In our
new Teaching Artist Showcase series, creative writers who also happen to be teachers will share creative work that was inspired by, developed with or otherwise related to their teaching work. The series will define “teaching artist” broadly – from university faculty, to in-school elementary and high school writing teachers or after-school program instructors, to those who work in prisons, hospitals and other institutions.
This first event in the series will unite teaching artists with students. The program will feature
readings by two university professors (poetry, prose and/or theater) and a
brief Q&A about their writing and teaching. In addition, there will be a
multi-university open mic featuring students from area writing programs. As an added twist,
the school that brings the most audience members will receive 3 complimentary tickets to our annual Benefit “Illuminate – the Art & Craft of Graphic Novels”! (1 ticket for a faculty member, 2 tickets for students. Discounted tickets will also be available for sale that night for $20 – cash, please.)
If you’re a student interested in signing up for the open mic,
contact your program coordinator or send your name, genre and school affiliation to
Confirmed Participants
~ Teaching Artists ~
Bayo Ojikutu is the author of the novels
47th Street Black and
Free Burning. Ojikutu’s short fiction has appeared in the Akashic Press anthology
Chicago Noir, the
Other Voices literary journal, among other collections. In 2009, his short “Yayi and Those Who Walk on Water: A Fable” was short-listed among the year’s notable fiction by the national Pushcart Prize. He has been the winner of the Washington Prize for Fiction, the Great American Book Award, and a 2008 Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature (Fiction) from the African-American Arts Alliance. Ojikutu, his wife and son reside in Chicago and he teaches at
DePaul University and
The Graham School at the University of Chicago.
S.L. Wisenberg, director of the MA/MFA in creative writing programs at
Northwestern University, is the author of the nonfiction book
The Adventures of Cancer Bitch, as well as the essay collection,
Holocaust Girls: History, Memory & Other Obsessions and the short story collection
The Sweetheart Is In. She has received a Pushcart Prize and awards and fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council and Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She was a feature writer at the
Miami Herald and has taught at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. Her work has appeared in dozens of anthologies as well as magazines such as the
New Yorker,
Ploughshares,
Michigan Quarterly Review , and
Creative Nonfiction. She is the publisher of TriQuarterly.org. Wisenberg holds an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
~ Student Readers ~
- Christina Kloess (fiction), Roosevelt University – previous publications include: Mythic Circles and the anthology Thirty Under Thirty from Starcherone Books; two-time winner of the Indiana Project XL competition, and received the Chicago-based Friends of American Writers award in 2009.
- David Ben-Arie (fiction/theater), University of Chicago – born and raised in South Africa, moved to Canada at age twelve; plays produced including New York’s The Samuel French Short Play Festival and the Vital Theatre Company; tutors students in writing at 826-Chicago and is currently finishing his first novel, The Blue Coast.
- Deepak Unnikrishnan (fiction), School of the Art Institute – writes. Short stories. He is Abu Dhabian, manufactured and product tested in the capital of the Emirates by a quiet yet befuddled Malayalee family.
- Eliza Fogel (non-fiction), Columbia College – builds stories one word at a time
- Gabriel Bump (fiction), School of the Art Institute – born and raised on the south side of Chicago. His work focuses on race relations in the “color-blind” generation and attempts to navigate a complex social landscape.
- Jim Shadid (fiction), DePaul University – lives, writes, works and plays in Chicago
- Kevin Kane (fiction), Columbia College – currently the managing editor of the print and online magazine The Handshake; served as managing editor for the Spring 2012 and Story Week issues of fictionary and an editor for the 2012 Story Week Reader.
- Matt Carmichael (fiction), Northwestern University – lives and writes in Chicago; a fiction editor for TriQuarterly Online.
- Mellissa Gyimah (fiction), DePaul University – born and raised in East London, but originally from Ghana, has always been intrigued by different cultures and the communities in which they function http://mellissagyimah.tumblr.com
- Sophia Tareen, Graham School/University of Chicago (fiction) – a reporter for The Associated Press in Chicago, is attempting a first novel. Twitter: @sophiatareen.
More participant info to come!