StoryStudio Chicago Blog Posts
20 Stories: (#19) Kavita Das
And so I, and a handful of others, became one of the first students at StoryStudio Chicago, Jill’s new writing center.
20 Stories: (#18) Nadine Kenney Johnstone
My students were getting published. I watched them launch dozens of memoirs and countless stand-alone pieces. And, on top of it all, they created writing accountability cohorts and became life-long friends. There is no more rewarding outcome for a writing teacher than this. And StoryStudio had created the space to foster it all.
20 Stories: (#17) Mal Pavel
There is a tacit understanding that if we don’t use our voices, the only power we really have as writers, then we might watch others tell our stories for us and paint a very different picture.
20 Stories: (#16) Bridget C.
This group is still together, still meeting every Wednesday. Some of us have turned eighteen this year. Some of us are getting college acceptance letters now and talking about graduation. But when we first met, all we talked about was what high school was going to be like. How did we grow up so fast?
20 Stories: (#15) Zac Ginsburg
Standing in the studio as the kids convened in their summer outfits and backpacks filled with notebooks, pens, and snacks, I discovered the joy of teaching creative writing, of giving these kids a space to be their brilliant, zany selves…
20 Stories: (#14) Denise Santomauro
I went into that first class with something to prove. I knew I was meant to live my life in stories. I’d gotten my undergraduate degree in theatre and had been acting for a few years, so my life already revolved around storytelling. But now, I wanted to live out the writing dream I’d abandoned…
20 Stories: (#13) Jeremy Owens
In the darkest time, Megan encouraged me to believe, and she made my book feel achievable. I will always be grateful to Megan, and StoryStudio for that time, that lifesaving class, and for the beautiful writing community they foster.
20 Stories: (#12) Ines Bellina
To say I owe my writing career to StoryStudio is not an exaggeration. Yes, I love my hyperboles, but in this case the gushing is warranted. This is the place that believes in you before you even start believing in yourself.
20 Stories: (#11) Jasmine Sawers
While writing itself is a deeply solitary endeavor, I came to realize that the support of other writers during the writing process was invaluable and, indeed, exactly what I had been missing since finishing my MFA.
20 Stories: (#10) Rowan Beaird
The first time I went to StoryStudio was for a write-in. I loved that the space felt like an apartment—the creak of the wood floors, the ambient bubbling of a kettle, deep couches, warm lights. Though it attracts talented, accomplished writers, there’s nothing intimidating about the space, and that sense of warmth and community is…
20 Stories: (#9) Alan Kercinik
We had what we needed, just the same. Chairs arranged in a circle. Writing to share. And that nervous alchemy of belief and hope. The belief that writing mattered. The hope that our writing, one day, might.
20 Stories: (#8) Suchitra Gururaj
I knew when I saw [Jill’s plan] that she’d created something indispensable in a city that had all the talent of literary Brooklyn but not quite the same scaffolds.
20 Stories: (#7) Carol Ludwick
The sense of community was palpable as was the camaraderie of working side by side with others who had the same goal, to be the best storytellers they could be. And some of those storytellers became cherished friends.
20 Stories: (#6) Dan Finnen
For me, StoryStudio is more than classes. it’s a place where I found people who lived to write, who wanted to talk about it, and who continued being some of my best friends years after our classes ended.
20 Stories: (#5) Sahar Mustafah
And more than a book, the program produced a more permanent effect on my writing: a newfound community of other like-minded writers
20 Stories: (#4) Addison
StoryStudio was there for me during all the uncertainty of 2020. They were there when I grew into my capabilities a little more. And they were ready to accept where I was.
20 Stories: (#3) Dionna Griffin-Irons
I am connected to some of the most prolific & talented writers in this community who have helped shape my own craft as student and instructor.
20 Stories: (#2) Scott Onak
No one chooses a project like this — in writing, work, life — knowing exactly what it will demand. And even if we did, for the ones worth doing, we’d do it anyway.
20 Stories: (#1) Ericka Carmona-Vega
Ultimately, StoryStudio Chicago’s teachings and empowering methods of inquiry led me to finish my first novel of the Rise series.
The Importance of a Writing Practice
by Denise Santomauro Prior to writing, I was in the performing arts. Auditioning, rehearsals, and performances were a regular part of my life. There’s another aspect of being a performing…
Q&A with “Creative Writing Essentials” instructor Aram Mrjoian
Aram Mrjoian is a writer, editor, critic, and educator. He is teaching an upcoming multi-week class called “Creative Writing Essentials” which starts on October 6. Aram shared some of this thoughts around…
Q&A with Jeremy Owens on why JUNE IS NOT ENOUGH
Jeremy Owens is a writer, performer, and teacher of an upcoming multi-week class called “June is Not Enough: Queer Nonfiction Writing” which starts next week, August 17. We were lucky…
Writers Festival: Interview with Meghan Lamb (Open Genre)
At October’s Writers Festival, writer Meghan Lamb will be teaching a session in the Open-Genre cohort titled “Narrative Lists.” We love this idea for a session and recently caught up with Meghan to ask her about why writers…
Writers Festival: Interview with Dionna Griffin-Irons (Nonfiction Cohort)
At October’s Writers Festival, StoryStudio instructor and all-around amazing human Dionna Griffin-Irons will be teaching a session in the Nonfiction cohort titled “Cracking the Truth Code in our Personal Stories.” We recently talked with…