, the arts, and the sciences. She aspires to be a wildlife veterinarian but plans to do many other things as she believes that life is a fluid experience and human beings are not tied to one sole purpose or duty. She enjoys philosophizing about life and the relationships people have with the physical and spiritual world. Her piece is an introduction to some of her daily pondering.
Neil Peterson, Year: Sophomore, Major: Creative Writing and Literature, Minor: Drama
Neil is a writer and poet from Tawas City, a small town on the Sunrise Side of Michigan with the pleasure of being located between the Huron National Forest and Lake Huron. Neil is glad he grew up somewhere where he could experience the natural beauty of Michigan, and is thankful for places like the Arboretum here in Ann Arbor. Aside from writing, Neil also enjoys acting, playing guitar, chasing for the Michigan Quidditch Team, and above all, spending time with his pets: Stella, Rocky, and Krusty (dog, cat, cat). His poetry often focuses on relationships with loved ones or nature and animals, topics that are amongst the closest to his heart. He dedicates these poems to, well, you know who you are. ;)
Katherine Rybkin, Year: Freshman, Major: Honors Mathematics and Biomedical Engineering
Katherine Rybkin is a writer from Plymouth, Michigan. She is an avid reader, and loves everything from fantasy to theoretical physics. She enjoys reading and writing as an outlet for exploring all the unlived dreams left over from childhood, and she often writes about space, love, youth, and adventure. This is her first public reading event.
Heba Malik, Year: Junior, Major: International Studies, Minor: Creative Writing
Heba Malik would not exactly call herself a writer, but rather someone who writes often and finds joy in it. She grew up between Saudi Arabia and Pittsburgh, PA and a life lived in many places and cultures has found its way to be the center of her work. Creatively, Heba writes on identity, queerness, religion, love, and philosophy. Perhaps [un]creatively, she also writes on foreign policy and U.S.-Middle East relations, but today you will not be hearing the latter, which she thinks you should be thankful for.
Adelaide Gordon, Year: Sophomore, Major: English and Spanish
Adelaide Gordon is an aspiring poet and creative fiction writer from Hamilton, Massachusetts. In addition to writing in her free time, she loves exploring Ann Arbor’s food scene, venturing to new places, and practicing Spanish on Duolingo. She’s not quite sure where she’ll be in five years, but hopes to be in a field where she can combine her love of literature with her passion for travel and foreign language. Adelaide hopes you enjoy her reading!"