Don’t be dilatory (procrastinate); head straight down to The Book Cellar on Monday, October 16th at 7pm. This lineup of effulgent (radiant) writers and performers will put an end to your sonntagsleerung (Sunday depressions experienced before the coming workday):
Kelsie Huff is a stand-up comedian and creator and host of the kates, a ten year comedy showcase, which takes place at The Book Cellar and Laugh Factory Chicago. She taught Feminine Comique for five years and has now created the kates U – an all female comedy university specializing in making spaces for female identified voices. She is a regular guest on ABC’s Windy City LIVE, WCIU’s The Jam and WGN radio. Huff has written four solo shows, is a short film producer, screenwriter and voice over actor. Huff is also a fan of frosting and Cheese Whiz.
Patricia Ann McNair has lived 98 percent of her life in the Midwest where she has managed a gas station, tended bar, breaded mushrooms, taught aerobics, and worked on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Today she teaches creative writing at Columbia College Chicago. Her short story collection, The Temple of Air, was named Book of the Year by Chicago Writers Association, the Devil’s Kitchen Reading Awardee from Southern Illinois University, and a finalist by the Society of Midland Authors. Her essay collection, And These Are the Good Times, was just released in September.
David Barish has been telling stories since the time his parents came home and asked, “what happened here?” Since then he has abandoned fiction and has been telling true stories at a variety of venues around the Chicago area. He has told at Essay Fiesta, Story Sessions, Homewood Stories, Is This a Thing?, That’s All She Wrote, and a host of others. He won the only time he competed at Write Club and is a co-host of Do Not Submit Evanston.
Allison Shoemaker is a pop culture critic who John Stamos once called ‘impressive’ on Twitter. She’s an AV Club Contributor and a Senior Writer at Consequence of Sound, and as a result spends a lot of time writing about film, television, music, and a world full of misogynist crap. You can also catch her weekly on the podcasts Debating Doctor Who and Podlander Drunkcast: an Outlander Podcast, the latter of which is exactly what it sounds like.
Brooke Allen is a playwright and storyteller. She is a regular performer with You’re Being Ridiculous and produced a one woman storytelling show Not Boring in 2015. Her piece “My Damn Novels” was included in the essay collection The Awkward Phase last year. She is very excited to be doing Essay Fiesta for the second time.
Essay Fiesta 