Tag: Pichchenda Bao

Considering “Why?” This Giving Tuesday

A note from creator/producer Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons this #GivingTuesday. Click here to donate.

In the spirit of Giving Tuesday and considering the question of “Why?” … Why donate to No, YOU Tell It! Why do I, personally, put so much work in? The answer resides in these words of trepidation that I often hear from participants about the value of their personal story:

“Why had I agreed to do this? Who was I to even attempt a prose form? A performance piece? Why did I think I deserved to have any kind of attention?” – poet Pichchenda Bao, NYTI “aMuse”

The NYTI creative team gives each show our all because we believe: YOUR SLICE OF LIFE IS AS VALUABLE AS ANYONE ELSE’S IN THE WORLD!

Everything we do is worth witnessing storytellers speak each other’s words aloud to empower their voices on the page and stage. In 2019, we:

  • Worked with 17 storytellers
  • Curated 3 live shows
  • Plus 1 special student story swap event!
  • Produced 6 new podcast episodes

All to give life and attention to the value of each other’s stories.

As of today, we need 23 people to donate $25 to REACH our 2019 goal of $5000 raised! Can you be one of them?

Click here to make your tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor The Field. 

December 3, 2019 Post Comment News Tags: , ,

Great Year of Switched-Up Storytelling!

Proud with a capital “P” of all that we have accomplished in 2019. Give a listen to live story swaps from our “Crafty,” “Snapped!” and “aMuse”  shows on the NYTI podcast. Also, available on iTunes, Apple podcasts, etc.

A ton of work goes into each installment of No, YOU Tell It! From curating a group of storytellers, story meetings to develop drafts on the page, rehearsals sessions to help story partners step into each other’s shoes on stage, all the way through to producing the podcast.

Every moment is worth this testimonial (which totally made us tear up) from Queens poet Pichchenda Bao!

Give a LISTEN to Chenda and Carolyn swap stories as part of our special 2019 Brooklyn Book Festival Event at The Astoria Bookshop in Ep 51.

As we prepare for NYTI 2020, we need your help to keep the switched-up storytelling going!!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE through our sponsored artist page on The Field.

No, YOU Tell It! is a sponsored artist with Performance Zone Inc (dba The Field), a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization serving the performing arts community. Contributions to The Field earmarked for No, YOU Tell It! are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

November 13, 2019 Post Comment News Tags: , , ,

Episode 51 – a Muse (Part 1)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

First up, Pichchenda Bao’s “Speak, Muse” contemplates the roles we are assigned in life and the roles we adopt: refugee, American, daughter, mother, artist, citizen; the compromises we make for survival and the ways we interpret silence, and ultimately how we can expand, not contract, our relationship to each other and the world.

Read for us here by Carolyn Castiglia.

Story partners: Pichchenda Bao and Carolyn Castiglia

Switching it up, in Carolyn Castiglia’ s story “A Friend Request,” the author looks back at a time in her early twenties when she chose comfort over vulnerability and suffering over fulfillment. A small gesture reminds her how people who pass through our lives can show back up on our radar years later to remind us how we’ve weathered life’s storms.

For this 2019 Brooklyn Book Festival event, we partnered with The Astoria Bookshop for a special evening of poets and comedians trading true tales inspired by the theme “aMuse.” Stories performed live on September 17th, 2019.

“Speak, Muse” was directed by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons.

“A Friend Request” was directed by Erika Iverson.

Podcast narrated by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons.

September 24, 2019 1 comment Podcast Tags: , , , ,

Meet “A Muse” Storyteller Pichchenda Bao

Sep 17 2019 @ 7:00PM

Tuesday! Arrive at The Astoria Bookshop early to grab a seat (and wine!) and stories start at 7 pm SHARP. Rehearsals begin tomorrow but first, meet “aMuse” storyteller Pichchenda Bao.

Pichchenda Bao is a writer and poet. Born at the end of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, she was an infant when her mother carried her across the Thai border. She and her parents arrived in the United States as refugees. Now she lives, writes, and raises her two young children in New York City. Her work has been published by Newtown Literary, the Stilt House zine, and great weather for MEDIA, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is a 2019 Aspen Words emerging writer fellow.

Event Information

Sep 17 2019 @ 7:00PM

The Astoria Bookshop (31-29 31st St Astoria NY 11106)

September 15, 2019 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , ,