StoryStudio Chicago

09/04/2026

Happy Labor Day weekend, and welcome to the party! Well, this party doesn't happen until Sept. 30, but you're invited, and it's definitely one you'll want to attend!

Welcome to the Party, a single-session, cross-genre introduction to creative writing, asks participants to embrace and amplify their desire to write with excitement, affirmation, and possibility.

This two-hour ONLINE workshop is a pay-what-you-can -- $1, $5, $65 (or whatever fits your budget).

Register now! https://www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/classes/welcome-to-the-party-intro-to-creative-writing-with-sheree-l-greer-fall-2026/

09/03/2026

Julia Fine's Intensive Coaching Cohort is now open for registration! This six-month online program is specifically designed for writers who are actively putting words on the page (or want to be), and have the time and desire to spend six months writing, revising, and getting personalized feedback and plans for their work-in-progress. Students will join a small creative cohort of 6 students who share a commitment to the process.

This program is here to walk you through every step of your writing journey.

This program begins with weekly meetings on December 1. But don't wait -- this will definitely fill up, so grab your spot now.

Register now: https://www.storystudiochicago.org/advanced-writing-programs-at-storystudio-chicago/intensive-coaching-cohorts-at-storystudio-chicago/

09/02/2026

Registration is now open for our Breakfast & Book Club event with writer Justin Torres. This happens Friday, October 23 at 9:30 am at an offsite location (it's the private home of one of our Board members, but you'll get the exact details when you register -- we're not trying to be cagey, we promise. 😂)

Spots for this event -- your chance to mingle with Justin, ask him questions about his novels, and hang with the StoryStudio community -- are extremely limited, so if you're interested in attending, we'd suggesting registering sooner rather than later.

Registration is free but a donation is requested to allow us to continue creating programming such as this event.

All the info you need is here: https://www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/tickets/breakfast-book-club-with-justin-torres/

09/01/2026

ANNOUNCING: Registration is now open for the first event in our 2026-2027 Writers on Writing series, in partnership with the Newberry Library.

On Thursday, October 22, Justin Torres will be in conversation with our Artistic Director Rebecca Makkai.

This is a free event, and only in-person this time (no streaming is available). If you're unfamiliar, Writers on Writing is meant to dive deeper than the typical author talk, which might focus only on the writer’s most recent publication. Instead, Writers on Writing conversations will discuss the real work and artistry of writing, covering the evolution of each writer’s entire career and writing process.

Here's a little more about Justin Torres: He is the author of Blackouts, which won the National Book Award for Fiction and the California Book Award, and was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Lambda Literary award, the Inside Literary Prize, and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. A 2025 Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy, he’s also received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center. His first novel, We the Animals was a national bestseller and adapted into a feature film. He lives Los Angeles, and is a professor of English at UCLA.

The other events in the 2026-2027 series will be with novelist Charles Yu and poet Patricia Smith. More information on these events is coming soon.

Register now for the October 22 event: https://www.storystudiochicago.org/writers-on-writing-at-the-newberry-library/

08/27/2026

Our next free Write-Out is now open for RSVP! This one happens Monday, Sept. 14 at 5:30 pm at Begyle Brewing.

Carve out some time to get some words down, join the StoryStudio community, bring your friends, have a drink, and enjoy the late-summer vibes!

This is a free event, but we'd love if you could RSVP here: https://www.storystudiochicago.org/write-ins-with-storystudio/

08/26/2026

If part of your criteria when choosing an instructor with whom to study writing is someone who is both a skilled teacher, but also who has DONE THE THING, may we present Jami Nakamura Lin, our instructor this year for our in-person Memoir In A Year cohort.

The first photo shows Jami teaching at last year's StoryBoard Festival and the second shows her (second from the left) winning the 2024 Chicago Review of Books Award for Nonfiction for her speculative memoir The Night Parade.

Credentials: ✅

In addition to teaching frequently at StoryStudio, Jami also teaches for the McCormack Writing Center (formerly Tin House), and Writing Co-lab, and has guest lectured at Northwestern, the University of Illinois- Chicago, Carlow University MFA, and other universities.

Apply for Jami's Memoir In A Year cohort by Sept. 7. The first meeting is mid-October.

All the info and how to apply is here: https://www.storystudiochicago.org/advanced-writing-programs-at-storystudio-chicago/memoir-in-a-year-in-person/

08/25/2026

NEW on ZOOM: Join us on Sept. 17 at 7 pm CT for our Back to School Night -- a FREE virtual "open house." Artistic Director Rebecca Makkai will discuss upcoming workshops, events, and programs, and answer your questions. We can't promise, but there may be a joke or two, as well. 😂

RSVP now: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEtNBHG2qpuTv29imiP3bKvcwNAXdnw1i0C3nTjxP6cS8TiA/viewform

08/24/2026

Writers, please meet writer and instructor Dionne Ford -- shown here at the studio holding her acclaimed 2023 memoir Go Back and Get It: A Memoir of Race, Inheritance and Intergenerational Healing. Dionne is a 2025 StoryBoard Fellow and frequent instructor for StoryStudio, as well as for the Hedgebrook Writers Conference, for Poets & Writers, Inc., Drew University, and Fordham University.

For the first time, Dionne is teach an online cohort of Memoir In A Year, and we couldn't be more thrilled to have her. Dionne's cohort kicks off October 14 -- with application deadline Sept. 7.

Make this the year you write your memoir, and let Dionne and a small, dedicated cohort of like-minded writers give you the accountability and support you need to get to the finish line!

Read more and apply now here: https://www.storystudiochicago.org/advanced-writing-programs-at-storystudio-chicago/memoir-in-a-year-2-2/

08/24/2026

Kinda chic to spend a year writing your book with a supportive cohort of writers and an expert instructor! 🤩✍️

Three creative nonfiction (two online, one in person!) Book In A Year programs are now open for application.

✍️ Memoir in a Year (Online) with Dionne Ford
✍️ Memoir in a Year (In Person) with Jami Nakamura Lin
✍️ Essay Collection in a Year (Online) with Megan Stielstra

The deadline to apply is Sept. 7 for these programs that all start in October. The application takes less than 15 minutes and there's no fee to apply.

Make this the year you write your book!

IN-A-YEAR BOOK PROGRAMS Becoming an advanced writer takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and our “In A Year” programs are designed to help you cross the finish line… and…