Participants

A collection of 691 posts

Participants Reading #157

Meet the Readers: Lily Be

Lily Be is a Chicago West Side born-and-raised, award-winning storyteller. She is the first Latinx winner of a Moth GrandSLAM championship, and creator and producer of Stoop Style Stories, formerly The Stoop. She is a huge advocate for the marginalized and a lot of her storytelling work is centered around

Participants Reading #157

Meet the Readers: Marc Fischer

Marc Fischer is the administrator of Public Collectors, an initiative he formed in 2007. Public Collectors’ work brings the periphery to the foreground. Its projects include the Library Excavations publication series and Hardcore Architecture—a blog and publication about the houses where  people in punk bands lived (mostly while still

Participants Reading #157

Meet the Readers: Meredith Nnoka

Meredith Nnoka is a Chicago-based poet, educator, and prison abolitionist. They have a BA from Smith College and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, both in Africana studies. They teach poetry in carceral facilities and have received fellowships from Lambda Literary, Illinois Humanities, and the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education

Participants Reading #157

Meet the Readers: Rachel Mennies

Rachel Mennies is the author of three poetry collections: The Wolf, forthcoming from BOA Editions in 2027; The Naomi Letters (also BOA Editions); and The Glad Hand of God Points Backwards (from Texas Tech University Press). Her poems have appeared recently in American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, Poetry, and

Participants Reading #157

Meet the Readers: Kim Moldofsky

Kim Moldofsky is the Bold Belief Builder at Scrappy Affirmations, where she helps people find meaning, reflect and make art, and navigate transitions right up until the end of life. Known for creative gatherings, she fosters welcoming spaces that invite openness, self-discovery, and the sharing of wisdom. Kim created and

Participants Reading #156

Meet the Readers: Lindsay Porter

Lindsay Porter is a standup comedian, storyteller, and teaching artist in Chicago. She’s performed at Zanies and the Laugh Factory, and at bars, parks, cannabis lounges, nursing homes, and in line at Trader Joes. She tours nationally with the Bad Momz of Comedy and Moms Unhinged. She is the

Participants Reading #156

Meet the Readers: Mary Winn Heider

Mary Winn Heider’s novels for children include The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy (Little, Brown, 2021), The Stupendous Switcheroo series (Knopf, 2023-24), and The Mortification of Fovea Munson (Disney-Hyperion, 2018). The latter was long-listed for the Edgar Award; Mary Winn also wrote the book of the Fovea

Participants Reading #156

Meet the Readers: Andrew Cothren

Andrew Cothren grew up in New York's Hudson Valley, though he has spent the last three and a half years living in Chicago, where he works as an editorial assistant for the city government. He holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his work has

Participants Reading #156

Meet the Readers: Kat Jercich

Kat Jercich is a writer and editor living in Chicago. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Advocate, Bust, Cosmopolitan, and the Sacramento News and Review, along with several other gone-but-not-forgotten outlets. She attended the Cuttyhunk Island Writers' Workshop. Please join Kat and

Participants Reading #156

Meet the Readers: Keidra Chaney

Keidra Chaney works at a national disability justice nonprofit by day. After work hours, she plays bass, fusses over plants, makes zines about music and fandom, and watches movies from the 1970s and '80s on Tubi. She’s @kdc and @WildRampPublishing on BlueSky or @keidrachaney on Instagram. Please join

Participants Reading #155

Meet the Readers: Eric Shoemaker

Robert Eric Shoemaker is a poet, translator, and interdisciplinary artist. Eric is the author of Magical Poetics (Bloomsbury Academic, forthcoming), Ca'Venezia (2021, Partial Press), We Knew No Mortality (2018, Acta Publications), and 30 Days Dry (2015, Thought Collection Publishing). Eric’s work has been nominated for a Pushcart

Participants Reading #155

Meet the Readers: Amy Eaton

Amy Eaton is a Ragdale alum, the second runner up of the Daisy Pettles Women’s Writing Contest and the second person to receive the Rod Serling Scholarship at her high school in Binghamton NY (because there aren’t a lot of bragging rights to Binghamton besides growing up in

