JESSICA ANNE
Writer, Performer & Teacher
5041 N Damen AVE
Chicago, IL 60625
Tel: (773) 540-1275
Email: jessicanothing@gmail.com
EDUCATION:
Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL
M.F.A., Creative Writing, 2014
Thesis: A Manual For Nothing, Fiction
Advisors: Christian TeBordo, Regina Buccola
North Park University, Chicago, IL
B.A., English, Creative Writing Emphasis, 2011
Bachelor’s thesis: A Shell Between My Breasts, Poetry
Advisor: Kristy Odelius
AWARDS & PUBLICATIONS:
Book: A Manual For Nothing, forthcoming via Noemi Press, April 1st, 2017
Finalist, 2015 Noemi Book Award For Fiction
Finalist, Mainline, February 2015
Semifinalist, 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Graduate Assistant, Roosevelt University, Creative Writing Department, August 2012-May 2013
-Assisted interim MFA Department Chair Peggy Shiner. Duties included maintaining department’s social media presence, co-coordinating readings and faculty hiring events, and writing and distributing monthly newsletter.
Magazine Production Intern, Roosevelt University, Creative Writing Department, August 2012—May 2013
-Served as poetry editor for Oyez Review, the literary magazine of the Creative Writing Program at Roosevelt University. Duties included archiving and evaluating submissions from writers across the nation, communicating with the writers, and organizing issue release readings at Roosevelt and throughout Chicago.
Ensemble Member, The Neo-Futurists Theatre Company, Chicago, IL, November 2006—Present
-Writer/Performer/Director of over 300 original 2-minute plays for the late-night smash, Too Much Light Makes the Baby go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Minutes, as well as several full length productions in the theatre’s prime time programming. Toured across the country to various theatres and universities performing TML… and teaching workshops. Outreach included co-development of the Annual Neo-Futurist Pride Show, raising a total of $20,000 for local non-profit LGBTQ organizations such as: The Broadway Youth Center, ACLU Youth at Risk Project and About Face Theatre Youth Project.
TEACHING
Writing Solo With Megan and Jess,
12 week writing workshop co-taught with Megan Mercier, Neo-Futurists, 2011
-Helped students with a flair for Non-Fiction and an interest in storytelling develop a strong monologue voice through in-class free writing, take-home assignments, critique, and revision.
Introduction to Too Much Light…,
12 week playwriting workshop co-taught with Kristie Koehler, Neo-Futurists, 2009
-Designed to help empower students of all ages to think creatively about their life. Students develop their play writing skills through weekly take-home assignments, in-class proposals, and formal critique. The class culminates in a fully mounted student production of Too Much Light…
Art of Abstraction, 7 hour intensive co-taught with Caitlin Stainkin, Neo-Futurists, 2011 (Individual workshop on devised theatre)
Neo-Futurists Master Class, 5 hour intensive co-taught with Kurt Chiang, National High School Institute at Northwestern University, 2008—2014
(Individual workshop on the Neo-Futurist aesthetic)
Breaking Ice and Ranting in the Second Person, guest teacher in Jay Torrence’s playwriting class, Lake Forest College, 2015 (Individual workshop
on developing voice)
SELECTED READINGS/PERFORMANCES
Analog (co-writer and performer), The Neo-Futurists, March 2012
The Miss Neo Pageant (co-writer and performer), The Neo-Futurists, May 2012
Mike Mother (creator, writer), The Neo-Futurists, May, 2016
The Open Door Reading Series, Poetry Foundation, October 2015
Mothering, fictional presentation on the history of childbirth, Meekling Press, November 2015
Paper Machete, (writer and performer), Green Mill, on-going
Write Club, (writer and performer), The Hide Out, on-going