2025 QAF Recipient!

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I’m excited to announce that I’m a 2025 Queens Arts Fund recipient!

Share your prom story and submit to the forthcoming Prom Queens: Celebrating Prom Poems & Stories by Queens Writers anthology from Poets of Queens. Learn more and submit here.

This project-based grant will enable me to bring a series of Prom Queens: Prom Story and Portrait Trading Workshops to Astoria, Jackson Heights, and more in May and June.

Click here to learn more and sign up for a workshop.

I will also read from my memoir-in-progress, After After Prom, at the workshops.

The Prom Queens workshops and anthology aim to give voice to a diverse range of prom poems and stories instead of the prom myth polished by pop culture.

Thank you to New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs for helping to support this work. Click here for the full 2025 Queens Arts Fund award announcement.

Be sure to follow #QAF2025 for details on when and where you can experience the arts in Queens this calendar year!

No, YOU Tell It! “My Place” on May 28

Kelly Jean


Tickets are available for our team-up show with Queens Memory and the Greater Astoria Historical Society!

No, YOU Tell It! “My Place” explores the personal stories behind our shared Queens spaces. Purchase tickets here.  

At our May 3 workshop, the four No, YOU Tell It! storytellers will interact with the Queens Name Explorer—a digital map developed by Queens Memory—to find “My Place” in Queens.

Feel free to come join in on the fun! The free May 3 workshop at the Queens Public Library at Broadway in Astoria is open to all!

On May 28, come hear the four NYTI storytellers trade true tales inspired by the historical significance behind the people’s names that grace Queens streets, parks, monuments, and more. 

Plus, artwork by Ellen Stedfeld (ellesaurarts.com) and story trivia for fun prizes!

Visit noyoutellit.com and follow @noyoutellit to learn about the series and listen to our podcast.

Come Write With Us!

Kelly Jean

What’s your Queens story?

Join me and the No, YOU Tell It! creative team on May 3 for a free writing workshop to discover and trade the personal stories behind our shared public places.

Interact with Queens Name Explorer, an interactive digital map developed by Queens Memory, to learn the historical significance behind the people’s names that grace Queens streets, parks, monuments, and more. Learn more and register here.

Plus, artwork by Ellen Stedfeld and a special presentation from Bob Singleton of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

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This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

This organization is funded in part by the Howard Gilman Foundation administered by Flushing Town Hall.

Big News! Two Grants!!

Kelly Jean

Guess what? My switched-up storytelling series No, YOU Tell It! has received not one but TWO grants from Flushing Town Hall in support of our Queens programming – the 2025 GO Queens Grant and the Queens Community Arts Grant!

With the support of these grants, we are partnering with the Greater Astoria Historical Society and Queens Memory to produce writing workshops and shows where community participants and NYTI storytellers can engage with Queens history to inspire and experience each other’s true tales.

Register here for our May 3 “My Place in Queens” free workshop at the Queens Public Library at Broadway in Astoria.

First Student Matinee

Kelly Jean

Next month, I’m producing our first No, YOU Tell It! student matinee on March 13 at Symphony Space.

This special show is for the junior class at Global Learning Collaborative and features all NYTI alum storytellers.

I’ve been working with the students on their college essays and can’t wait for them to experience the power of personal storytelling on stage. Follow No, YOU Tell It! on Bluesky for more news and behind-the-scenes looks at the show!

Call for Chronic Pain Stories

Kelly Jean

I am proud to be working with researchers from Brown University as a storytelling coach on a video series highlighting the personal stories of people 55 and older who have found healthy ways to live with chronic pain. Please share the call for stories!

More information on the project and how to get involved at:  
https://www.butler.org/studies/reclaim-your-day-study

I’d love your help spreading the word to anyone 55 and older in the U.S. interested in sharing their stories to benefit others living with chronic pain.

As noted in a recent NY TIMES article, as many as two billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain. Yet, too many feel like they have to figure things out alone.

The aim here is what storytelling does best: help people with chronic pain connect with and learn from people like them.

Connect with me on BLUESKY for updates on this project and other KJ writerly news. I’m happy to answer questions!

“Left My Heart” Highlights

Kelly Jean

A definite 2024 highlight was designing and co-leading the “Art Heart: Storytelling and Portrait Trading” workshop for our No, YOU Tell It! “Left My Heart” show.

For the first time, our four NYTI storytellers participated in this Queens community event about a month before the show. All the participants generated and shared personal stories inspired by the life and music of Astoria legend Tony Bennett from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives.

Watch these highlights and contact kjfitzsimmons@gmail.com if you want a unique team-building event for your school, company, or organization in 2025.

I’d love to design one for you!