D through F

Kevin D'Ambrosio

Kevin D’Ambrosio grew up on the northshore of Massachusetts. He found some gray in his beard recently, so you could say he’s been in Chicago for a while. One might say that he sort of grew up here too, though. At the turn of century he studied at iO Chicago, Annoyance Theater and then later at The Artistic Home. At the Piven Theatre he helped to create a theatre games class for adults with developmental disabilities. As well as an actor, he is a stand up comedian, and storyteller. Having performed at Here, Chicago, Do Not Submit, Poetry's Love Letter, and Tell It From The Heart, he is quite excited to now share a story at This Much Is True. On the other side of his life Kevin works in construction management. Unfortunately, he is unable to help you construct a building, but he can point you in the right direction. Kevin is a co-host/co-producer of Second City's Sunday Morning Stories.

Margaret Daly

Margaret Daly is a cellist. In addition, she is fairly good-natured.

Krista Damico

Krista Damico grew up in Ohio, is an amateur philosopher, scientist, choral singer, and a third-generation Italian-American. She's now lived in Chicago over half of her life. She's told stories around the city at StoryLab, Story Sessions, The Sidesplitter, Loose Chicks, Serving the Sentence, Bring Your Own Diary, Is This a Thing?, Vino & Veritas, Gilead Chicago, Pour One Out, and Truth or Lie. Krista continues to figure out how to tell (and live) her stories and thanks you in advance for listening.

Julie Danis

Julie is a writer, storyteller, and former global marketing/advertising executive. Most recently she was part of Lifeline Theater’s 2024 Fillet of Solo Festival where she performed her solo show, Life's Too Short . . . and So Am I — a coming of middle-age story about a woman searching for her place in the world with the help of the Queen of Reinvention. Julie’s other credits include being a writer for the award-winning documentary film, The Girl Who Wore Freedom, contributing essays to Storyteller’s True Stories About Love. Volume I, by Chicago Writer’s Press, and Fast Fallen Women and Fast Famous Women, by Woodhall Press, telling stories at Second Story, Story Lab, & Story Club. As a business humorist, she wrote a Chicago Tribune column called "It's a Living", and contributed commentary to Marketplace radio. She’s done other things and has too many degrees and certificates. Her favorite professional title was Director of Mind & Mood.

Brittanny Davis

Brittany Davis has been working in Chicago as a professional actor since 1997. A graduate of the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Brittany has worked in numerous theaters around Chicago performing improv, in musicals, and independent films. Brittany also worked as a standardized patient in local medical schools. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Education. Brittany sends love and thanks to all of her friends and family for their support through the years. Her performance is dedicated to her parents, Shirley and Herman Sr. - I know you two are enjoying your permanent front row seats in heaven.

James Davisson

James Davisson is a native Chicagoan with almost no knowledge of the city he lives in, because he mostly stays at home. The main reason he has stories to tell is that his friends and relations drag him into the sunlight from time to time, or, more often, that he needs leave the house to make money. He tells a story every other week or so on his blog, The Library of Babel.

Jane deLaubenfels

Jane deLaubenfels is an actor, storyteller, and audiobook narrator based in Chicago. She has appeared in numerous stage productions over the past thirty-five years, at venues such as Lifeline, Stage Left, Remy Bumppo, Redtwist, and The Artistic Home. As a storyteller, Jane has written and performed original work for live audiences since 2011, collaborating frequently with 2nd Story. Jane recently narrated her first four audiobooks for Audible.

Janice Del Negro

Janice M. Del Negro, PhD, is a storyteller who excavates and decorates the bones of traditional folk and fairy tales as an invitation to others to do the same; her focus is reimagining traditional folktales to make them emotionally resonant for contemporary listeners. Del Negro has been a featured storyteller and presenter at the National Storytelling Conference, the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Northlands Storytelling Conference, the Mariposa Storytelling Festival, the National Storytelling Festival, the Moonshell Storytelling Festival, the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference, the Tejas Storytelling Festival, and many other celebratory events. Her book, Folktales Aloud: Practical Tips for Playful Storytelling was awarded a Storytelling World Resource Award in 2015. Her most recent title, Engaging Teens with Story: How to Inspire and Educate Youth with Storytelling (2017) received a Storytelling World Resource Award and was named SLC/ARBA’s “Best Professional Resource for School or Youth Librarians”. Her latest recording is Fortune’s Daughters: Ghost Tales and Folktales. In 2016 Del Negro received the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence Award, “presented to artists who are recognized by their peers to be master storytellers who set the standards for excellence and have demonstrated, over a significant period of time, a commitment and dedication to the art of storytelling.” Del Negro is a Professor at the Graduate School of Information Studies at Dominican University in

