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Event Program
THURS, MARCH 16
Hosted by Ellie Dvorkin Dunn and Nicole Shawan Junior
A Trophy-Less Life by Brett Felder
Performed by Dion Flynn
Directed by Ellie Dvorkin Dunn
Buried by Dion Flynn
Performed by Brett Felder
Directed by Ellie Dvorkin Dunn
The Pickles Pickle by Kevin Allison
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
Directed by Nicole Shawan Junior
When Billymackin' Goes Wrong by Najah Imani Muhammad
Performed by Kevin Allison
Directed by Nicole Shawan Junior
Story Trivia
At the end of the show, audience members can answer trivia questions based on tonight’s stories for the chance to win a copy of the No, YOU Tell It! Ten-Year Anthology.
Donations will be made to Bottom Line on behalf of the winners.
Bottom Line partners with thousands of degree-aspiring students from under-resourced communities as they get into college, graduate, and go far in life.
Learn more and get involved at bottomline.org.
As a writer and actor for projects on HBO, Netflix, and MTV, and the creator of the hit storytelling podcast and live show RISK!, now in its 14th year, Kevin Allison is an expert on the power of narrative in communication. Kevin is the editor of the book RISK! True Stories People Never Thought They'd Dare to Share, available from Hachette Books, and the founder of the storytelling school The Story Studio, where he has trained the staff of businesses such as Google, Pfizer, and Citibank.
As a writer and actor for projects on HBO, Netflix, and MTV, and the creator of the hit storytelling podcast and live show RISK!, now in its 14th year, Kevin Allison is an expert on the power of narrative in communication. Kevin is the editor of the book RISK! True Stories People Never Thought They'd Dare to Share, available from Hachette Books, and the founder of the storytelling school The Story Studio, where he has trained the staff of businesses such as Google, Pfizer, and Citibank.
Ellie Dvorkin Dunn is an entertainer/writer/host who has been hailed as “outrageous” by The New York Times and “ready for prime time” by The New York Post. Her storytelling has been featured in shows such as RISK!; Generation Women; and No, YOU Tell It!; and like most NYC-based actors, she has been on Law & Order twice. Her most recent project is co-producing and co-hosting Circling the Drain, a Perimenopausal Podcast About the Period Before You Stop Getting Your Period. Please listen and subscribe!
Ellie Dvorkin Dunn is an entertainer/writer/host who has been hailed as “outrageous” by The New York Times and “ready for prime time” by The New York Post. Her storytelling has been featured in shows such as RISK!; Generation Women; and No, YOU Tell It!; and like most NYC-based actors, she has been on Law & Order twice. Her most recent project is co-producing and co-hosting Circling the Drain, a Perimenopausal Podcast About the Period Before You Stop Getting Your Period. Please listen and subscribe!
Brett Felder was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, but has been happily adopted by New York and New Jersey, where she’s spent much of her career in the educational non-profit sector. For the past 15 years, she has managed College Board programs in support of AP expansion for underserved students and, currently, the customer service and test center management operations for the CLEP and ACCUPLACER programs. She served as an Ambassador for the AP African American Studies pilot, collecting feedback about and garnering support for the new course. She is a breast cancer thriver and avid traveler who was recently interviewed on Vented Uplift by Vented In Brooklyn’s founder, Chrisie Canny, after they connected at the Pink Kickoff for Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Good Morning America. A hibernating multi-hyphenate, Brett is reawakening her creative side and has decided to jump in with both feet to take on the writing and performing challenge that is No, YOU Tell It! Prayers requested.
Brett Felder was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, but has been happily adopted by New York and New Jersey, where she’s spent much of her career in the educational non-profit sector. For the past 15 years, she has managed College Board programs in support of AP expansion for underserved students and, currently, the customer service and test center management operations for the CLEP and ACCUPLACER programs. She served as an Ambassador for the AP African American Studies pilot, collecting feedback about and garnering support for the new course. She is a breast cancer thriver and avid traveler who was recently interviewed on Vented Uplift by Vented In Brooklyn’s founder, Chrisie Canny, after they connected at the Pink Kickoff for Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Good Morning America. A hibernating multi-hyphenate, Brett is reawakening her creative side and has decided to jump in with both feet to take on the writing and performing challenge that is No, YOU Tell It! Prayers requested.
