Stories Matter.
Tell Yours Today
Upcoming Classes
The Sentence Alive: Four Lessons on Memoir Through Sound, Body, and Form with Paul Lisicky
In this four-week craft-centered seminar, multi-genre writer Paul Lisicky invites participants to explore the deep architecture of memoir at the level of the sentence and the scene.
On Zoom, begins October 14
Exploring Visual Elements of Writing Prose with Aram Mrjoian
How can we see our writing differently? This four-week course will focus on the relationships between setting, image, sequencing, and character and consider craft through narrative visualizations, setting maps, and other diagrams.
On Zoom, Begins October 29
Upcoming Events
“Thank you so much again for the richness of your classes and programming at StoryStudio! I am so grateful and feel so loved in the warm literary embrace of this exquisitely beautiful community … Thank you for giving us a home and changing our lives!” – Dana Liu
“I finished my MFA in 2022 and, though it was a phenomenal program, I had two major holes in my education: novel writing and the publishing process. I attended Pub Crawl last year and a novel course this year and have learned so much from you all. I truly can’t believe the quality of teaching StoryStudio is sharing with the world (and so affordably) and wanted to say THANK YOU!” – Adrienne G.
StoryStudio Chicago is partially supported by grants from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
StoryStudio Chicago
We offer classes for writers to hone their craft, express their creativity, and communicate with confidence.
Stories Matter Foundation
StoryStudio is part of this 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit and community of storytellers. We aim to change worlds using the power of story.
Our Community
One of our main goals is building a community where writers and literary folks can come together to learn, share, and grow in the creative arts.
Read a bit from our blog…
“The final push of inspiration”: Alicia Wala Discusses Her StoryBoard Festival Experience
Today we’d like to introduce you to StoryStudio community member Alicia Wala! Alicia is a wonderful writer, a generous literary citizen, and an alum of several StoryStudio classes and programs — including Juan Martinez’s Short Story class last summer, Gabino Iglesias’s Novel In A Year: Speculative Fiction cohort, and last year’s StoryBoard Festival. In case…
“Collaborative, supportive energy”: A Conversation with Yvonne Liu about Online StoryBoard 2025
Yvonne Liu, a Los Angeles-based writer and mental health advocate, is a frequent online attendee of StoryStudio events and classes, including attending last year’s online StoryBoard Conference in Hugh Ryan’s Nonfiction cohort. We talked with Yvonne about her experience — here’s the conversation: I’ve learned so much through StoryStudio’s Memoir-in-a-Year program and PJ Seminars that…
“The exact support I didn’t even realize I needed”: A StoryBoard Conversation with Dionne Ford
The Washington Post called Dionne Ford’s 2023 memoir Go Back and Get It “tenacious, openhearted, ultimately transcendent,” and the Chicago Review of Books raved “Ford’s willingness to stare down her, her family’s, and this country’s painful history makes this book extraordinary, alongside her openness about her path to healing.” We were so delighted Dionne joined…