Amelia Estelle Dellos has been chosen as the new Writer in Residence of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park.
The award-winning writer and filmmaker earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago. She has worked as a professor of teaching, writing, and rhetoric at Roosevelt University. In addition, Dellos is the managing editor of “Unwoven Literary & Arts Magazine.”
Her writings have appeared in “Allium: A Journal of Poetry and Prose,” “Big Shoulders Press” and “Street Lit.” Her novel, “Delilah Recovered” received international recognition.
Dellos’ 2026-2027 term begins on July 18.
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She said among her reasons for wanting to be the Writer in Residence was “the opportunity to mentor a young writer.” She will be working with the winner of the Hemingway Foundation Student Scholarship.
“While I was working on my MFA, I taught, and I really enjoyed working with young adult students,” Dellos explained.
“Of course, it’s quite an honor to be elected and be associated with Hemingway,” Dellos added.
In addition, Dellos, of River Forest, will be working on “Hemingway Shorts,” the journal that the foundation publishes once a year. Dellos’ work on “Unwoven Literary & Arts Magazine” should help with this responsibility.
In terms of other projects, Dellos said, “I have this idea for doing a Writing Wednesdays at the (Hemingway) Home and opening it up to writers to come in and just do a write-in—to sit and write together for a couple of hours. The idea of being at Hemingway’s birthplace and being able to do a write-in would be fun.”
Dellos is also interested in hosting workshops at the house.
“I really love the idea of bringing the community in and bringing the house to life,” Dellos declared. “And selfishly, if I have a Writing Wednesday, that will keep me on track for my projects as well.”
Being the Writer in Residence should help her career, Dellos believes. “It’s definitely a feather in one’s cap to have acknowledgement like that — to be part of such a legacy,” she said.
And it is definitely inspirational to be able to work at a designated space in the Ernest Hemingway birthplace home — another honor that comes with Dellos’ new title.
The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park has had a Writer in Residence since 2013, according to Executive Director Keith Strom.
“I was not a part of the original idea but the basis of that was to help lead our mission about consistently supporting thoughtful reading and writing,” Strom said. “And the Writer in Residence helps us do that through the outreach of some of the programming they help us develop. And they serve as the mentor for some of the scholarship recipients that we have.”
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To choose the Writer in Residence, Strom and his team will go through submissions and locate the top four or five candidates, who are then interviewed. They then choose the winner based on those interviews.
Strom said they chose Dellos this year because “she really stood out. She’s definitely a go-getter.” Also, she has experience as both an educator and as a magazine editor.
“Her skill set fit well with what we’re looking for,” Strom said, adding, “My hope is she’s also going to help us create some more diversity in terms of some of the voices that we receive here at the foundation.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.