Tag: Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons

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” 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: , , ,

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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