Emma LaSaine

Writer. Editor. Community Builder.

When Emma LaSaine came to Columbia, she already knew she wanted to be a writer.

When Emma LaSaine graduated high school a year early and came to Columbia College Chicago at just 17, she knew she wanted to be a writer. As one of the youngest students studying Fiction Writing, she had to develop a thick skin—which she says “you definitely need as an artist.”

By sophomore year, LaSaine was tutoring fellow students. Next came marketing and journalism internships and a stint editing Columbia’s award-winning student-run journal Hair Trigger. In 2015 she helped launch Habitat Magazine, an online journal dedicated to publishing fiction, nonfiction and poetry written by Columbia students. As a senior, she serves as managing editor of Habitat. “It’s not just about getting a degree,” she says of the close-knit writers at Columbia. “It’s about working collaboratively to be an artistic community.”