Megan Stielstra
www.meganstielstra.com
meganstielstra@gmail.com                                                          

EDUCATION
MFA in Creative Writing, Columbia College Chicago, 2000
Concentration in the Teaching of Writing
Follett Fellowship for Fiction Writing
BA in Creative Writing, Columbia College Chicago, 1997

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
Teaching
Lecturer, Creative Nonfiction, Litowitz Graduate Creative Writing Program, Northwestern University, winter 2022
Lecturer, MFA in Prose and Poetry, School of Professional Studies, Northwestern University, 2014-present
Artist in Residence, Creative Nonfiction, Department of English, Northwestern University, 2016-2019
Lecturer, Committee on Creative Writing, University of Chicago, 2003-2013
Adjunct Faculty, Department of English & Creative Writing, Columbia College Chicago, 2000-2013

Online Teaching
Core Faculty, Creative Nonfiction, StoryStudio Chicago, spring 2020-present
Faculty, Memoir, Catapult, spring 2020-present

Editorial
Mentor Editor, The OpEd Project, spring 2020-present

Administrative
Associate Director, Center for Innovation in Teaching Excellence, Columbia College Chicago, 2012- 2015
Assistant Director, Center for Teaching Excellence, Columbia College Chicago, 2008-2012
Founding Director of Story Development, 2nd Story Storytelling Collective, 2003-2013

HONORS
Civic Media Fellowship, MacArthur Foundation via the Annenberg Innovation Lab, University of
Southern California, 2020-present
Shearing Fellowship, Creative Nonfiction, Black Mountain Institute/The Believer, Las Vegas, 2020
Lit 50 list of “movers & shakers in Chicago Literature,” Newcity Magazine, 2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2011
Faculty Honor Roll as selected by the undergraduate student body, Northwestern University, 2019-2020
2019 Story of the Year Award, Chicago Review of Books, December 2019
Ragdale Arts Foundation Fellowship, 2019, 2015 & 2012
2017 Book of the Year Award in Nonfiction, Chicago Review of Books, December 2017
Selected, Best American Essays 2013, ed. Cheryl Strayed, October 2013
Finalist, 3Arts Teaching Artist Award, 3Arts, Chicago, 2010

PUBLICATIONS
Books
The Wrong Way to Save Your Life, essay collection, Harper Perennial, August 2017
Book of the Year Award, Nonfiction, Chicago Review of Books, December 2017
Best Books of 2017, Chicago Public Library, December 2017
Best Books of 2017, Chicago Magazine, December 2017
Best Books of 2017, Chicago Tribune, December 2017

Once I Was Cool, essay collection, Curbside Splendor 2014
—reprint: Northwestern University Press 2021
Top Ten Books of 2014, Roxane Gay for Salon, December 2014
Best Books of 2014, Chicago Magazine, December 2014

Everyone Remain Calm, short fiction collection, Joyland/ECW Press, 2011
—reprint: Northwestern University Press 2021
2011 Favorites, Chicago Tribune, January 2012                      
Editor’s Pick, Best New Chicago Books, CBS Chicago, January 2012

Editorial
Stories From 2nd Story, personal essay anthology, Elephant Rock Books, November 2012

Selected Anthologies
“No Room for Fear,” Burn It Down, ed. Lilly Dancyger, Seal Press, October 2019
“Michigan and Harrison,” The Chicago Anthology, ed. Martha Bayne, Belt Publishing, September 2019
“Stop Reading and Listen,” Mixtape, ed. Amanda LeDuc, Little Fiction/Big Truths, fall 2016
“The Build Up To and Takeaway From,” Sex & Love, ed. Jennifer Niesslein, Full Grown People, fall 2015
“Felt Like Something,” LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER, ed. Ann Imig, Putnam Books, April 2015
“Channel B,” Best American Essays, ed. Cheryl Strayed, Mariner Books, October 2013”
“SO MUCH FUN,” Stories of Living Online, ed. Shawn Syms, Enfield & Wizenty, September 2013