Lisa DeSantiago

Lisa DeSantiago is a non-formal educator of at-risk urban teens who works each day to live a life worth sharing stories about. She follows in the footsteps of her storytelling Jibaro ancestors, whose stories of resilience and survival offered her life lessons, love, and hope. She is a proud crone who feels that she has learned more through her travels and conversations than she has within the confines of accredited academic spaces. She is a purveyor of peace, who pictures herself in a hut on a Caribbean beach in a rocking chair facilitating peace circles and trading stories for cocoanuts, mangoes, and conversation.

Sybil Desta

Sybil Desta is a prominent Chicago based storyteller whose distinct voice emerged on the Los Angeles storytelling circuit in 1988. As a graduate of the University of Illinois, Chicago, she received solid preparation in the areas of education and instruction, which she seamlessly weaves into her tales. Desta has been associated with an impressive array of artistic organizations. She is the performer/writer on Vignette Multimedia’s video, “Afro Classic Folktales, Vol.1,” a delightful program in which she is featured with puppets and animation. She regularly performed and taught at the California Afro-American Museum and adds to her credit performances at Kidspace Museum, The Los Angeles Black Family Reunion, The 2nd and 3rd Annual literacy Fairs, Kidstuff Fair in Anaheim, Ca., The L. A. County Museum of Art, Barnsdall Art Park Theater, Watts Towers Art Center, The Los Angeles African Market Place, The Lotus Festival and the Festival of the Mask. Desta was featured in the UNICEF International Storytelling Festival in celebration of World Children’s Day at the refurbished L.A. Central Library, the “Take a Flying Leap” storytelling festival in Solvgang, Ca., and the “Solstice Festival” in Calabasas, CA. Desta performed in the Los Angeles Poetry Festival, Marla Gibb’s Memory Lane, The Skirball Museum, Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, Los Angeles Theater Center, numerous Universities, parochial and public schools, government agencies, religious and social organizations. Desta held membership in the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling (NAPPS), Talkers and Tellers Storytelling Ensemble featured at the House of Blues in Los Angeles and was a parent facilitator for the Language Development Program for African American Students with the Los Angeles Unified School District. As a member of Rice, Frijoles and Greens she performed at schools throughout the state of California and performed at Universities across the United States. Desta was seen regularly on KCOP-TV’s award winning “L.A Kids”, has graced programming on KCET-TV’s “Storytime”, BET’s “Telethon for a free South Africa” and many local cable and radio programs. Desta was a featured storyteller at the 2nd Annual World Storytelling Festival in Los Angeles.

Erin Diamond

Erin grew up in Arlington Heights and is a proud resident of Chicago's Northcenter neighborhood. After attending her first storytelling event last September (The Moth GrandSLAM), Erin was hooked! Recently, she left her rewarding but consuming job working in mental health in order to focus more on writing and performing. She is a die-hard Third Eye Blind fan...and she doesn't care who knows it!

Valerie DiMambro

Lady of Laughs. Storyteller. City dweller. Know nto few as the darling of the Gluten Free movement of South Jersey. Been described as funny... no but seriously. Newish to Chicago by way of New York City and Philadelphia, Valerie DiMambro is just a girl standing front of an audience telling stories and asking them to love her. www.valeriedimambro.com

Eileen Dougharty

When Eileen Dougharty isn’t handing out drinks, snacks, and snark to the flying public, she’s trolling Chicago in search of adventure. Eileen has performed with Story Sessions, You're Being Ridiculous, and 2nd Story and she has contributed her writing to Reader’s Digest, WBEZ's "Pleasuretown" podcast, and Consequence of Sound. She was also part of a recent TEDx talk about the power of storytelling and she’s thrilled to be part of This Much Is True.

