About

Mystic Owl is a poetry and fiction magazine. Speculative work is the focus but also we want pieces that weave strange and weird language through real human emotions. We aim to publish three issues a year: in the spring, summer, and fall. 

Cesar Toscano, Editor-in-Chief
Cesar Toscano is a Chicago-based writer; he studied creative writing at Columbia College Chicago where he worked as an assistant poetry editor for Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose. He also read for the multi-genre magazine, Uncharted. He now runs his magazine, Mystical Owl Magazine, a magazine for strange Fiction and Poetry. His work delves into mental health and identity through a speculative and horror lens. When he is not writing, he enjoys watching movies and playing video games.

Luisa A. Rozo, Fiction Acquisition Editor
Luisa A. Rozo Castaneda is a senior at Columbia College Chicago pursuing a BA in English and Communication. She has worked as a production assistant editor and acquisition assistant editor for Allium, a Journal of Poetry and Prose. She has also translated children’s stories for Dazbog Art production from Spanish to English.

Nick Vazquez, Poetry Acquisition Editor
Nick Vazquez was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, raised in nearby, rural Hodgenville, and now resides in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, where he studies creative writing at Columbia College Chicago. Nick, along with nine other students each enrolled at different Chicago-area universities, read recently at Chicago's 24th annual Citywide Undergraduate Poetry Festival. His work has appeared in Mystic Owl Magazine and will be featured in one of the upcoming 2023-2024 issues of Allium, A Journal of Prose and Poetry.

Katie Malate, Copy-Editor
Katie Malate is a writer from Chicago and a recent graduate of Columbia College. Her short story “Community Garden” has been published in Mystic Owl Magazine. She is passionate about the weirder things in life, and when she isn’t writing fiction she’s playing guitar.

Landis Blair, Halloween Issue 1 Cover

Viggo Krejberg, Issue 2 Cover

Sammy Loree, Issue 1 Cover