Selected Essays
“There I Will Read You,” Los Angeles Review of Books, forthcoming spring 2021
“5:45,” khôra, November 2020
“We Make Homes,” Gay Magazine, February 2020
“We Are All We Have,” Longreads, December 2019
“An Axe for the Frozen Sea,” The Believer, September 2018
“Here is My Heart,” Longreads, April 2018
“On Awareness,” Tin House, September 2017
“This Essay is Done,” Lit Hub, August 2017
“You’ll Feel a Pinch: Birth Control to Outlast a Presidency,” Catapult, July 2017
“Midwestern Nice—Unless You’re a Dick,” Chicago Reader, June 2017
“This Election Will Kill Me,” Buzzfeed Reader, November 2016
“What Should Chicago Celebrate,” New York Times, December 2015
“Stand Here to Save Lives,” Guernica, November 2015
“Texts from Strangers,” New York Times, May 2015
“Nobody’s Favorite Favorite,” New York Times, February 2015
“What Would You Grab in a Fire,” New York Times, January 2015
“The Build Up to and Takeaway From,” The Butter/The Toast, August 2015
“Wake the Goddamn World,” The Rumpus, April 2014
“Channel B,” The Rumpus, November 2012
“Felt Like Something,” f Magazine, September 2012

Selected Short Fiction
“Magna Comes Loudly,” Hypertext Review, fall 2018
“Shot to the Lungs and No Breath Left,” Coachella Review, summer 2016
“One-One Thousand, Two-One Thousand, Three,” PANK, January 2013
“I am the Christmas Spirit,” MAKE Magazine, October 2012
“Incredible,” Joyland, September 2012
“You Loved Never I,” Bluestem, May 2012
“The Flood,” The Nervous Breakdown, November 2011
“Times Are Tough All Over,” Monkeybicycle, summer 2011
“Missed Connection,” Swink, winter 2008

Selected Creative Writing Craft and Pedagogy
“On Reading Aloud,” Poets & Writers, June 2017
“On Endings,” Poets & Writers, June 2017
“We Get to Make a Mess,” Poets & Writers, May 2017
“Run On,” Poets & Writers, May 2017
“Before Craft, or Hug Your Independent Bookseller,” Poets & Writers, May 2017
“On Memory, With Soundtrack,” Poets & Writers, May 2017
“Stand Here to Save Lives,” Guernica, November 2015
“An Essay About Essays,” Hypertext, February 2014
“A Room of One’s Own in the Middle of Everything,” The Rumpus, August 2012

Selected Audio Essays
“What the Desert Teaches,” Black Mountain Radio, spring 2021
“On Hope,” To the Best of Our Knowledge, National Public Radio, April 2019
The Wrong Way to Save Your Life, audiobook, Harper Perennial, summer 2017
“Channel B,” Snap Judgment, National Public Radio, November 2016 & January 2015
“Channel B,” The Longest Shortest Time, New York Public Radio, March 2016 & October 2014"
“Channel B,” Radiotonic, Radio National Australia, October 2015 & September 2014
“I Asked the Guy Why Are You So Fly,” Chicago Public Radio, October 2011

FILM
“Channel B,” script adaptation of my essay for short film, produced by Cap Gun Collective, 2021

PERFORMANCE
2nd Story
Personal narrative storytelling nonprofit featuring 35+ performances annually, in-house story development process, collaboration with area theatre directors and live musicians, monthly podcast averaging 50,000 listeners, acclaimed print anthology, and active educational component serving community organizations, universities, and K-12 institutions interested in literary craft and literacy through oral storytelling.
Company Member, 2003-present
Featured Performer, 2003-present
Teaching Artist, 2003-present
Founding Director of Story Development, 2003-2013

The Paper Machete
Weekly live news magazine responding to current cultural and political events in essays, comedy, music and performance at The Green Mill. Podcast with WBEZ.
Staff writer, 2012-present

