News

News from the world of No You Tell It

Newtown Literary’s Book Trivia Night!

We were excited to play – and WIN – this year’s Newtown Literary Book Trivia Quiz.

Eeeking out our victory by only ONE POINT over the fabulous team Poetry & Coffee, we took home a big bag of prizes including books, gift cards form Astoria coffee, tickets to the Museum of the Moving Image and, of course, BOOKS!

Click here to read some of the trivia questions we rocked. How many could you get right?

The money raised will help Newtown Literarying bring a kids writing contest, podcast, and professional development panels to Queens in 2018!

Submissions are now open (through 1/10/18) for Issue 12! Submit your work to Newtown Literary at: www.newtownliterary.org/submit

It was great to get the crew together after being on hiatus. The wheels are turning as we make plans for No, YOU Tell It! 2018. Check back for more news soon!!

November 19, 2017 Post Comment News

Boundless Tales TONIGHT

Our own Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons is excited to be one of six Queens-based emerging writers – along with Victoria Adler, Jamey Hansen, Jason Ferguson, Katie Flanagan, and Claire Zajdel – reading work at tonight’s Boundless Tales at The Local in LIC.

Click here for more info and to RSVP via Facebook.

Founded in 2011, Boundless Tales: A Series for Emerging Writers gives a platform to the best emerging writers in Queens, NY, the city’s largest and most diverse borough.

Writers! Boundless Tales is now accepting submissions from Queens-based emerging writers for their second reading of the season in February. Click here for  submission guidelines and pass the word along!

 

October 19, 2017 Post Comment News Tags: , , ,

“Share Our Stories” Collages

Our own Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons’ SU-CASA artist residency at the CCNS Woodhaven Neighborhood Senior Center recently culminated with a “Share Our Stories” final event featuring story collages made from the participants’ memoirs.

Take a look some the stories the fine folks at Woodhaven shared!

Click here to view the rest of the collages on our Facebook page.

June 15, 2017 Post Comment News Tags: , ,

“Share Our Stories” Event

Earlier this year, our own Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons was awarded a 2017 SU-CASA artist-in-residence grant through the Queens Council on the Arts to positively impact the well-being of older adults through arts-based activities. Her residency at the CCNS Woodhaven Neighborhood Senior Center culminates this Friday, June 9th, with a “Share Our Stories” showcase at the center.

Starting at 1 pm, this special event features storytelling, story collages, songs (and snacks!) inspired by the true-life tales the fabulous folks at Woodhaven shared with her, and each other, for the past few months. Kelly Jean is thrilled to be co-hosting this story-palooza with her Sip-N-Scribe partner in crime Jenn Wehrung (NYTI “Three Strikes” alum, Laugh It Up, Astoria!).

We’re also stoked to share that NYTI “Legacy” artist Sha-Nee Williams  returned to created an original painting of one of the workshop participant’s beloved cat. This stunning piece, which will be on display at the event, was based solely on Susan’s written description (see below) of her cat, Candy.

Susan’s cat, Candy, as imagined by Sha-Nee Williams

My cat’s name is Candy. She is 12 years old, but she is pretty frisky for her age. Her coloring is very hard to describe, but I would say she is dark gray with some calico in the back. She is a short-haired cat with a long gray tail. Candy is a big fat cat, very roly poly with a white tummy and white feet, but she is orangey around the legs. My God, I don’t even know how much she weighs! Maybe 15 pounds?

We feed her moist food in the morning and dry at night. Candy used to love Temptations but suddenly she doesn’t like them anymore. She is a very docile cat, sleeps all the time. We got her from the North Shore Animal League. We wanted an older cat. She was about eight years old when we took her home and that was four years ago. She has a tiny cry, “meow, meow, meow” with a tiny little mouth. Sometimes she doesn’t even make a noise. She just opens her mouth and a tiny “peep” comes out. I remember she used to have a tiny ball with a bell that she played with a lot, but it got lost.

Candy always sleeps next to me, she is very attached to me. She stares at me with these big beautiful eyes. I tell there that she’s “my pretty little girl” and she blinks her eyes. Blinks them slowly, as if I was putting her asleep.

