Our ten-year anthology from Palm Circle Press is now also available through The Astoria Bookshop! We’ve had so many great memories here over the years and are looking forward to making more in the next ten years.
Save the date, 11/10 for our anthology event at the shop, and order your copy here.
In celebration of our 10th year, we’re continuing to build community by inviting No, YOU Tell It! alums back as guest story coaches and directors. We want our diverse alumni to step into the mentorship roles they benefited from to help guide new storytellers.
Meet Pichchenda Bao, who participated in our first evening of poets swapping with stand-ups #BKBF Bookend Event at The Astoria Bookshop in 2019. Give a listen to her story swap with comedian Carolyn Castiglia.
We’re honored to have Pichchenda return as a “Punch Up” story coach at our first story meeting this week to provide her insights as a poet who left her comfort zone to write and perform prose with No, YOU Tell It!
Photo credit: Mengwen Cao
Pichchenda Bao is a Cambodian American writer and poet, infant survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime, daughter of refugees, and feminist stay-at-home mother in New York City. Her work has been featured in numerous publications, exhibitions and events. She has received support from the Queens Council on the Arts and Bethany Arts Community. She is a 2022 Kundiman poetry fellow and a 2019 Aspen Words emerging writer fellow. Read her work at pichchendabao.com.
See you at Culture Lab, LIC on 9/26 for the show! RSVP via Facebook or email us at noyoutellit@gmail.com.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Breakups can be confusing at times, especially when your heart parts ways with a city. Our first story takes us over the Hudson from New York City to New Jersey as our narrator reflects on what it means to move on from the place that she’s always loved.
In celebration of our 10 Year Anniversary here is a throwback swap. Part of our first alumni storyteller show at The Astoria Bookshop. “A Breakup Story” was written by Julia Granacki and is performed here by Molly Touger.
Top left: Julia Granacki; Bottom left: Molly Touger
Prompted by a social media challenge to replace your profile picture with your celebrity look-a-like, our next storyteller leans into her own definitions of beauty and identity as she starts to appreciate her likeness to Cher.
Switching it up, here’s “On Becoming Cher” written by Molly Touger and performed by Julia Granacki.
These stories were performed live on July 17th, 2014. Give a listen to the first half of the evening in Episode 5 of our podcast. Thank you to The Astoria Bookshop! Visit them at astoriabookshop.com.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR A GREAT SHOW!
Special thanks to:
Everyone who came out!
Our amazing storytellers!
Our lil’ crew!
Left to Right: Tim Lindner, Erika Iverson, Moncho Alvarado, Marcos Stafne, KJ Fitzsimmons, Desi Waters, and Bobby Hankinson. Photo credit Sachyn Mital
AND!
Culture Lab LIC at The Plaxall Gallery for the perfect venue.
Lambda Literary for being our partner for this event.
The Brooklyn Book Festival for including us as a 2021 Bookend Event.
The Astoria Bookshop for supplying our prize books.
City Artists Corps: A $25 million New York City program to get all of us show makers back out and making shows.
&
Sachyn Mital (www.sachynmital.com) for the fantastic photos! Click here to view more photos from the show on our Facebook page.
Our “Defiant” show is two weeks away! Meet our first storyteller Bobby Hankinson and come out on 7/28 for a chance to win a copy of WELCOME TO KWEENDOM from The Astoria Bookshop.
Photo by Mindy Tucker
Bobby Hankinson (he/him) is a Brooklyn-based writer, performer, creative and full-time homosexual. He is the host and producer of Kweendom, a live LGBTQ comedy and storytelling show, which TimeOut NY described as “consistently dope” and Thrillist called “extremely gay.” He also edited WELCOME TO KWEENDOM, published by Wheatfield Press in 2021, featuring essays from LGTBQ writers and a foreword by Alan Cumming. In addition to performing across the country, Bobby is pop-culture writer for leading LGBTQ website Towleroad.com. His work has also appeared in the Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, VICE, Gothamist and more.
THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2021 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT
“Words can wound but they also have the capacity to heal.” – Kent D. Wolf, NYTI Snapped!
As Pride month comes to a close, we are thrilled to announce that for our next show, we are once again teaming up with Lambda Literary for an evening of queer storytelling with a twist!!