Selected Performance/Storytelling
Everyone Remain Calm with Grammy-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird, August 2021
Seven Deadly Sins with free jazz saxophonist Dave Rempis, Ada Street, Chicago, August 2019
Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, September 2016
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, January 2015
Stories & Symphonies with the Lakeview Symphony Orchestra, Chicago, December 2013
The Gift Theatre, Chicago, October 2012
Theater on the Lake, Chicago, July 2012
Victory Gardens Theatre, Chicago, May 2012
American Theatre Company, Chicago, January 2011
Baghdad Theatre, Portland, October 2009
Looptopia, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, March 2008
No Love for Love, Chicago Poetry Center, February 2007
Neo-Solo Solo Performance Festival, Neo-Futurarium, Chicago, 2006

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTEREST
Creative Writing, Creative Nonfiction and Fiction; Reading as a Writer; Oral and Written Composition; Memoir; Memoir-in-Essay; Form of the Essay; Hybrid Forms; Novel-in
Stories; Writing & Performance; Writing and Social Justice; Teaching of Writing; Engaged Pedagogy; Online Teaching.

COURSES TAUGHT
Northwestern University
Creative Nonfiction: graduate workshops with an emphasis on close reading, explication and critical writing, imitation and modeling, and original creative work; Department of English, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, winter 2022; MFA in Poetry & Prose, School of Professional Studies, 2014-present

Creative Nonfiction Sequence: a year-long, application-based workshop towards the undergraduate Creative Writing Major, including close reading, explication and critical writing, imitation and modeling, and original creative work; Department of English, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, 2016-2019

Reading and Writing Creative Nonfiction: undergraduate introductory seminar on reading and writing the multiple forms of the essay including both classic and contemporary texts, 2016-2019

University of Chicago
Creative Writing: devised and developed submission-based workshops at the undergraduate level. Extensive focus on craft and reading & writing processes to influence students’ creative problem solving techniques and understanding of literary context, Committee on Creative Writing, 2003-2013
Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Fiction Seminars
Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Nonfiction Seminars
Thesis Seminar
Form of the Essay
Memoir
Story & Performance

Columbia College Chicago
Creative Writing: graduate and undergraduate workshops experienced stand-alone or sequentially. Emphasis on literary craft and the creative process, exploring voice, imagery, point-of-view, structure, and audience, Department of Creative Writing, 2000-2014
Advanced Fiction
Prose Forms/Creative Nonfiction
Fiction II
Fiction I
Introduction to Fiction

Literature/Critical Reading and Writing (CRW): undergraduate and graduate level literature courses for writers focusing on literary craft and reading & writing processes to influence students’ creative problem-solving, Department of Creative Writing, 2000-2014
CRW: The Short Story
CRW: Novel-in-Stories
CRW: Fiction Writers I/ Introduction to Critical Reading and Writing
CRW: Kafka (Study Abroad, Prague, summers 2003 & 2004)

Story & Performance: personal narrative storytelling courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels examining the intersection of literary and theatrical craft including audience, narrative structure and voice, Departments of Creative Writing and Theatre, 2011-2014

Story & Image: co-developed and co-taught college-wide undergraduate capstone courses where students across the disciplines explore civic responsibility and vocational possibility through text and community engagement, Senior Seminar Department, 2001-2004

ONLINE COURSES TAUGHT
Long-term workshops
Memoir Generator, an application-based year-long workshop supporting 10 writers towards the development of a full-length memoir, Catapult, 2020-2022
Essay Collection in a Year, an application-based workshop supporting 10 writers towards the development of a full-length collection, StoryStudio Chicago, 2020-2022

Short-term workshops
Urgency and the Personal Essay, 6-week workshop on personal narrative as a contribution to our current cultural dialogue, Black Mountain Institute, fall 2020
Writing Through Fear, month-long writing workshop through the Cindy Bandle Young Critics Program, Goodman Theatre, July 2020
Urgency and the Personal Essay, 6-week workshop on personal narrative as a contribution to our current cultural dialogue, StoryStudio Chicago, spring & summer 2020
Urgency and the Personal Essay, 6-week workshop on personal narrative as a contribution to our current cultural dialogue, The Porch Literary Center, summer 2020
The World Needs Your Voice, month-long workshop demystifying the publishing practice, 2nd Story, summer 2020
Online Writers Group, 8-week multi-genre workshop, Graham School of Liberal and Professional Studies, University of Chicago, 2019-2020