Ready for more? Join us this Friday, June 9th, at 1 pm at the CCNS Woodhaven Neighborhood Senior Center (89-02 91st St, Jamaica, NY 11421) to hear some stories, see story collages made from the writing generated during the weekly memoir workshops, sing songs, and eat snacks!

 

Partners of the 2017 SU-CASA artist-in-residence grant

June 7, 2017 Post Comment News Tags: , , ,

Galaxy Girl

We reached out to artist Letisia Cruz – one-half of the dynamic duo at Petite Hound Press – and asked her to create an original piece inspired by our upcoming show theme “Blanked.” The result was Galaxy Girl!

GALAXY Girl

We asked Letisia what inspired her to create this interstellar image and here is her reply:

Galaxy Girl was inspired by the theme BLANKED. To blank or to be blank is to be devoid of information, such as a blank page or a blank wall. But it is often in moments of absolutely emptiness that we are most in tune with nature and the natural (dis)order of the universe. As the arrow of time moves forward and the universe continues to expand, so does our capacity for chaos. The world we live in is both terrifying and fascinating. This drawing is my small contribution to disorder. With disorder comes endless possibilities.

For more fantastic work from Letisia Cruz check out Petite Hound Press – a miniature press based out of Las Vegas and Miami run by two tattooed, poetry-writing, art-loving ladies. Visit petitehoundpress.com.

Come out next Wed, September 14th for No, YOU Tell It! “Blanked” at Jimmy’s No. 43 at 7pm!

September 7, 2016 Post Comment News Tags: , ,

Special No, YOU Tell It! “No Regrets” Show at FDU

Our own Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons was stoked to spend the week at Fairleigh Dickinson University working with the incredible students in *FDU’s low-residency MFA program in Creative Writing on how to read their fiction, nonfiction, or poetry with a little oomph (as we like to call it). She also produced a special No, YOU Tell It! show with a trio of alums from the program.

After an intense 10-day writing residency at the Florham campus in Madison, NJ packed with workshops, lectures, visiting authors, and a killer outdoor dance party – No, YOU Tell It! “No Regrets” (theme intentional) had the formidable time slot of 10 am on the final Sunday morning.

No Regrets collage

But switched-up storytelling knows no bounds as the crazy talented Heather Lang, Letisia Cruz, and Taz Ruffilo (pictured left to right in the top row) wrote and performed three amazing pieces, keeping everyone captivated down to the residency’s last moments.

Over the past month, the trio participated in intensive story workshops and rehearsals with Kelly Jean, and the final result both broke and warmed our hearts. A huge thank you to René Steinke and all of the brilliant faculty, students, and alums at FDU’s summer residency, especially our “surprise guests” at the show Renee Ashley and Patrick Joshua Laskey!

Want to bring a No, YOU Tell It! workshop to your school, organization, or office? Click here to learn more or contact us at noyoutellit@gmail.com.

*FDU’s low-residency MFA program in Creative Writing is ideal for students who want a more flexible academic schedule. Students attend two 10-day residencies each year, one in August at FDU‘s Florham campus in Madison, New Jersey, and one in January at the university’s Wroxton campus in Oxfordshire, England. Throughout the remainder of the school year, as they write and revise their creative work, students work one-on-one with their mentors and participate in online workshops. Click here to learn more about the program and how to apply.

August 15, 2016 Post Comment News Tags: , ,

Visit Us at The Queens Book Festival!

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We are excited to be part of major literary explosion in Queens! The Queens Book Festival is happening this Sunday, August 7th, at Kaufman Astoria Studios.

Come visit us at the No, YOU Tell It! table for some literary swag, information about upcoming shows and workshops, and other fun surprises.

The Queen Book Festival is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and FREE to the entire community with a wide range of activities suited to families and folks of every age!

Click here to check out the full schedule of literary happenings!

July 30, 2016 Post Comment News Tags: , ,

Sip-N-Scribe for Queens Writes Weekend

Our own Kelly Jean and “3 Strikes” alum Jenn Wehrung have teamed up to co-host a monthly Sip-N-Scribe at QED: A Place To Show & Tell. PLUS, this month there is bonus Sip-N-Scribe as a a part of *Queens Writes Weekend. Join us!

