Writing

Zak Hartzell on a road in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Substack coming soon.


Creative Writing CV

Otherworld

Time Magazine’s World’s Coolest Places 2019. The overarching narrative for Otherworld came about through collaboration with artists, engineers, and an operations director. In conjunction with these folks, I wove a purposefully fragmented master narrative into the overall experience of what is now a 32,000 sq. ft. interactive installation.

A blue and purple space with people walking around.

Dustbowl Children

This essay follows a cross-country Greyhound trip in the middle of a record-setting snowstorm. It was anthologized in a collection called The Year through Texas literary publication Crack the Spine.

The Year A Crack the Spine Anthology

Out of Love

This poem is slated for release in Carnegie Mellon University’s Oakland Review | Fall 2023 Edition

Carnegie Mellon University emblem.

Cheyenne Smith

This snapshot of an interpersonal moment at a bus station in Georgia is mostly true. It was kindly included in a summer journal from Corpus Callosum Press.

A dirt road winding through hilly plains with the text, "Plainsongs Summer 2021" in white.

Magic

This short exploration of the ephemeral made its way into a publication from Rubbertop Review out of the University of Akron in Ohio.

Rubbertop Review Volume 11

Rocked!

This collaboration with Trapped Columbus was my first project in the interactive narrative space. I wrote, sold, and acted in this script about a hungover band manager.