GUEST LECTURES
Essay Generator, Catapult, January 2021
Department of English, College of Southern Nevada, September 2020
Department of English & Creative Writing, Columbia College Chicago, March 2020
Sturm Writer in Residence, Creative Nonfiction, West Virginia University, October 2019
Department of English, DePaul University, September 2019 & October 2018
Visiting Nonfiction Writer, Department of English, Ohio University, December 2018
Guest Faculty, Creative Nonfiction, University of California Riverside, December 2017
ChiArts High School, Chicago, November 2017
Writers Read, College of DuPage, IL, November 2017
Department of English, University of Southern California, October 2017
Department of English, Northeastern Illinois University, July 2017
Knight Lab, Northwestern University, February 2017
English Department, Concordia University, Chicago, October 2016
Department of English, Loyola University, Chicago, April 2016
Visiting Writer, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI, February 2016 & 2015
Art & Activism, English Department, Columbia College Chicago, per semester 2013-2015
Theatre Department, Lake Forest College, January 2015
Department of Physics, Northwestern University, February 2014
Lions in the Winter, Eastern Illinois University, January 2012

COMMUNITY TEACHING
2nd Story
I design and facilitate curriculum for 2nd Story, a storytelling company focusing on the integration of writing and performance. We collaborate with local theaters, universities, K-12 public schools, and community organizations offering 2, 4, and 8-hour workshops as well as semester-long courses based on the needs of the organization, institution, or department, 2003-present
Finalist, 3Arts Teaching Artist Award, 3Arts, Chicago, 2010

Related Experience
Playbuild, 8-week program for high school students to develop writing skills through the context of general theatre studies, Goodman Theatre, summers 2009 & 2008
Arts Integration Mentorship Program (Project AIM), year-long program partnering with Chicago Public School Center for Community Arts Partnerships, 2002-2004

EDITORIAL
The OpEd Project

A community of journalists, writers and activists who proactively share skills, knowledge and connections across color, class, age, ability, gender, orientation, and beyond. The OpEd Project elevates the ideas and knowledge of underrepresented expert voices and accelerates solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
Mentor Editor/Fellowship Coach, spring 2020-present

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
Center for Innovation in Teaching Excellence, Columbia College Chicago
Faculty Development Center supporting learner-centered teaching by challenging faculty to become more informed, confident, creative, and reflective. The CITE provides leadership in innovative technologies and pedagogies that enhance teaching and learning across the curriculum and fosters excellence by providing the space and opportunity for collaboration and experimentation.
Associate Director of Faculty Development, 2012-2015
Assistant Director, 2008-2012

Strategic Initiatives
CITE Strategic Planning – with merger of Center for Instructional Technology and Center for Teaching Excellence in 2011-2012, established vision and goals in a collaborative process with CITE staff.
CITE Fellowship Program – support and administrate a comprehensive range of technology and pedagogy fellowships and developed mandatory Fellows Retreat in collaboration with CITE staff.
Department-Specific Initiatives – relationship-building with chairs and key faculty to increase CITE's collaborative partnership with departments in curriculum and faculty development.

