Writer, Educator, and Storyteller
Happy 12-Year Anniversary to No, YOU Tell It! We’re so grateful to celebrate this milestone. Take a look at these highlights of our evolution over the years.
Learn more, donate, and grab tickets for our upcoming events at noyoutellit.com. Cheers to 12 years, and thank you always for your stories and support.
I’m honored to be on this panel with Aida Zilelian, Mary Lannon, Emily Hockaday, and Nicole Haroutunian at Book Culture LIC on May 9 at 6 pm!
The event is free, but you can register here.
Thank you to Flushing Town Hall for awarding No, YOU Tell It! a Queens Community Arts Grant as part of the Statewide Community Regrants program funded by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA)!
This funding will support two special 2024 Queens shows produced in partnership with the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
Full list of grantees and more info at noyoutellit.com!
Mark your calendars for these Queens community events and No, YOU Tell It! show.
Register for the FREE Queens & Me: Personal Writing Workshop on April 17th (6:30-8 pm) at The Astoria Bookshop today. Only 3 spots left!
Save the dates for our 5/11 ART HEART community event and 6/5 No, YOU Tell It! “Left My Heart” show. More info soon! Follow NYTI on FB and Insta for updates.
Want to explore writing personal essays? Interested in learning more about Queens’ history? Do both!
Join our own Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons on April 17th (6:30-8 pm) at The Astoria Bookshop for a FREE workshop inspired by our May 2023 No, YOU Tell It! “Here & Gone” show. Space is limited. Click here to reserve your spot today.
Engage with this stunning piece by Astoria-based artist Yelena Tylkina depicting history highlights – Westinghouse Time Capsule, North Beach, Astoria Pool Sentinels, and The First Photocopy – from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives, and tell your story!
Get the Queens “Here & Gone” image and view more of Yelena’s artwork via Fine Art America.
Copies of the No, YOU Tell It! Ten-Year Anthology will be available at the workshop.
Last night’s Sip & Scribe at Sunnyside Arts sold out (!!!) and I am honored to be in such excellent company at the Astoria Bookshop. Visit the bookshop or grab your copy here.
Blessed to be part of the Queens Community and wish everyone headed to #AWP24 the best! Save our next Sip & Scribe date: Friday, March 1st at 7 pm.
Join us at Sunnyside Arts on 2/2 at 7 pm for the first Sip & Scribe of 2024.
Push away from the keyboard and put pen to paper at this fun Friday night of guided writing prompts and story swaps.
Plus, this month, I’m donating my proceeds toward World Central Kitchen’s work in Gaza in support of their Field Kitchen in the city of Rafah.
See you soon at Sunnyside Arts. Five spots left! Register here to grab yours today.
My mother and I have spent hours making ornaments, coloring holiday pictures, and decorating gingerbread people during her two weeks in the rehabilitation center. But does that mother-daughter time count if she doesn’t remember it?
Published in ENGAGE on Medium
Happy New Year to all.
My essay “A Holiday Stroke” captures a small part of my mother’s stroke and our December together. Blessed to have spent this difficult time with my family.
You can access it through my friend link HERE if you aren’t a Medium member.
Wishing you the best for 2024 and beyond.
As a former AP Program Information writer for the College Board, Kelly Jean now leads college essay writing workshops across the country with the purpose of teaching students how to extend their story in the reader’s mind through a college essay.
Model Labratory School at Eastern Kentucky University
Last week, I had the honor of visiting Model Laboratory School in Kentucky to lead a three-day college essay writing workshop for the seniors and juniors to help them find and focus their personal stories. 
We even had a No, YOU Tell It!-style story swap on the final day, where they read each other’s drafts out loud and gave group feedback to inform their revisions. Here are some student takeaways about their stories and the experience of writing personal narratives:
I used to think college essays had to be about trauma, but now I know it can be about small moments, too.
I used to think failure was a bad thing, but now I know it makes you who you are.
I used to think I couldn’t support my friends when they needed it, but now I know there is more than one way to express compassion.
I used to think that playing music was a passion only serving myself, but now I know that it is a gift that can be shared with anyone who is willing to listen.
I used to think that I had it all planned out, but now I know that I can’t prepare for everything.
Thrilled to be spotlit by House Of SpeakEasy for my summer college essay workshop with the students from Talent Unlimited.
Know any students, schools, or organizations looking for college essay writing support? Contact kjfitzsimmons@gmail.com. I’m booking now for 2024!
