MISSION STATEMENT
The Madwoman Collective's mission is to provide a feminist perspective on politics, philosophy, art, and culture by creating a space where women's and nonbinary persons' voices are heard and creativity is expressed authentically and unfiltered. The Madwoman Collective seeks to empower the voices, dreams, and desires of women and nonbinary persons through building a community of artists, writers, academics, activists, and dreamers to share the space they have carved for themselves in this world.
We believe the outlaw emotion of rage to be a powerful tool against the patriarchy. Tactics of subversion and madness among women and girls makes us dangerous. And wildly dangerous and magically mad we must be if we are to upend the entire social order of patriarchy.
The Madwoman Collective currently consists of a blog, instagram, podcast, and mentorship program with the hope of eventually developing a robust online mutual aid network for women and nonbinary folk in the arts and humanities. Our goal is to develop content that critically analyzes normative schema, builds imaginative worlds through creative writing and art, and provides resources for women, girls, and nonbinary folk to live the feminist life they dream of.
WHY?
With the world still under the grip of patriarchal power systems and our norms still being spun by heteronormativity, the Madwoman Collective serves as a network of young women and nonbinary persons so that we may rely on and support each other instead of hoping for the whims of the patriarchal social order to give us a break. When we empower and support each other, we become dangerous. When we challenge heteronormativity by sharing our own stories, passions, desires, and voices, we become mad through our wondrous upending of norms. And dangerous and mad is excactly what we desire to be if we are to challenge and dismantle the very social order working against us.
Spaces and communities where women and nonbinary persons can share ideas, be heard and seen, and follow their passions, are exactly what we need if we are to survive this world of our own. The Madwoman Collective is such a community designed to provide the resources and support young women and nonbinary persons in the arts and humanities need to achieve their goals from graduate school to being published to having their artwork seen.
WHAT?
The Madwoman Collective consists of young women and nonbinary creative and inspiring volunteers. This is a passion project for all members of the collective from the founders to the interns. The collective consists of several undergraduate students, graduate students, artists, recent graduates, and young professionals serving as writers, researchers, editors, graphic designers, illustrators, photographers, academics, and administrators.
Currently the collective operates as a mutual aid network where team members, contributors, collaborators, and interns support each other and share knowledge while also working together to create original content towards the intersectional feminist discourse. As anarchists and anticapitalists at heart, the collective is organized horizontally and democratically where every individual is valued equally and has a say in the decision making process of the collective.
HOW?
Megan May Walsh and her sister Kayla Walsh founded the Madwoman Collective the spring of 2022. After applying for graduate school and reflecting on the predominantly male mentorship she had in her undergraduate career, Megan desired the support of women and members of the queer community moving forward in her academic and artistic pursuits. She thought if she could help build a community and network of young women and nonbinary folk, these individuals and herself wouldn't have to rely on trying to gain the needed support from their male counterparts in their fields. Instead young women and nonbinary persons could rely on each other and offer the needed support, love, and friendship only they can truly give each other. Megan hopes with this project that no young women or nonbinary folk will feel as lonely and frustrated she did at times with only her male counterparts and advisors to turn to.
The Madwoman Collective launched its Instagram April 2022 and its website June 2022. Megan and Kayla are just one of many passionate volunteers dedicated to support each other and contribute creative content to the greater intersectional feminist discourse.
MEET THE TEAM
Meet the marvelous individuals that volunteer their precious time and creativity to make the collective and all its contribution to feminist discourse possible!
Megan May Walsh
She/Her
Megan is a philosophy PhD candidate at Fordham University with research interests in feminist philosophy and queer theory.
Nellie Karengo
She/Her
Nellie has a BS in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in English and History from Andrews University. She has worked as a writer and social media specialist. Her work centers around intersectional political and social issues, and cultural and literary discourse.
Hailey Johnson
She/Her
Hailey is a Master of Fine Arts candidate at San Francisco State University in the Creative Writing, Fiction track. Prior to her graduate studies, she attended New York University Tisch School of the Arts where she studied Film and Television Production before earning her Bachelor of Arts in English at UC Berkeley.
Stacy Ketsios
She/Her
Stacy is an undergraduate at the School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC) where she is majoring in visual communications.
Kayla Walsh
She/Her
Kayla is an undergraduate at Loyola University Chicago studying French, Spanish, Sociology, and Women and Gender Studies.
Kendall Wack
She/They
Kendall is a recent graduate from Loyola University Chicago with a double B.A. in English-Creative Writing and French Literature and Language. Currently, they edit and write for Radical In Progress.
Daphne Pons
She/Her
Daphne earned her BA in philosophy from PSL University (Paris, France) and her MSc in media and communications from the London School of Economics (London, UK). Currently, Daphne is completing her PhD in philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. Her research areas are in feminist philosophy, queer theory, phenomenology and philosophy of race.
Morgan Owens
She/Her
Morgan Owen is a freelance journalist writing for a variety of online and print publications. With a master's in museum studies from The University of Edinburgh and a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Morgan is an excellent resource in the arts and culture field.
Emi Grant
She/Her
Emi is a writing MFA student at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She is passionate about social justice, horror movies, and all things pop culture.
Chloë Rain
She/They
Chloë is a writer and editor from the Midwest. Currently pursuing a B.F.A. in Creative Writing, she specializes in poetry, prose, and short fiction. She has worked as an editor for various magazines and journals.
Maya Luem
She/Her
Maia is a journalist who's passionate about finding stories that matter and breaking patriarchal culture norms within them. She recently graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a bachelors in multi-media journalism and a minor in religious studies.
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Mia Pidlaoan
She/Her
Mia graduated from NIU with a Bachelor’s in English and is currently pursing her master’s.
Maya Parekh
She/Her
Maya is a feminist researcher with her MA in Women's and Gender Studies from DePaul University. She is passionate about reproductive justice, feminist theories.
Eliana Horning
She/They
Eliana is a second semester senior at SUNY Oswego in Upstate New York majoring in Creative Writing and English. They work as a writing tutor on their campus and love to help anyone at any level of their writing journey.
Emma Munson
She/Her
Emma is an undergraduate at Loyola University Chicago. She is majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, and minoring in Finance and Film and Digital Media.
Sarah Jeffries
She/Her
Sarah is a graduate student in Women & Gender Studies at Loyola University Chicago. Prior to attending LUC, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in English and Women & Gender Studies. Sarah’s research applies feminist and queer theory to mid-century and Cold War era American literature. Her previous work evaluated elements of the noir literary mode in lesbian pulp fiction published between 1950-65 and she now studies how gothic horror aids feminist satire in Ira Levin’s work. .
CONTRIBUTORS
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Riley Ariel Trist, Writer
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"The Ache"
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"Odyssey" forthcoming
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Alannah Guevara, Writer
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"call me Radical"
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Angel Rosen, Writer
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"A Woman's World"
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"Roe vs. Wade vs. Natalie", forthcoming
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Alani Vargas
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Guest on Poetically Speaking
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Eddie Sourby
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Guest on Poetically Speaking
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Erica Dionora, Artist
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Alex Afolabi, Artist
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