College-wide Faculty & Instructional Development Programs—Designed and Delivered
New Faculty Orientation, with CITE staff – Day-long programs for all new full- and part-time faculty to introduce them to the culture and resources of the college.
Fellowship Retreats, with CITE staff– Day-long programs for recipients of CITE’s various fellowships including Online Teaching, Innovation, Cross-Curricular Collaboration, and Community Engagement.
Professional DevelopmentFest, with Soo La Kim, CITE Director – Day-long programs focused on teaching materials for the academic job market: CVs, Cover Letters, and Statements of Teaching Philosophy.
Instructional DevelopmentFest, with Lott Hill, CITE Executive Director – Day-long programs focused on student identity and creating inclusive classrooms spaces.
What the Best Columbia College Teachers Do/ What the Best Columbia College Teachers Do Online –Four-part workshop series on best practices in teaching based on Ken Bain’s research/ adapted as a hybrid online workshop series with David Noffs, Instructional Technologist.
Teaching to Transgress – monthly, ongoing discussion series on diversity and inclusion and identity in the classroom, based on bell hooks’ Teaching to Transgress.
Visual Literacy, with Corinne Rose, Education Manager of the Museum of Contemporary Photography – ongoing workshops series utilizing the museum’s collection and present exhibitions to introduce faculty to visual literacy with discussion as to how this work adapts to their specific disciplines.
Community in the Classroom – Workshop series facilitating activities aimed fostering inclusive classroom spaces; adapted as community-building jumpstarts for multiple CITE programs including High School Summer Institute retreats, Full-time Faculty retreats, orientations, and CITE team development.
Cross-Collaboration Series, with Ashley Kennedy, Digital Media Technologist – Two-part workshop series examining the different aspects of collaborative teaching, along with best practices. Serves as preparation for the Cross-Collaborative Teaching Fellowships.
All Faculty Collaboration Meet’n’Greet – Per-semester “speed dating” event allowing cross-discipline faculty to meet, and share artistic, professional, and pedagogical goals towards the aim of collaboration.
Course Design, with Soo La Kim, CITE Director – Workshop series focused on learning objectives, backwards-planning, classroom models, and syllabus design.
Beyond I Like It: Critique Methods in the Classroom series, with Soo La Kim– Workshop series modeling critique and feedback methods and activities, adaptable across disciplines.

Department-specific Development Programs—Designed and Delivered
Art + Design – Foundations curriculum redesign and facilitation of hands-on retreats to support faculty in learning and assessing the new curriculum, and development of the Teaching Commons.
Media Communications – Community-building and strategic planning for the newly merged Departments of Advertising, Marketing Communications & Journalism.
Marketing Communications – All-faculty workshops in student-centered pedagogy.
Business & Entrepreneurship – Foundations curriculum redesign and facilitation of hands-on retreat.
Audio Arts + Acoustics – student engagement; program learning outcomes; development of a sustainable structure and process for ongoing part-time faculty development.
Cinema Art + Science – Foundations curriculum redesign and facilitation of hands-on retreats to support faculty in learning and assessing new curriculum; critique methods in the classroom.
Photography – Foundations curriculum redesign and facilitation of hands-on retreats to support faculty in learning and assessing the new curriculum.
Interactive Arts & Media – Community-building; ethics in the classroom.
College Advising Department – Community-building; advisors as teachers.

Consultations
One-on-one peer review, classroom observations, and individualized feedback for full- and part-time faculty in instructional and professional development.

Related Experience
High School Summer Institute: Faculty Development and Orientation for Columbia College Chicago’s High School Summer Institute arts faculty, Chicago, IL, summers 2012-2014
American Photography & Literacy: Professional Development Series for Chicago Public School Teachers, Museum of Contemporary Photography & The Terra Foundation, Chicago, IL, 2013
Storytelling for Professional Teacher Development, Goodman Theater, Chicago, IL, winter 2009

PRESENTATIONS & CONFERENCES
Selected Invited Talks
Door County Literary Festival, September 2021
YWCA Berkeley/ Oakland's 2021 Festival of Women Authors, February 2021
Urgency & the Personal Essay, Storystudio Lit Festival, October 2020
Writing Through Fear, Quarantine Book Club, March 2020
ORD Camp, an annual two-day, invitation-only gathering of “the best minds to spark new ideas and spread old ideas,” sponsored by Google, January 2012-2020
Cindy Bandle Young Critics, Goodman Theatre, April 2019
Tea and Talk, Ragdale Foundation, March 2019
Humanities Plunge, annual discussion of contemporary Chicago literature with poet Parneshia Jones for the Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, Northwestern University, 2016-2019
“Sprung from Necessity: On Play and Urgency,” Chautauqua Institute, July 2018
Novel Affair, Ragdale Foundation, April 2018
Society of Midland Authors, Cliff Dweller’s Club, October 2017
Book Fest St. Louis, September 2017
Keynote, Northwestern University Summer Writers’ Conference, August 2017 & 2014
TEDx, Columbia College Chicago, April 2015
Printer’s Row Lit Festival, June 2014
Story Week Festival of Writers, March 2014