Cited by Oprah Magazine as “one of our favorite creative thinkers,” Dion Flynn is a writer, keynote speaker, improviser, comedian, actor, and U.S. Army veteran. He’s best known for playing Barack Obama and other characters, with over 100 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. If Dave Chapelle and Eckhart Tolle had a son, it would be strange looking — and so is Dion. He’s a master at using fun and innovative ways to help people connect with themselves and others, leading hundreds of business professionals, writers, storytellers, college students, salespeople, and recovering- and non-recovering folks through his dynamic Improvisor’s Mindset Workshops. www.ImprovisorsMindset.com / www.DionFlynn.com
Cited by Oprah Magazine as “one of our favorite creative thinkers,” Dion Flynn is a writer, keynote speaker, improviser, comedian, actor, and U.S. Army veteran. He’s best known for playing Barack Obama and other characters, with over 100 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. If Dave Chapelle and Eckhart Tolle had a son, it would be strange looking — and so is Dion. He’s a master at using fun and innovative ways to help people connect with themselves and others, leading hundreds of business professionals, writers, storytellers, college students, salespeople, and recovering- and non-recovering folks through his dynamic Improvisor’s Mindset Workshops. www.ImprovisorsMindset.com / www.DionFlynn.com
Najah Imani Muhammad is a Hudson Valley-based multi-hyphenate artist and educator. She is the co-host of the podcast UnderRepresented Representatives, a space that amplifies the voices of the unheard and gives them a throne. Regardless of the project, Najah’s goal is to use the arts as a communicative tool to bring people together, and start a conversation. After leaving her full-time teaching job, Najah finds ways to stay connected with education through being a teaching artist with Disney Theatrical Group, Beacon Performing Arts Center, and Director of Education for her mother’s non-profit organization, Leaders by Choice. In the past she has worked with programs such as Girl Be Heard, The Leadership Program, and Kaiser’s Room. Follow along her journey @najahknows @underreppedreps @leadersbychoice www.NajahKnows.com
Najah Imani Muhammad is a Hudson Valley-based multi-hyphenate artist and educator. She is the co-host of the podcast UnderRepresented Representatives, a space that amplifies the voices of the unheard and gives them a throne. Regardless of the project, Najah’s goal is to use the arts as a communicative tool to bring people together, and start a conversation. After leaving her full-time teaching job, Najah finds ways to stay connected with education through being a teaching artist with Disney Theatrical Group, Beacon Performing Arts Center, and Director of Education for her mother’s non-profit organization, Leaders by Choice. In the past she has worked with programs such as Girl Be Heard, The Leadership Program, and Kaiser’s Room. Follow along her journey @najahknows @underreppedreps @leadersbychoice www.NajahKnows.com
Nicole Shawan Junior (they/them) was bred in the bass-heavy beat and scratch of Brooklyn, where the cool of inner-city life barely survived crack cocaine’s burn. Their work appears in Oprah Daily, Guernica, Zora, Gay Mag, The Feminist Wire, and elsewhere. Nicole has received residencies and fellowships from Hedgebrook, Tin House, Periplus, New York Film Academy, Lambda Literary, the San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, and more. Their literary art has received support from Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Hurston/Wright Writers Week, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, V.O.N.A., and others. Nicole is the founder of Roots. Wounds. Words.—a literary arts revolution that serves BIPOC storytellers, deputy director of PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing, and former editor-in-chief of Black Femme Collective. They have guest-edited for The Rumpus and served on the editorial teams at Women’s Studies Quarterly of The Feminist Press, SLICE Magazine, and more. Nicole curated the "Raising Mothers' limited Justice Involved Mothers" column, which was penned by formerly incarcerated Black women.