Sip-N-Scribe is a chance to push away from your keyboard, put pen to paper, and mingle with other writers in person! While writing is a solitary act, there are also times when you need to shake things up a bit and draw inspiration from fellow scribes. $5 suggestion donation.

sip

Here’s how it works:

  • Round 1 – Sippers-N-Scribers are given the first half of a creative writing prompt and start writing.
  • Round 2 – Everyone trades papers with a partner and, inspired by the second half of the writing prompt, continues working on the piece the first person started.
  • Intermission – Drinking is not required but beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase along with light snacks and pastries.
  • Round 3 – One last trade, plus a TWIST to finish the piece with style.

At the end of the session, people are encouraged to share the writing they co-created. The first two brave souls to share win a cookie! The goal is to experiment with something new on the page in an informal, relaxed way, all while hanging out with your friends and hopefully making new ones.

No one is here to write the next Great American novel. But hey, if that happens, please include us in the special thanks!

 

*What is Queens Writes Weekend? It’s a fun, three-day event organized by and benefitting Newtown Literary Alliance, Inc., a nonprofit organization which publishes the semiannual literary journal Newtown Literary, dedicated to supporting and promoting the work of Queens writers. Queens Writes Weekend is about getting the people of our borough to write, whether they are professional writers, hobbyists, or complete newcomers to writing. The literary scene in Queens is thriving and this weekend-long event serves to bring together the community yet again to celebrate writing, reading, and the written word. Visit newtownliterary.org for more info. Click here for a full calendar of events.

 

May 12, 2016 Post Comment News Tags: , , ,

Literary Bar Crawl Anyone?

No, YOU Tell It! is excited to be part of the first ever Q-Boro Literary Crawl this Thursday, April 7th in Long Island City. Buy your tickets here. They are $10 more on site, so get them in advance!

Our venue is Manducatis Rustica: Pizza! Wine! Switched-up STORYTELLING from these fine folks. What could be better?? Click here to learn more about the participating No, YOU Tell It! alums.

NYTI at LIC

April 5, 2016 Post Comment News Tags: , , ,

Telling Your True-Life Tale Workshop

Sign up for a Six-Week Creative Nonfiction Writing Workshop

with No, YOU Tell It! Creator & Producer Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons

 March 30 – May 4 from 7-9pm in Manhattan – OR – April 3 – May 8 from 2-4pm in Astoria

KJ Fitzsimmons.photo by Gili Getz

 

What is this workshop all about? Working on a memoir? Thinking about a one-person show? Want to get that story that always kills at your local bar down on paper? Or, craft an idea into a publishable personal essay? Perfect!

The emphasis is on generating and revising nonfiction work. Each week, participants will explore new literary techniques, discuss published work, do in-class writing games, and critique each other’s material. At the end of the workshop, there will be a group reading (for those wishing to participate) at a local bookstore, bar, or café.

Who am I? I am an award-winning essayist, and work as a writing instructor in Fairleigh Dickinson University’s College Writing Program and teach creative writing workshops at The Astoria Bookshop. I also produce No, YOU Tell It!, a “switched-up” storytelling series dedicated to performing true-life tales with a twist: Each NYTI participant develops their own story on the page and then flips scripts with a partner to present each other’s story on stage. Click here to read a spotlight interview with me about the series.

Who do I work with? Taking what I’ve learned from producing No, YOU Tell It!, as well as teaching at FDU and The Astoria Bookshop, I designed this workshop for anyone who wants to explore various ways to shape their true-life tale on the page.

I have worked with all kinds of writers — college students, playwrights, screenwriters, short fiction writers, songwriters, poets, monologists, and essayists — and what unites them all is a willingness to experiment and expand how they think about crafting their personal experience into an impactful written piece.

Class size is limited to 6 participants, and there are two sessions to choose from:

  • Session I: Wednesdays, March 30th to May 4th from 7-9pm at an office space in Manhattan, on Lafayette near Astor Place.
  • Session II: Sundays, April 3rd to May 8th from 2-4pm at my apartment in Astoria, near 37th/Broadway. Note: I have a cat, in case you are allergic.

Price: $175 for 6 sessions, plus group reading – date/time TBD.

Email me at kjfitzsimmons@gmail.com with questions or CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP.

March 1, 2016 2 comments News Tags: , ,
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