Selected Readings
Rumpus/melissa/kaveh
Corporeal Writing, November 2020
Chautauqua Writer’s Festival, June 2019
702WI, October 2018
Cabinet of Wonders, City Winery New York, September 2018
Literary Legacies, American Writers Museum, Chicago, IL, June 2018
Wordstock Lit Fest, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR, November 2017
Nasty Women Live, Wilson Abbey, Chicago, IL, October 2017
Chicago Independent Radio Project, Martyrs’, Chicago, IL, October 2017 & 2013
Writers Resist, a day of worldwide simultaneous events co-sponsored by PEN America that challenge writers to organize to reclaim democracy, Chicago/Evanston, IL, January 2017
Poets & Writers Live, Instituto Cervantes, Chicago, IL, June 2015
Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL, June 2015
Guild Literary Complex, Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL, March 2015
Sanibel Island Writer’s Conference, Sanibel, FL, November 2014
Independent Bookstore Day, Powell’s, Chicago, IL, July 2014
Nantucket Book Festival, Nantucket, MA, June 2014
Opening for The Jesus Lizard, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL, March 2014
World Book Night, Women & Children First Bookstore, Chicago, IL, April 2013
Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL, April 2013
Humanities Festival, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, October 2012
Wordstock Literary Festival, Portland, OR, October 2012
Story Week Festival of Writers, Martyrs’, Chicago, IL, March 2012 & March 2008
The F***ing Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel release and benefit for Young Chicago Authors & Louder Than a Bomb, The Hideout, Chicago, IL, September 2011
Printer’s Row Lit Fest, Chicago, IL, June 2010
Literary Death Match (I won!), The Hideout, Chicago, IL, 2009

Selected Workshops/Seminars
Introductory Intensive, 3-hour preparatory workshop on equity and citizenship for participants of the Chautauqua Literary Festival, Chautauqua Institute, June 2021 & 2019
Humanities Without Walls, day-long visioning workshops opening and closing an annual three-week program for cross-discipline PhD students to imagine and explore professional futures outside of the academy, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago, IL, summers 2021-2015
Professional Development for online writing teaches, The Porch Literary Center (online), September 2020
Humanities Without Walls, day-long workshop for graduate students to imagine and explore professional futures outside of the academy, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, May 2019
We Get to Make a Mess, 4-hour masterclass, StoryStudio Chicago, October 2019
Personal Essay, 2-hour workshop, StoryStudio Writers Festival, October 2019
This Northwestern Life, personal narrative storytelling workshop for students towards the development of audio storytelling modeled on This American Life, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, April 2019
Creative Nonfiction, week-long workshop series & weekend intensive, Chautauqua Institute, June 2018
Community Building as Pedagogical Practice, Diversity, Equity and Student Success Conference, Association of American Colleges & Universities, San Diego, CA, March 2018 & 2015
Creative Nonfiction workshop, 826 Literary Center, Chicago, IL, February 2018
Creative Nonfiction workshop, Sanibel Island Writer’s Conference, Sanibel, FL, November 2017 & 2014
Community Building as Pedagogical Practice, Bringing Theory to Practice, Chicago, IL, May 2017
Creative Nonfiction workshop, ChiTeen Lit Fest, spring 2017 
Community Building as Pedagogical Practice, Imagining America, Baltimore, MD, October 2015
Performance in the Writing Process, Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL, July 2015
Writing the Personal Essay, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, January 2015
Writing the Personal Doc, #docyourworld Doc Festival, Columbia College Chicago, April 2014
Creating the Commons, College Art Association Conference, Chicago, IL, February 2014
Innovation: You Don’t Need an App for That, The Annual Meeting of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, Washington D.C., January 2014
Follow the Learning: Student Centered Pedagogy, SXSWedu, Austin, TX, March 2013
Performance for Writers, Wordstock Literary Festival, Portland, OR, October 2012
Image, Implication and Integration, Imagining America, Seattle, WA, September 2010
Taking the Stage: A Celebration of Women in Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, April 2009
Binary Opposites, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA, October 2006
Gender & Writing in Education, National Association of Writing in Education, London, June 2005