Participants Reading #155

Meet the Readers: Scott Whitehair

Scott Whitehair is a storyteller, producer, and teaching artist. He is the producer of This Much Is True, now in its 17th year, the creator of Story Lab Chicago, which has put 900+ new or first time tellers on stage since 2011, co-host of Story Vroom Vroom, Evanston's

Participants Reading #155

Meet the Readers: Mare Swallow

Mare Swallow is an executive coach, storyteller, and occasional comedian. A lifelong performer, she’s a graduate of the Second City Conservatory. She holds a BA from Northern Illinois University, and an MFA from Goucher College. Please join Mare and our other fantastic readers on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 in

Participants Reading #155

Meet the Readers: Bill Savage

Bill Savage teaches courses on Chicago history, literature and culture at Northwestern University and the Newberry Library of Chicago. At the Newberry, he co-curated their recent exhibit on Mike Royko, and he also works as an editor at the University of Chicago Press. He has published book reviews, op-eds, and

Participants Reading #154

Meet the Readers: Andrew Huff

Andrew Huff has been a PR professional, a journalist, the editor and publisher of Gapers Block, a professional blogger for a ghost hunter "reality" show, and host of 20x2 Chicago, a show in which 20 interesting people have two minutes each to answer one question. He's

Participants Reading #154

Meet the Readers: James Gordon

James Gordon is an award winning actor, author, Poet, and champion storyteller. He has written over 20 books across the genres poetry, children's, and mystery and suspense. James is a member and Facilitator of Artistic Cabal called Act Pack Dark. Please join James and our other great readers

Participants Reading #154

Meet the Readers: Michelle Young

Michelle Young started telling stories and performing as a stand-up comic right before Covid. Post-pandemic, she has performed at various curated storytelling events throughout Chicagoland. Michelle also co-hosts Do Not Submit, a Storytelling Open Mic at Friendly’s in Berwyn, and produces a curated monthly variety show called “All Skate”

Participants Reading #154

Meet the Readers: Carole Hodorowicz

Born and raised in Chicago, Carole Hodorowicz has always loved reading and writing. She went to college at Eastern Illinois University, where she studied journalism and English. Please join Carole and our other fantastic readers on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm,

Participants Reading #154

Meet the Readers: Kathryn Kruse

Kathryn Kruse is the director of Residency on the Farm, an interdisciplinary artists’ residency program. In February her collection of short stories, To Receive My Services You Must Be Dying and Alone, is debuting from Jackleg Press. Her work has appeared, among other places, in the pages of Indiana Review,

Participants Reading #153

Meet the Readers: Veronica Arreola

Veronica Arreola is a professional feminist, women’s sports evangelist, and writer, her book, J is for Justice: An Activism Alphabet, hopes to inspire young people to identify needs in their communities and work together to dream creative solutions. You can also find her on Bluesky and Instagram at veronica

Participants Reading #153

Meet the Readers: Tanner McSwain

Tanner McSwain is a writer and bookseller originally from North Carolina. He has owned Uncharted Books, a used and rare bookstore in Chicago, since 2012. Please join Tanner and our other great readers on Tuesday, December 3, 2024 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the

Participants Reading #153

Meet the Readers: Sara McHenry

Sara McHenry is a tall sad person who was born in Indiana and moved to Illinois, just like Abraham Lincoln. She’s also a writer, who you may know from her zine, Hard to Love, or from her (uncredited) contributions to Clickhole in its heyday. You’ve almost certainly seen

Participants Reading #153

Meet the Readers: Nestor Gomez

Nestor Gomez was born in Guatemala and traveled to Chicago undocumented in the mid '80s. He told his first story at a Moth Story Slam to get over the stuttering that plagued his childhood; since then he has won more than 80 Moth Slams. Nestor has performed and conducted

Participants Reading #152

Meet the Readers: Faisal Mohyuddin

Faisal Mohyuddin is the author of Elsewhere: An Elegy (Next Page Press, 2024), The Displaced Children of Displaced Children, (Eyewear, 2018), and the chapbook The Riddle of Longing (Backbone Press, 2017). His recent work appears in Poetry, The Poetry Review (UK), Jet Fuel Review, Pleiades, and the anthologies Poetry Unbound: