By Cameron Butler
Editor-in-Chief

A former Harold Washington College student published her first novel earlier this year, inspired by her experience as the front desk worker at a Chicago-area gentlemen’s club.

The book “Parade,” authored by former HWC student and 28-year-old DePaul University graduate Emiliana Helfeld, features “magic realism to explore the lives of sex workers and how men interact with them,” according to a press release for Helfeld’s first book.

Magic realism is a literary style of fiction which combines real-world settings with magical or supernatural elements.

“‘Parade’ is my first novel. I have been writing my entire life, but I really didn’t write much after high school. One day in the summer of 2018 I just got an inspiration for a story, it just hit me, I really can’t explain where it came from,” said Helfeld.

Helfeld’s last term at HWC was in Spring of 2016, before transferring to DePaul where she received her BA in anthropology in 2019.

Helfeld’s literary inspiration in part comes from her time working the front desk at VIP’s Gentlemen's Club in Chicago, which closed in 2018 after 25 years. Some of Helfeld’s job duties included checking in dancers and running cards for the champagne room.

In a 2018 blog post from Helfeld titled “25 Years of VIP’s Comes to a Close,” Helfeld described her former place of work as an anomaly, saying, “[t]hat seemingly unshakable old school vibe was a major part of the place’s charm and interest, though this was also one of the club’s biggest points of criticism- it did not keep up with the times.”

The site of the former gentlemen’s club is now owned by Rick’s Cabaret Chicago.

“So I started Googling ‘how to write a book.’ Writing a book seemed like this impossible thing to do, but I literally just had to sit at the computer and write. It probably took me about two years to write this novel, in between work and school. And as I wrote it, I loved it more and more. The story took on this shape of its own, and it wasn’t where I intended for it to go. But I think it’s wonderful,” said Helfeld.

The 152-page novel was summarized by Helfeld as “the fictional story of Cas, a regular at the local brothel who becomes cursed one night during his visit. He must work for the forgiveness of the woman who cursed him, while he struggles to overcome the world around him and make sense of the reality of his experience, and the experiences of those around him.”

The book was described by one online reviewer as “a beautiful fever dream.” Another review said the book was “a masterful exploration of femininity, fantasy, and finding magic in the mundane.”

“Parade” is currently number eight on Amazon’s “Best Sellers in Surrealism Art.”

“I think I wanted to be an author more and more as I went through the process of writing ‘Parade.’ Writing to me seems as close to a purpose as possible, it is how I create things and make sense of the world,” said Helfeld.

The book’s cover art, featuring flapperesque women clad in vintage lingerie, was designed by Italian artist Amalia Russiello.

“Parade” is available in print on Amazon and the Barnes & Noble website, as well as all major e-book platforms, according to Helfeld.