Selected Public Conversations
with Lyz Lenz, Writers and Books, March 2021 (online)
with Samantha Irby, The Believer, December 2020 (online)
with Esme Weijun Wang, The Believer, November 2020 (online)
with Maggie Smith, Family Action Network, October 2020 (online)
with Samantha Irby, Women and Children First, April 2020 (online)
with Samantha Irby, Mission Creek Literary Festival, March 2020 (postponed to March 2021)
with Leslie Jamison, Chicago Humanities Festival, November 2019
with Rebecca Traister, Department of Women & Gender Studies, Loyola University, November 2019
with Chelsea Handler, Orpheum Theatre, April 2019
with Jessica Hopper, Women and Children First, September 2018
with Porochista Khakpour, Women and Children First, August 2018
with Roxane Gay, City Winery Chicago, June 2017
with Melissa Broder, Women and Children First, May 2018
with David Ulin, The Last Bookstore, Los Angeles, September 2017
with Thrity Umigar, Printer’s Row Lit Festival, June 2017
with Amber Tamblyn, Printer’s Row Lit Festival, June 2015
with Cheryl Strayed, Chicago Humanities Festival, October 2014

Selected Panels
“Highs and Lows of Publishing,” keynote panel with Vu Tran, Amina Gautier, Nadine Kenney-Johnstone and James Klise, StoryStudio Festival of Writers, Chicago, October 2019
“World History, Personal History, and Other Coopted Narratives,” with Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, Anita Powell and Christie Towers, Chautauqua Writer’s Festival, Chautauqua Institute, New York, June 2019
“This is Scary and Here We Go,” with Kiese Laymon, Porochista Khakpour, Michele Filgate and Wendy C. Ortiz, Associated Writing Programs, Tampa, FL, March 2018
“Writers on Live Performance,” with Fatimah Asghar, C. Russell Price and Wendy C. Ortiz, Associated Writing Programs, Tampa, FL, March 2018
“Writing Wounds,” with Melissa Febos and Kaveh Akbar, Wordstock, Portland, November 2017
“Women of the Essay,” with Christina Chocana and Amanda Fortini, Vegas Book Festival, October 2017
“Best of 2017,” with Rebecca Makkai, Lindsay Hunter and Juan Martinez, Lit Crawl, September 2017
“Writers on Fear,” with Carmen Maria Machado, Michele Filgate, Alice Anderson, Julia Fierro, and Pascale Kramer, Red Ink, Powerhouse Arena, New York, September 2017
“Burning Down the Walls: The Art of Essays That Change the World,” with Jamia Wilson and Allison Wright, Associated Writing Programs, Los Angeles, CA, March 2016 
“Beyond Lolita: Writers on Sex and Sexuality,” with Luis Urrea, Audrey Niffeneger, and Rachel DeWoskin, national series benefitting the PEN/America Emergency Fund, Chicago, November 2015
“Page on Stage,” with Lindsay Hunter and Parneshia Jones, Poets & Writers Live, Chicago, June 2015
“Fail Better: On Failure,” with Roxane Gay, Rebecca Makkai, Dean Bakopolous, and M. Molly Backes, Associated Writing Programs, Minneapolis, MN, April 2015
“Stranger Than Fiction: The Personal Essay in the Age of the Internet,” with Wendy C. Ortiz, Ben Tanzer, and Jamie Iredell, Associated Writing Programs, Minneapolis, MN, April 2015
“Memoir & Fiction,” with Amina Gaultier, Patricia Ann McNair, and Garnett Kilberg Cohen, Story Week Festival of Writers, Harold Washington Library, Chicago, March 201
“Writing the Personal Essay,” with Lee Zacharias, Southern Festival of Books, Nashville, October 2014
“Page to Stage,” with Stacey D’Erasmo and Wesley Stace, Nantucket Book Festival, MA, June 2014
“Performance in the Teaching of Writing,” with Amanda Delheimer, SK Kerastas, and Sage Morgan Hubbard, Associated Writing Programs, Chicago, March 2012
“Audience Experience,” with Amanda Delheimer, Theatre Communications Group, Chicago, June 2010
“Kafka, Melville, Gogol: Making Classic Literature Relevant to Developing Writers,” Illinois Association of Teachers of English Conference, IL, October 200
“Collaboration in the Classroom,” with Lott Hill, Associated Writing Programs, Baltimore, January 2003