Stephanie Douglass

Stephanie Douglass is a farmer, writer, actor, and activist, who divides her time between the soil and the stage. Over the past few years, Stephanie has built gardens in the Middle East, run food and compost toilet sanitation workshops in Ethiopia, and taught Mathematics and Film in Chicago’s alternative school system. She was head writer for OLN’s extreme sports show “Outside Magazine’s Ultimate Top Ten,” and is currently spreading the gospel of permaculture and developing nutrition projects for young mothers in Uganda. In New York, she is a co-founder of the award-winning theatre company The TEAM, and in Chicago, she performs with the ladies of Eleanor and tells stories. She recently won Chicago's Moth GrandSLAM, grows organic veggies amidst Illinois' corn-opoly with Growing Home.

Katie Dow

Katie is a preschool teacher who has been a writer but is now dabbling in storytelling. She has told stories at Story Club, Story Lab, Do Not Submit, 10x9 Chicago, Loose Chicks, Sidesplitter, and You're Being Ridiculous. She grew up in Minnesota but, aside from random stints backpacking the world, has spent her adult life in Chicago. Most of her free time is spent with her 3 pound Chihuahua, Mrs. Fezziwig. They're usually drinking wine and watching British reality TV.

Jeff Doyle

Jeff Doyle tells wild, funny and scary tales that will keep you on the edge of your seat! He developed his art telling stories around the family campfire to kids and now specializes in telling funny stories to adults and children. Besides being a professional storyteller Jeff also works as a professional home builder. He is also a father, a dreamer, an average guy who sometimes looks at things through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy. He takes great joy in finding stories and humor in everyday life and telling them in a relatable way that every audience member can laugh at. Jeff’s versatility is masterfully displayed on his CDs “Live at the Opera House: A Collection of Funny Stories for Adults” and “Cage Free: Life in the Neigborhood”. In these popular recordings, Jeff finds humor in the simple things, from camping with the family to baking cookies for Santa Claus.

Amber Drea

Amber Drea is a writer, editor, storyteller and record collector. She reports on the beverage alcohol and cannabis industries for Shanken News Daily and Market Watch magazine and has contributed to Jumble + Flow, Streetsblog.org, Spin.com, AM New York, and Chicago Magazine. Her storytelling has appeared on Queens Storytellers Online, Risk!, Mortified Live, Radio Free Brooklyn's Lost & Rewound and The Soundtrack Series, among others, and her fiction and creative nonfiction has been published by McSweeney's, Akashic Books, The Chicago Reader, Hypertext Magazine, and The2ndHand.com. She currently lives in the Chicago suburbs.

Suzy Lebowitz Dritz

Suzy Dritz moved to the south suburbs from the south side of Chicago when she was a junior in high school. Despite several attempts to move away, she still lives in Homewood with her husband and their two ugly dogs. They have three fabulous daughters and three adorable grandsons. By day, Suzy works at a mid-sized Chicago law firm as a legal secretary. She knits and fondles yarn in her spare time and is very excited to share one of her stories with you.

Duck & Goose (Musical Guests)

Duck and Goose is the homegrown indie-folk collaboration between Chicago-native Emily Claire Palmer and Alabama-native Charles Murphy. Having first met at a children’s theater camp, the two began performing around town last summer at farmers markets. A brief jaunt in the Northwest and a number of serendipitous events propelled them forward into the official creation of their two person band. They’ve been steadily gaining momentum all winter, performing at venues such as Uncommon Ground, Goose Island Brewery, and the Elbo Room. They’re ready and waiting for another musical summer to begin. Check out their videos at www.youtube.com/user/duckandgooseband, and visit them on Facebook here.

Nora Dunn

A cast member of Saturday Night Live in 1985 through 1991, the iconic show was Ms. Dunn’s first job on camera. The cast that returned with Lorne Michaels was considered the strongest ensemble since the shows original inception. She created memorable characters such as Liz Sweeney and Pat Stevens. Dunn spent three years on NBC’s night time drama, Sisters, playing opposite Swoosie Kurtz, and performed in such films as Working Girl, Miami Blues, How I Got Into College, The Last Supper, Runaway Jury, Bruce Almighty, Three Kings, Laws of Attraction, and It’s Complicated. She has appeared in way too many TV dramas as a lawyer, a madam, a judge, and recurs on Entourage as a therapist, which she enjoys. She has also appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm as an NBC executive though her salary was far from what an executive gets. She has two features coming out in the spring and summer, LOL with Demi Moore, and Frankie Go Boom, with Chris O’Dowd and Christopher Noth. Ms. Dunn is currently working on a one-woman show, Mythical Proportions. Her last one-woman show, Small Prey, was a critical success and ran for 16 weeks in Los Angeles in 1999. She is the author of a small book, Nobody’s Rib, published by Harper/Collins in 1991. Ms. Dunn supports unions, labor, collective bargaining, and prank phone calls. She has stopped drinking tea. It might be poisoned.

Molly Each

Molly Each is a Minnesota-born, Logan Square-based writer, editor and storyteller. She's a company member with 2nd Story, where she also serves as the Director of Publishing, and has appeared at local lit events such as RUI, Essay Fiesta and the Printer's Row Book Fair. She's currently the managing editor of Splash, the Sunday style magazine in the Chicago Sun-Times, and in her down time she can usually be found reading, writing, listening to the Beatles and dreaming of living in far-off lands.

Keith Ecker

Keith Ecker is the co-producer of Essay Fiesta, a monthly reading series that takes place at the Book Cellar every third Monday of the month. He is professional freelance writer and contributes regularly to the Huffington Post, the Chicago Theater Beat and the Onion’s A.V. Club. His comedic essays have been heard throughout Chicago at such shows as the Encyclopedia Show, Write Club, the Paper Machete, This Much Is True, Story Club, Orange Alert, P. Fanatics, Words That Kill, Stories at the Store, Tuesday Funk, Mortified and 2nd Story. He is a member of the Chicago Writers Association, the Chicago Story Collective and the Chicago Literary Alliance.

Eileen (Musical Guests)

Becky Poole and Christine Stulik formed "Eileen" in the dead of winter 2011 after meeting as cast mates in The Hypocrite's "Pirates of Penzance". They play murder ballads with a heroine's twist on banjo, saw, accordion and ukulele. With originals and tampered traditionals, Eileen attempts to shed a new light on this dark canon. They are currently working on a stage show incorporating their songs and the story of the Papin Sisters. www.facebook.com/weareeileen

Becky Eldridge

Becky Eldridge is a writer of musicals, vaudevillian acts and occasional flights of fancy. She performs improv comedy, currently at the fabulous LOL theatre in Schaumburg. She has taught at The Second City training center, and enjoys writing and reading and eating.

Jen Ellison

Jen Ellison is a writer, performer and director in Chicago. She has workedwithWNEPTheater, Trap Door Theatre, Collaboraction, The Neo-Futurists, The Process Theatre Group, and The Mammals. Ellison teaches Writing and Improv at DePaul University, The Second City, and Columbia College. She is also the creator of the funny-ish and sad-ish web comic The Comique, which can be found at www.the-comique.blogspot.com.

Aaron Elster

Aaron Elster is a child survivor of the Holocaust. He was born in 1933 in the small northeastern village of Sokolow-Podlaski in Poland. Aaron lived in the Sokolow Ghetto with his two sisters, mother and father until the liquidation of the ghetto in September, 1942. He escaped the liquidation and hid in various surrounding farms. Eventually, Aaron found refuge in the attic of a Polish family, where he hid for two years until the war's end. After the war Aaron lived in several orphanages throughout Poland, and eventually was smuggled out of Poland to various DP camps in West Germany. Aaron Elster and his sister came to the United States in June of 1947. He was educated in Chicago and served in the armed forces in Korea. Aron is married and has 2 sons and 3 grandchildren. He is an active member of the community, serving as Co-Chairman of the Speakers' Bureau and Vice President of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. Additionally, he serves as Chairman of the Speakers’ Bureau for the Hidden Children Association. He is the co-author of “I Still See Her Haunting Eyes,” which chronicles his Holocaust experiences. Aaron continues to speak extensively on the local, state and national level about his experiences and lessons of the Holocaust.

