FictionJerry Jazz Musician
Winner, 46th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest (July 2017) Wade missed the sweat. The sticky air that hugged you like a fat friend. The languid, dirty stench of Bourbon street piss and puke. Of Dat Dogs at three in the morning, and the street mutts that cawed at the Mississippi. The humidity. The heat.... all of it. |
NonfictionBright Lights Film Journal
January 11, 2021 Mr. Babadook is shadow encased in shadow, because he is the shadow that cannot be ignored, hidden, or killed. He is a silhouette born in black, pulled into the light beyond the secret places, forcing us to face him head-on. Bright Wall / Dark Room
The Justice Issue (October 2020) While Revenge cuts a swath through the sandbox of some of the tropes of its genre, Coralie Fargeat's film is also powerfully, screamingly feminist ... A camera can be a woman’s eye. A quiet observer of the world, watching the actors and action from afar. I want more women directing horror films. More Jennifer Kents. More Karyn Kusamas. More Julia Ducournaus. We women know horror—particularly the kind on splashy display in Revenge. The Bookends Review
Selected for "Best of 2018" print anthology (February 2018) A feminist meditation on the costume design of the climactic final death scene in HBO's Big Little Lies. The 45-second scene encapsulates the Women's March Movement, the #MeTooMovement, and the feminist wave gripping American culture. |
Storytelling
"The Arrest"
StoryLab Chicago (May 2012) Chicagoans come together for an unpredictable mix of hilarious and heartbreaking stories at this intimate evening in the back room of Murphy & Son's Irish Bistro. Laura regales the audience with "The Arrest," a story about how the worst night of her life turned out to be her best.
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"Leona Woods Marshall"
Chicago Detours: "Badass Women of Chicago History" (March 22, 2019) The historic Hideout presents Chicago heroines on the peripheries of history. "Leona Woods Marshall" pays homage to the overlooked physicist who was the only woman present at the creation of the world’s first nuclear chain reaction. A portion of ticket sales go to the Chicago Women's Health Center.
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"Another Evil
Bathtub" Back to Print: "10th Annual Jubilee" Reading and Zine Release (February 2, 2020) Celebrating 10 years of independent publishing in Chicago. In "Another Evil Bathtub," Laura analyzes bathroom tropes and how the horror genre stokes fear of the everyday and mundane.
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"Water Polo"
Duly Noted Chicago: "Exes" Show (November 27, 2018) Storytellers and musicians come together to celebrate the creativity and diverse voices of the Chicago community. In "Water Polo," Laura recalls an ex-boyfriend, a water polo player with a swift kick at a very inopportune moment.
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