More information soon about No, YOU Tell It! “Defiant” coming in September as part of the 2021 Brooklyn Book Festival and produced in partnership with Lambda Literary and The Astoria Bookshop.
Tonight! Our storytellers first met in person back in March to turn out true tales inspired by the theme “Precious” on the page. Join us these many months later as they swap stories on the virtual stage.
Click here at 7 pm to join directly or “Join a Meeting” on Zoom with the Meeting ID: 973 9881 8640
Passcode: storyswap
Take a look at our “Precious” storytellers who will be trading their true-life tales.
For optimal viewing and listening experience, be sure to keep your video off, your mic muted and your non-video participants hidden. See instructions below for how to do this. When ready, verify you are in ‘Speaker View’ and enjoy the readings.
Survey Says written by Heather Quinlan and read by Sokunthary Svay
I Heard Some Chords written by Sokunthary Svay, read by Heather Quinlan
Home written by Gail Thomas, read by Nita Noveno
Gathering (1973) written by Nita Noveno, read by Gail Thomas
Listen carefully because we’ll be doing story trivia for a chance to win storyteller Heather Quinlan’s new book, Plagues, Pandemics and Viruses: From the Plague of Athens to Covid-19. Click here to order the book now from our friends at The Astoria Bookshop!
At the end of the evening, everyone is invited to unmute and turn on their cameras to congratulate our storytellers and ask questions.
$10 suggested donation for tonight’s show to the Woodside/Sunnyside Community Covid-19 Food Relief Group.
Click here to donate directly. When donating use the dropdown to indicate Covid 19 Sunnyside/Woodside Food Distribution (or Venmo @KellyJean-Fitzsimmons who will collect and donate)
Huge thanks to our friends at The Astoria Bookshop and Queens Council on the Arts!
No, YOU Tell It! “Precious” is made possible (in part) by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
In March, we postponed our No, YOU Tell It! “Precious” show as COVID-19 cases surged in NYC. It’s been a long nine months for all of us, and we’re grateful the four storytellers are ready to swap tales virtually on December 10th.
Inspired by the theme, “Precious,” the storytellers wrote, workshopped, and rehearsed their story swaps back in March. Now they are brushing up and readying to trade true tales on the Zoom stage. Click here to RSVP via Facebook.
Top left: Sokunthary Svay; Top right: Gail Thomas; Bottom left: Heather Quinlan; Bottom right: Nita Noveno
Join us for this special Queens edition of No, YOU Tell It! Bonus: Audience members will have a chance to win storyteller Heather Quinlan’s new book, Plagues, Pandemics and Viruses: From the Plague of Athens to Covid-19. Can’t wait? Click here to order the book now from our friends at The Astoria Bookshop!
Storytellers include:
$10 suggested donation to benefit the Woodside/Sunnyside Community COVID-19 Food Relief Group
Click here to donate directly. When donating use the dropdown to indicate Covid 19 Sunnyside/Woodside Food Distribution (or Venmo @KellyJean-Fitzsimmons who will collect and donate).
No, YOU Tell It! “Precious” is made possible (in part) by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Our “Coming & Going” show is coming up fast! For this special Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend Event, we’re teaming up once again with Lambda Literary for a special night of virtual queer storytelling with a twist.
Click here to RSVP via Facebook.
Top Left: Calvin S. Cato; Top Right: Nancy Agabian; BL: Charlotte Marchant; BR: Nicole Shawan Junior
We’ll be working with our storytellers over the next couple of weeks to develop their true-life tales inspired by the theme “Coming & Going” on the page. Join us via Zoom where they will trade tales and present each other’s stories on the virtual stage. Plus, a chance to win some literary fun from our friends at The Astoria Bookshop!
Storytellers:
Nancy Agabian (Queens Writers Resist)
Calvin S. Cato (RISK!, Laugh It Up, Astoria!)
Nicole Shawan Junior (Lambda Literary Fellow)
Charlotte Marchant (Lambda Literary Fellow)
$10 suggested donation to benefit the Woodside/Sunnyside Community COVID-19 Food Relief Group
Click here to donate directly. When donating use the dropdown to indicate Covid 19 Sunnyside/Woodside Food Distribution (or Venmo @KellyJean-Fitzsimmons who will collect and donate).
THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2020 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT
No, YOU Tell It! “Coming & Going” is made possible (in part) by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