Bente Engelstoft

Bente Engelstoft is an actor, writer and comedian. She is a first generation American who owes her comedy to a lifetime of watching her Danish father and Mexican mother communicate in their second language. She has been improvising, writing and performing in Chicago for that last 7 years on the stages of Second City, iO Chicago and The Annoyance Theatre. When she's not performing, Bente spends her time teaching people how to pronounce her name. It's like "Brenda" without the R.

Debra Ehrhardt

At the tender age of seven, Kingston, Jamaica native, Debra Ehrhardt, knew her dream was to come to America. By 18, her dream was realized. She studied acting with Katherine Kerr from Playwrights Horizons and Suzanne Esper at the William Esper Studios in New York City. After honing her craft on the east coast she concluded that her tropical blood would never get used to the east coast winters. Los Angeles has been her home base for the past twenty years. Ehrhardt, who is "multi-racial," realized that the American directors were constantly confused as to how to cast her because she didn’t fit into their typical classifications such as black, white, Hispanic or whatever else came to mind. She began writing stories about her life experiences in Jamaica and her first production, award-winning Mango Mango, a one-woman show that she performed was nominated for four NAACP Theatre Awards, including Best Actress and Best Playwright. Ehrhardt’s second project, a play entitled Invisible Chairs was produced by David Strasberg at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre in Hollywood to rave reviews and later purchased as a situation comedy by Fox. She is currently touring all over the world with her solo show, JAMAICA FAREWELL and was named one of Jamaica's top ten news makers for 2010. She received a 2007 Proclamation from the City of New York for JAMAICA, FAREWELL for her "Outstanding Contribution to the Jamaican Community," and was also a 2007 NYC Fringe festival award-winner. In the Spring of 2010, Rita Wilson-Hanks optioned JAMAICA FAREWELL and produced it with Garry Marshall under the direction of Joel Zwick. For more information, please visit www.jamaicafarewelltheplay.com

Eth-Noh-Tec with Nancy Wang and Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo

Eth-Noh-Tec with Nancy Wang and Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo. Kinetic storytelling alchemists that blend theater with music, movement with words, and weave the traditional myths of Pan-Asian cultures and stirs them into magical myths with modern messages. Eth-Noh-Tec blends performance sensibilities East and West, with physical gestures, lyrical language, and storytelling that is unfound in either the Asian or American world, and yet implies a new style that is truly Asian American storytelling. In the treasure trove of Eth-Noh-Tec’s repertoire are many gems: a tale of Tibet heroine’s journey of compassion, a Hmong cautionary tale implicating Global Climate change, a Korean folk tale with a warning of racism and bigotry. Eth-Noh-Tec also adds the modern tales of their artist’s family biographies: the Chinese immigration to Monterey Californnia, a newly arrived Filipino girl finds refuge from taunting and bullying by consulting mythic Star Maidens. Storytelling is NOT a dying art- but indeed vital and relevant to all those who hunger for modern meaning that is both poignant and mirthful. This is the storytelling of Eth-Noh-Tec!

Jonathan Euseppi

Jonathan Euseppi is a stand-up comedian, storyteller, and improviser who performs his personal form of comedy all over Chicago. He has been seen at the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival as well as the long running showcase, Chicago Underground Comedy. He most recently completed a successful run of his one man show "Grief is Horny" at the iO Theater. You can regularly catch him improvising with the iO harold team, Big Tobacco.

Sean Ewert

Sean Ewert is a Chicago actor, writer and puppeteer. He has performed his stories at Story Lab, Links Hall,Oracle Productions "B" Sides and Reading Under The Influence. He has worked with Collaboraction, Von Orthal Puppets and The Chicago Mammals; recent credits include "The Anyway Cabaret" with TUTA Theatre (where he is a company member) and "The Walk Across America For Mother Earth" with Red Tape Theater/Steppenwolf Garage Rep. Sean is an avid traveler, taking his first airplane ride at three years old. Recent travels have taken him to the wilds of Iceland and the sacred hills around Budapest. He was the audience choice winner at Story CLub December 2015. Love to John and new dog rescue, Pilot.

