THE AUTHOR

RW Spryszak was born in Chicago in 1953. His first works of poetry and fiction were seen in various publications of Chicago's "Underground Press," including The Seed, which published him — and others — under assumed names.

He was a member of Marjorie Peters' Southside Creative Writers Workshop and attended Columbia College of Chicago in the early 70's.

Writing was set aside for the larger priority of raising a family, but by the mid-80's he began to appear in various publications of the pre-internet "altzine" world such as Paper Radio, Asylum, The Lost and Found Times and many others.

In the early 90's he took over the reins of the SP Stressman's Seattle-based Fiction Review and brought it to Chicago. The Fiction Review only managed three issues from March of 1991 until late summer 1992, but included the work of many writers who were already established in the "alternative" scene or became notable for their later accomplishments and extensive publishing resumes. The Fiction Review featured writers such as Thomas Wiloch, Richard Kostelanetz, Paulette Roeske, Hugh Fox, Gorman Berchard, William P. Haynes (Elliot), Sheila Murphy, Jack Foley, Lorri Jackson, Jake Berry, Rupert Wondolowski, Willie Smith, B. Z. Niditch, and many others. A few of the few remaining copies of The Fiction Review can be found at the Read/Write Library, in Chicago.

Some of his work can still be found in the John M. Bennett Publications Collections at The Ohio State University Libraries, (formerly, the Avant Writing Collection).

In late 2010, along with Dave Simmer, he founded Thrice Fiction magazine which began publishing in 2011, for which he is currently fiction editor.

He also currently works the overnight shift at a print shop in suburban Chicago.