Instead of going to see the new Star Wars movie for the 14th time, how about you come see us on Monday night, January 18th, 7pm – at The Book Cellar. We have fewer special effects, but our fandom is even nerdier, and these writers will play some sweet jedi mind tricks on you:
Stephanie Chavara is now living out one of her childhood dreams, and is living out of her car (which is the urban version of being in the book Hatchet). She travels and creates theatre with young people all over Chicago and Montana, and really loves listening to people tell stories, usually in bars, but just about anywhere. She is an actor, writer, director, and teacher and has worked with a lot of companies in Chicago. She is also a company member at Adventure Stage and 2nd Story. She’s super stoked to come back to the Book Cellar.
Maggie Kast‘s first novel, A Free, Unsullied Land, was published by Fomite Press in November 2015. An excerpted story, “The Hate that Chills,” won 3rd prize in the Hackney Literary Contests and was published in the Birmingham Arts Journal. She is the author of The Crack between the Worlds: a dancer’s memoir of loss, faith and family, published by Wipf and Stock. She received an M.F.A. in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has published fiction in The Sun, Nimrod, Carve, Paper Street and others. A chapter of her memoir, published in ACM/Another Chicago Magazine, won a Literary Award from the Illinois Arts Council and a Pushcart nomination. Her essays have appeared in America, Image, Writer’s Chronicle and elsewhere.
Archy Jamjun is a writer and storyteller from Chicago. He won the Chicago’s Biggest Liar Contest in 2014 and since then has enjoyed performing at many live lit shows in the city, including winning The Moth Grandslam last July. He’ll be performing at Fillet of Solo for OUTspoken on 1/23 and for Story Club on 1/30 at the Lifeline Theater. Archy is an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at Roosevelt University and graduate of Second City’s Writing Program.
At age 27, Nathalie Lagerfeld still remembers most of the French swear words she learned as a comparative literature major in college. This skill has never yet come in handy in her post-college jobs as a high-school writing teacher, food blogger, or professional coupon writer, but she still holds out hope. Meanwhile, she passes the time writing and performing at shows like Serving the Sentence and Miss Spoken, or binge-watching old X-Files episodes at her apartment in Logan Square. Nathalie will also be pinch hosting in Willy’s place. Luckily, she also has a PhD in toy accordion.
Britt Julious is an essayist and journalist born and bred in the city. She currently serves as a local music columnist for the Chicago Tribune and contributes regularly to The Guardian, Vice, and MTV News. She also hosts The Back Talk, an award-winning storytelling podcast featuring young women of color from across the country. She thanks Essay Fiesta for giving her a chance a couple years ago when she barely knew what storytelling meant.
Essay Fiesta 