Andrea Fain

Andrea has discovered that the power of the spoken word which can transport us to different places in time and space. Her voice invites you to travel with her on a journey. Her original poetry is sometimes woven into her storytelling. Her original poem "I Stand In Awe of Storytellers" is published in "Sayin Somethin" Stories from the National Assoc. of Black Storytellers. She has spent over 32 yrs. in the Chgo. Public School system. She is a former co-lead and facilitator for After School Matters, and works with children in her community. She is Vice-President of ASE, the Chicago Association of Black Storytellers,a member of ISI, NSN, and performs in venues all over the Chicago area.

Dorrie Ferguson

Founding member of This Much Is True

Dorrie Ferguson is a storyteller, improviser, animal enthusiast and recent pie baking competition champion. Dorrie is passionate about the power of stories to bring healing and connection. She stepped away from preforming to complete her doctorate in psychology, and she is delighted to return to her This Much is True roots.

Dan Finnen

Originally hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Dan has been telling stories since the days when his only actors were Legos. Dan is one of the owners of the video production company Polymyth, and also runs a website about vintage instant photography gear. He is a writer who has authored countless scripts, screenplays and short stories, and is currently hard at work on his first novel, Pharaoh of Chicago.

David Fink

David Fink is co-owner of The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, MI, producing and presenting world-class live entertainment. David has produced and presented a number of storytelling events at the Acorn including improvised storytelling competitions, prepared storytelling competitions, and a few storytelling shows, both series and one-offs. David also curates a monthly LGBTQ storytelling show in Chicago entitled OUTspoken! David coached, taught, judged, and performed storytelling with Indigan Storytellers at a workshop and storytelling festival in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico. David has told stories in a number of storytelling shows both in Three Oaks and in Chicago.
David has told stories on the stage at the Acorn Theater, in Storylab, Guts & Glory, San Miguel de Allende storytelling festival, Indigan Storytelling, and The Moth.

Sean Flannery

The easiest way to describe Sean Flannery is: he's attended the wrong wedding (twice). That mostly sums it up. On stage, he shares wild, hilarious stories, while showing multimedia from the events: photos, videos, voicemails and more. Last year he combined many of these stories into a sold-out, critically-acclaimed one man show, called "Never Been to Paris", about the last 10 times he nearly killed himself by accident. He is also the creator and host of "The Blackout Diaries" a show where comics plus 'real' people (cops, priests, teachers, etc) share true drinking stories and answer questions from the audience. Sean made his television debut this year on Comedy Central's new show "Mashup".

Mae Flores

Mae Flores is an award-winning Filipina-American actress turned advocate & speaker. She is well-known for her work in the sci-fi, independent cult classic, “Atlantis Down” and her LA-based philanthropic, independent music show, “Mae Flores Presents.” In 2013, Mae was awarded the highest honor in entertainment at the Filipino American Hall of Fame for her contribution to the arts and entertainment within her Filipino community. She was given an Honorary US Naval Membership to the USS Theodore Roosevelt active aircraft carrier and is commemorated annually in the the State of Virginia, where they declared October 3rd as “Mae Flores Pinay Day” as part of Filipino American National Heritage Month. Mae is a Goodwill Ambassador for various organizations like "Today I'm Brave". And in 2016, EuropeAid honored her as one of the Top 200 Women in the World Development Wall of Fame. Mae has spoken in various local and global events like United Nations Women in New York and was a feature TED speaker in 2017. She is the founder of "Light Me Up" a program which uses the power of movement, voice and music to show survivors how to use tools that they already have within themselves to find their own paths to healing. This program is one she has developed over the past few years during discussions with organizations she has met with during her invitations to the UN & UN Women.

Mary K. Fons

Mary K. Fons is a writer and performer. Her essay, "Madonna, Myself," was recently published in a collection by Soft Skull Press. Mary can be seen teaching people how to make quilts on PBS (seriously) and at HeyQuilty.com. Mary has been a Neo-Futurist since '06 and a whippersnapper since '80. For more info, check out maryfons.com.

