IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Workshop space is limited, so make sure you enroll ASAP. Read through all of the information on this page carefully so that you do not accidentally miss important information. You will receive a confirmation email from Ms. Nagel and a hallway pass to the workshop when your enrollment has been finalized. This year, workshops will be taking place in the Idea Center or room 258. Please do not be late! We want you to have the fullest experience possible, and that starts with your prompt arrival.
CLICK HERE FOR WORKSHOP SIGN-UP
TUESDAY WORKSHOPS
GNAT & CORKY
"A child who may go blind. A big sister who is a light catcher for her brother with special needs. An actor who loves to speak in puns. A boy from the Philippines who started the Happy Animals Club. These are a few of the stories in the Gnat & Corky Series that celebrates the spirit of children; all colors, all creeds, all abilities- in one collection that shows us just how alike we are, and how much our differences unite us." Photo & bio credit: gnatandcorky.com |
4th Hour
Location: Idea Center |
SAM WELLER
"Two-time Bram Stoker Award-winner. Authorized biographer of legendary writer Ray Bradbury. Energetic and engaging public speaker. Fiction and nonfiction writer. Sam is the former Midwest Correspondent for Publishers Weekly magazine. His personal essays have appeared in the Paris Review, on the National Public Radio Program All Things Considered, Slate magazine and others. He is a regular blogger for the Huffington Post. His short fiction has appeared in numerous books, anthologies, literary journals, and magazines." Photo & bio credit: samweller.net |
5th Hour
Location: Idea Center |
BLYTHE ROBERSON
"I'm Blythe Roberson. I'm a humorist. My work has been published by the New Yorker, The Onion, ClickHole, VICE Magazine, and others, and has been mentioned by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and New York Mag. I work as a researcher at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and I live in New York City, babyyyyy." Photo & bio credit: blytheroberson.com |
6th Hour
Location: Idea Center |
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOPS
J.W. BASILO
"J.W. Basilo is a guy who never learned how to shut up. As a writer, performer, and musician, his work lives at the intersection of the poignant and perverse, the hilarious and heartbreaking. Basilo hosts and curates the weekly Busted Mouth Radio Hour, a live radio show and accompanying podcast. His stage act, a mash-up of music, poetry, comedy and storytelling, has earned him a reputation as one of the more sought-after performing artists working in Chicago, where is he is a regular contributor to shows like Paper Machete, The Blackout Diaries, This Much is True, and Write Club. Basilo is a National and Individual World Poetry Slam finalist, Pushcart Prize nominee, former Artistic Director and founder of Chicago Slam Works Ensemble Theatre, and a company member with Red Theater Chicago." Photo and bio credit: jwbasilo.com |
4th Hour
Location: Idea Center |
T.C. DEWITT
"T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He's been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. His success include 5 Best Director Awards, 10 Best Picture Winners, 5 Audience Choice Awards, and a trio of Best Writing awards. In May 2017, "Screen:Righter" a film he wrote and directed, screened at Festival de Cannes, France." Photo & bio credit: imdb.com |
5th Hour
Location: Idea Center |
NATE DAVIS
"I’m a data driven designer with dev chops based in Chicago IL. I enjoy crafting smart and engaging design solutions for businesses large and small. Over the years I’ve worked in a variety of roles encompassing design, development and all things digital. This experience helps me provide a new level of digital craftsmanship to my clients and coworkers." Nate has also worked on video games such as Halo: Fire Team Raven, Walking Dead, Aliens, Ghost Busters, Terminator Salvation, just to name a few. Photo & bio credit: natedavis.design |
6th Hour
Location: Idea Center |
THURSDAY WORKSHOPS
DROPPIN' $CIENCE
"Droppin' $cience is a group of improvisors that are from Columbia College Chicago. This Chicago improv team is affiliated with the pH Theater and was founded in 2007. They are a self-proclaimed longform group bringing you baskets full of energy from start to finish." Photo & bio credit: droppincience.improvteams.com |
4th Hour
Location: Idea Center |
YOUNG CHICAGO AUTHORS
YCA exposes young people to hip-hop realist portraiture and teaches them how to create their own authentic narratives through a variety of arts education programs both in and out of the classroom. These programs include free Education Partnerships for qualifying Chicago schools, free weekly writing workshops and open mics for young poets, journalists, and emcees, and Louder Than A Bomb, the largest youth poetry slam in the country." Photo & bio credit: youngchicagoauthors.org |
5th Hour
Location: Rm 258 |
THE IDIOT CHIMNEY
"The Idiot Chimney is Gabe Greenspan and Ryan Bowers, two upstanding morons committed to making some quick, hard-hitting comedy." Photo & bio credit: youtu.be/1i6urN3Te70 |
CLOSED
5th Hour Location: Idea Center |
LILY BE
"Oral storytelling has radically changed the way I look at my experiences, both good and bad. Stories I was once ashamed of and afraid to share have become powerful vehicles of truth and vulnerability that give my life purpose and remind me that I deserve to be here." Photo & bio credit: lilybe.com |
6TH HOUR
Location: Idea Center |
FRIDAY WORKSHOPS
SUNJACKET
Sunjacket is a four-piece indie rock band from Chicago. In the fall of 2014, Bryan Kveton (vocals, guitar, synth), Carl Hauck (vocals, guitar, synth), and Garret Bodette (drums, percussion) took a year off from playing shows to finish writing and recording songs for their debut LP, after which Jeff Rukes (bass, synth) joined the group. The result is Mantra, an “expansive exploration of human compulsions” (Stereogum), whose 10 tracks range from dark, synth-driven pop to layered, syncopated rock, with moments of ambient sparseness in between." Photo & bio credit: sunjacket.net |
4th Hour
Location: Idea Center |
SIDEWALK CHALK
"Sidewalk Chalk has released their fourth full-length album, An Orchid Is Born, on Ropeadope Records and produced by Grammy Award-winner Robert “Sput” Searight. This is the album that Sidewalk Chalk has truly always been trying to make -- a speeding bullet ripe with heat and rhythm that speaks to mankind’s need to cheer in the darkest of moments and to choose love over inhumanity in all things. In the band’s rebirth is an emphatic statement of purpose. This vibrant collection of transformative moments is a benchmark release for Sidewalk Chalk that marks the arrival of a powerhouse and proves that the Chicago sound machine is a phoenix rising." Photo & bio credit: sidewalk-chalk.com |
CLOSED
5th Hour Location: Idea Center |
KEVIN BF BURT
"Kevin is a self-taught musician (vocals, harmonica, and guitar) whose smooth, warm vocal presentation sets a mood of relaxed exhilaration, with a welcome mixture of serious music and infectious humor audiences of all ages seem to enjoy. His voice and presence are powerful. His unique delivery ranges from the sweetest, fullest, juiciest come-on to the most playful growl. Though he performs between 325 and 400 shows a year, he holds nothing back night after night and audiences leave knowing that." Photo & bio credit: bfburt.com |
6th Hour
Location: Idea Center |