(because we are ALL storytellers)

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT BIG AND EXCITING CHANGES!

Queer Memoir is now 13 years old, and like any teenager, it’s growing in ways we might never have expected!

For the next two years, (starting Jan 2024) Queer Memoir is going to be an ALL VIRTUAL show and we’re looking to expand our roster of storytellers to include folks from, well, anywhere. 

Why? Well access is one thing, covid is still um, real, and there are lots of LGBT folks who can’t safely attend in person events .

Fair distribution is the other reason. When we started Queer Memoir, there wasn’t another LGBT themed storytelling series in New York City, now there are many storytelling shows with LGBT identified producers or with an explicit LGBT theme. Based on the enthusiastic reaction we’ve gotten to our livestreamed shows, and the anti LGBT legislation we’ve seen galloping across the US, we realized that it made sense to expand our storytelling reach. Producer Kelli Dunham is working on some in-person tours through the South and Midwest to provide storytelling workshops for  LGBT young people,  but planning that will take a while and we want to continue with Queer Memoir now. So we’re actively soliciting stories from folks outside of the US urban centers.

And because we know that folks whose stories most need to be elevated often don’t have the free time to attend workshops, work with a story coach, etc, we’re putting together small stipends to compensate storytellers in this situation.

We’ve got a VIRTUAL QUEER MEMOIR pitch form up here. We aren’t soliciting for a specific theme, we’re looking for folks with stories they want to tell and we’ll figure out the theme business from there. 

If a google form doesn’t work for you, you can reach Kelli via cell or on whatsapp at 215.964.1963 or by email kellidunham at gmail.com 

 YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE AN EXPERIENCED STORYTELLER OR PERFORMER TO SHARE AT QUEER MEMOIR. We’ll provide whatever help and support you need to put your story together. 

We’ve got some exciting announcements coming up about a Queer Memoir Oral History Project, but in the meantime. PLEASE. If you want to continue hearing about Queer Memoir please please please please please sign up for the mailing list. Never more than 2-3 emails a month, promise. We really can’t rely on social media to get the word out about Queer Memoir events. Facebook has completely shut down all ads that contain references to ‘social causes” so without changing the name (apparently just being queer is a social cause?) we are out of that game.

If you want to get in touch with producer Kelli Dunham about something else, Kelli’s website is here, and if you enjoy first person narrative work, definitely check out Kelli’s substack. 

ABOUT QUEER MEMOIR

Queer Memoir is a multi-venue all ages LGBT storytelling series; our aim is to give voice to our collective queer experiences as well as preserve and document our complex queer history.

At each Queer Memoir event, we host some of Queer New York’s best-known performers, and folks who have never been on a stage in their lives and bring them together to celebrate the ritual and community-building value of storytelling.

The motto of the well known Moth story performance series is “real stories told live without notes” while the motto of Queer Memoir is “real stories told live with whatever you need to get your story told.”

That means use notes, bring your friends, bring your ukele, use your herbal relaxation, ask us for support, ask the audience for support….(for more info on this and what makes Queer Memoir different than other NYC events, check out our post on The Seven Traditions of Queer Memoir) We are committed to hearing a wide range of stories, from a wide range of voices and we will work with you to help you get ready for the Queer Memoir “stage.”

Please sign up for the Queer Memoir mailing list if you’ve like to be kept up to date about our shows, upcoming themes and call for stories. Never more than two emails a month.

About some of our past shows…..

A few years ago the Friends of the Highline invited us to tell stories (where else) on the Highline in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Last year, we hosted Queer Memoir: EULOGY FOR A DYKE BAR at Macon Reed’s um, recreated dyke bar.

Queer Memoir SUMMER. We boarded the train at the Atlantic Pacific stop on a Sunday morning at 11 am, got on and…told stories. it was an amazing morning and some of the folks on the train even stayed on past their stops hear the end of the “show.” Here Erica Cardwell shares a story about her childhood in Baltimore that transported us completely……

Earlier last year we had an amazing show Queer Memoir 50+; it was guest curated by Stephanie Shroeder and Ryn Hodez: the event brought together storytellers who ranged in age from 50 to 97 years old and shared stories about everything from escape Berlin during World War II to paying for sex in the Dominican Republic.

Additionally, our Queer Memoir: WHAT IS TUZ event, which was guest curated by film-maker Nadia Awad, was recorded and was presented as part of the Asia Pacific Forum on WBAI. You can listen to the whole event online.

And who can forget Queer Memoir: DISORDER, which happened less than a week after Hurricane Sandy. The venue was still without electricity but the queers really wanted to get together, so turned one of the producer’s apartments into a venue…

We run an ongoing series of workshops to bring new work, new faces and new stories into the Queer Memoir family, keep your eyes here or on  facebook for schedules and times.  All Queer Memoir workshops are free, although if participants want to give a donation to help with expenses we don’t turn that down.

Our biggest push in the coming year will be working with folks who have shared at Queer Memoir in the past to guest curate a Queer Memoir event of their own. To learn more about how to participate, visit our submissions page

We’re always on the prowl for venues that would work for Queer Memoir events: if you know of an non-bar, wheelchair accessible, all ages space that might be a good rental choice for us, please contact kellidunham at gmail dot com and let us know.  We are also always looking for community partners for events as well!