Khanisha Foster

Khanisha Foster is a mixed race actress, writer, teaching artist, the Associate Artistic Director of 2nd Story and an ensemble member of Teatro Vista. She was a featured storyteller on NPR’s The Dinner Party, chosen for the Theatre Communication Group’s Young Leaders of Color 2009 and an artist exchange with the Citizen’s Theatre of Scotland in Glasgow. She is a Sarah Siddon’s Society Scholarship recipient and a two time finalist for the PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship. Her teaching artist work was honored by the White House. Her writing has been published with CellStories and podcast through 2nd Story, and published in the anthology Briefly Knocked Unconscious By a Low Flying Duck. She has performed with Teatro Vista, the Goodman Theatre, Steep Theater, and Collaboraction, among others. She can be seen in the film Chicago Boricua, official selection the Tribeca Film Festival, the Chicago Latino Film Festivals, and closing night selection for the New York Latino International Film Festival. She is the Live Events Producer for the Mixed Remixed Festival. Currently Khanisha is working on her memoir Heroin(e), several screenplays, and raising two daughters nine years apart. She enjoys a challenge.

Randy Ford

Randy Ford is the founder of First Story Strategies, which helps nonprofits find and tell the stories of the people whose lives they impact. He also helps people capture their stories to pass along as part of their family legacies. Randy is originally from Tennessee and has worked in journalism, politics and public relations in Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

Tracy Fowler

Tracy Fowler is a retired teacher and a self-proclaimed nerd. Teaching math and science to her students brought great satisfaction. But, what brought the greatest joy was developing students' abilities to express themselves through teaching the writing of personal narratives and poetry. When Tracy retired, she made a commitment to push her own writing skills by trying story storytelling.

Jozie Fox

Jozie Fox has not been seen on Saturday Night Live and has never won an Emmy or a Tony or an Oscar ….but she does know an Oscar and a Tony! She is carving out a space on stage, or shoving her way on. She’s small and doesn’t take up much space but likes to think her ideas are “phat.” Join Jozie on her journey through awkwardness and self-deprecating humor.

Matthew Gavin Frank

Matthew Gavin Frank was born and raised in Chicago. Bitten by the food, wine, and travel bug, he left home at age seventeen, embracing the vagabond lifestyle that often lent itself to work in the restaurant industry. He ran a tiny breakfast joint in Juneau, Alaska, worked the Barolo wine harvest in Italy’s Piedmont, sautéed hog snapper hung-over in Key West, designed multiple degustation menus for Julia Roberts’s private parties in Taos, New Mexico, served as a sommelier for Chefs Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand in Chicago, and assisted Chef Charlie Trotter with his Green Kitchen cooking demonstration at the Slow Food Nation 2008 event in San Francisco. He returned to academia and received his MFA in Poetry and Creative Nonfiction from Arizona State University. He taught creative writing to undergraduates in Phoenix, Arizona, and poetry to soldiers and their families near Fort Drum in upstate New York on the Canadian border.

Dennis Frymire

Dennis has been acting and performing here and there around Chicago since 2006. He’s been featured on Vocalo.org, and is a past winner of WNEP’s SKALD storytelling competition, and The Moth’s StorySlam. He’s also the resident director for Hubris Productions. Dennis recently gave himself the challenge of writing a piece of flash fiction everyday for 397 consecutive days, and you can read them at http://flash397.blogspot.com.

Gwynn Fulcher

Gwynn V. Fulcher is a writer/performer transplant from Maryland who has made Chicago her home for over a decade. She has written and performed with the Neo-Futurists where she is an Artistic Associate and has been published by Chicago Literati. She's a singer/songwriter and a recreational mathematician who really, really wants people to not be afraid of math. Gwynn has had the good fortune to read her stories and comic essays at several shows in the Chicago live lit community; she's performed at Printer's Row Lit Fest and Printer's Ball, she's a two-time WRITE CLUB champion, and has been a repeat performer at The Paper Machete, Guts & Glory (RIP) and Collector's Edition.

​Kevin D'Ambrosio