Nicole Shawan Junior (they/them) was bred in the bass-heavy beat and scratch of Brooklyn, where the cool of inner-city life barely survived crack cocaine’s burn. Their work appears in Oprah Daily, Guernica, Zora, Gay Mag, The Feminist Wire, and elsewhere. Nicole has received residencies and fellowships from Hedgebrook, Tin House, Periplus, New York Film Academy, Lambda Literary, the San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, and more. Their literary art has received support from Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Hurston/Wright Writers Week, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, V.O.N.A., and others. Nicole is the founder of Roots. Wounds. Words.—a literary arts revolution that serves BIPOC storytellers, deputy director of PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing, and former editor-in-chief of Black Femme Collective. They have guest-edited for The Rumpus and served on the editorial teams at Women’s Studies Quarterly of The Feminist Press, SLICE Magazine, and more. Nicole curated the "Raising Mothers' limited Justice Involved Mothers" column, which was penned by formerly incarcerated Black women.
Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons is a writer, educator, and storyteller based in Astoria, Queens. Her work has appeared in HILOBROW, Marie Claire, Hippocampus Magazine, and she is the editor of the No, YOU Tell It! Ten-Year Anthology 2022, available from Palm Circle Press. Kelly Jean works as a college essay writing instructor through The Center for Fiction and at several NYC high schools helping students find and craft personal essays that open a window into their unique character for admissions officers. She created and produces No, YOU Tell It!, a nonfiction series that brings together storytellers to trade tales, speak each other’s words, and empower voices on the page and stage. Learn more about the series and listen to our podcast at noyoutellit.com. Follow us @noyoutellit.
Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons is a writer, educator, and storyteller based in Astoria, Queens. Her work has appeared in HILOBROW, Marie Claire, Hippocampus Magazine, and she is the editor of the No, YOU Tell It! Ten-Year Anthology 2022, available from Palm Circle Press. Kelly Jean works as a college essay writing instructor through The Center for Fiction and at several NYC high schools helping students find and craft personal essays that open a window into their unique character for admissions officers. She created and produces No, YOU Tell It!, a nonfiction series that brings together storytellers to trade tales, speak each other’s words, and empower voices on the page and stage. Learn more about the series and listen to our podcast at noyoutellit.com. Follow us @noyoutellit.
Tim Lindner is a course developer, poet, and college Writing Instructor at Middlesex College. He’s published poems in 300 Days of Sun, The Citron Review, The Northern Virginia Review, and more. He also owns a small business, Revisionary Writing and Editing LLC, where he helps people write their resumes, college essays, books, and more. He’s been helping No, YOU Tell It! since 2020 as a co-producer, social media content creator, and storytelling coach for the program’s virtual and in-person shows. He recently edited a collection of stories and poems about death and grieving to be published by Tolsun Books in 2023.
Tim Lindner is a course developer, poet, and college Writing Instructor at Middlesex College. He’s published poems in 300 Days of Sun, The Citron Review, The Northern Virginia Review, and more. He also owns a small business, Revisionary Writing and Editing LLC, where he helps people write their resumes, college essays, books, and more. He’s been helping No, YOU Tell It! since 2020 as a co-producer, social media content creator, and storytelling coach for the program’s virtual and in-person shows. He recently edited a collection of stories and poems about death and grieving to be published by Tolsun Books in 2023.
No, YOU Tell It! is a nonfiction series that advocates for authentic personal stories by having storytellers speak each other’s words aloud, empowering voices on the page and stage. Our collaborative workshop process equips writers of all levels with literary tools to elevate the impact of their words. In 2022, No, YOU Tell It! celebrated 10 years of switched-up storytelling with the launch of a vibrant anthology that illustrates the history and development of the series over the past decade. Learn more about the series, purchase the anthology, and listen to our podcast at noyoutellit.com.
Special thanks to No, YOU Tell It! staff and founding member Erika Iverson.
This program is made possible thanks to the generous support of Susan Bay Nimoy, the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the MacMillan Family Foundation, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Michael Tuch Foundation, the Vidda Foundation, and The Grodzins Fund.
This program is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
Pianos by Steinway & Sons – the Artistic Choice of Symphony Space.
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Artistic Director (1988-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Producer of Literary Programs
Mary Shimkin Director of Broadcast & Literary Initiatives
Matthew Love Consultant for Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Literary Assistant
Mollie Gordon Program Assistant
Madeleine Hearn Literary Intern
Gabriela Parra Lambis Literary Intern
*in memoriam