Join us for a 4 week workshop for Queer creatives that will dive into the power of our stories! Taking the shape from stories in your life, this workshop will guide you with unique writing exercises and activities that will help harness your creative energy and focus individual writing goals. We will also be sharing in a group setting what it is like as queer creatives, and work on becoming a stronger community by sharing our unique stories with each other. In the weeks you will explore what you want to share, create memorable scenes and characters, workshop these writings, and work creatively in a shared safe space for queer creatives.

Kurt Jolly (he/him) is a Queer Chicago-based writer, director, and interactive artist. He has a diverse experience in many artistic avenues: art education, on the stage, behind the writing desk, and behind the camera. Like his name, he looks to find the joy and happiness in the world while also acknowledging its darkness. He has a Masters in Education and Leadership, and has studied at the Harold Ramis Film School at The Second City Chicago. One of his comedic pilot screenplays was selected as a semi-finalist in the Teen Movie Contest from Powederkeg (Paul Fieg) and ColorCreative (Issa Rae/Deniese Davis), and his latest short film “GlitterLand” was accepted into various film festivals around the country, and will be featured on ImageUnion TV.

Telling our truth is one of the bravest acts we can do moment to moment, especially for writers. We need to give ourselves permission to say the thing that we fear so that it has no power over us. –Dionna Griffin-Irons

All writers run up against the fear and doubt that keep us from telling our stories, especially when writing about personal experiences. All too often we play it safe (or don’t play at all!) on the page. We stay in our heads instead of exploring the infinite possibilities of where truth lives – in our bodies and in relation to others.

Telling Your Truth is an immersive online experience that allows writers to experiment with low stakes improvisation and guided peer discussion, to reveal the high stakes truth on the page. Taught by one of Second City’s best mentors, Dionna Griffin-Irons’ TYT delves into simple scenic exposition, 4 W’s (Who, What, Where and Why), as writers share their creative impulses with a variety of fun, creative risks – including impromptu scenes, creating unforgettable characters, and crafting unapologetic rants from the comfort of their home!

Breaking the pattern of solo writing, writers will interact and connect in a variety of exercises that fuel memory, truth, and spontaneity. Classes consist of lectures, personal storytelling, writing prompts, and weekly discussion of excerpts from favorite contemporary writers and satirists. A portion of class time is devoted to experiential discovery from improvisation with peers. Interactive breakout rooms will be used for peer-to-peer feedback and improvised exercises.

Dionna Griffin-Irons is a multifaceted producer, writer, and advocate for Diversity and Inclusion. Her work has been instituted at the legendary Second City comedy theatre in the U.S. and Canada. As a Second City Detroit alumna with 20+ years of experience as a performer, producer, and facilitator, Dionna has taught 200+ workshops at colleges, women’s shelters, corporate boardrooms and worked with the United States Embassy in Norway and Latvia introducing improv as a tool for social change. Her inclusion work has appeared in Diversity Journal publication, on NPR, ABC, NBC, and American Theatre magazine (2019) along with numerous academic posts including a 2015 TEDx at the University of Chicago. Her 2014 published work can be found in Rowan/Littlefield’s anthology “Women, Writing and Prison”. @dionnagirons, dionnagriffinirons.blog