SERVICE
University Service
Faculty Advisor, This Northwestern Life, oral storytelling series modeled on This American Life, Kaplan Center for the Humanities, Northwestern University, winter/spring 2019
Selection Committee, Writers in Residence, Department of English, Northwestern University, 2018-2019
Administrator, Cross-Curricular and Innovation Fellowships, Columbia College Chicago, 2013-2015
Member/Administrator, Excellence in Teaching Award Committee, Columbia College Chicago, 2010-2015
Faculty Advisor, Graduate Directed Study, Columbia College Chicago, spring & fall 2014
Faculty advisor, Memory House, student organization on memoir, University of Chicago, 2012-2013
Faculty Peer Observation, Department of Creative Writing, Columbia College Chicago, 2005-2013
Member, Teaching and Learning Committee, Columbia College Chicago, 2009-2010
Facilitator, Critical Encounters Teaching Colloquium, cross-departmental curriculum development for a college-wide initiative focusing on a global issue of concern connecting academic coursework with a year-long series of performances and conversations, Columbia College Chicago, 2008-2010
Thesis advisor, MAPH students on fiction & creative nonfiction theses, University of Chicago, 2003-2010
Member, First Year Seminar Teaching Academy, curriculum development for freshman seminar focusing on personal identity and cultural & community awareness, Columbia College Chicago, 2004-2005

Professional Service
Judge, River Teeth Book Prize, spring 2021
Selection Panel, 2020-2021 Tulsa Artist Fellowship, December 2019
Judge, Writer’s Studio Student Prize, Graham School, University of Chicago, September 2019
Judge, Inaugural Creative Nonfiction Award, Porch Literary Center, Nashville, TN, May 2019
Judge, AWP Intro Award in Creative Nonfiction, Purdue University, November 2017
Judge, Lois C. Bruner Creative Nonfiction Award, Western Illinois University, April 2017
Judge, Creative Nonfiction, High School Writer’s Competition, Hypertext Magazine, spring 2015
Nominating Committee, Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, spring 2014
Listen to Your Mother, storytelling for parents, Chiaravalle Montessori School, spring 2014
Juror, Third Coast International Audio Festival, summer 2006

Board Service
Advisory Board, Story Week Festival of Writers, an annual weeklong series of readings, conversations, and performances that celebrate the power of story, Chicago, 2012-2015

REFERENCES
Randall Albers, Chair Emeritus
Department of Creative Writing, Columbia College Chicago
312-420-4027
randall.albers@gmail.com

Rachel Jamison Webster, Director of Creative Writing
Department of English, Northwestern University
847-491-0894
r-webster@northwestern.edu

Lott Hill, Director
Center for Teaching and Learning, University of the Pacific
Formerly: Director, Center for Innovation in Teaching Excellence, Columbia College Chicago
773-349-6688
lotthill@gmail.com

Amanda Delheimer, Artistic Director
2nd Story
312-331-0425
amanda@2ndstory.com