AnaMaria Curtis is from the part of Illinois that is very much not Chicago, where she learned to be argumentative, competitive, and nostalgic. She’s the winner of the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing Contest and the 2019 Dell Magazines Award. Her work has been published in magazines including Clarkesworld, Uncanny, and Strange Horizons. You can get in touch or find more of her work on Bluesky at @anamariacurtis.bsky.social or by signing up for her newsletter, Various Longings, here.