Artist-in-Residence Program

Writing has always been a form of discovery for me— about myself, the world and the characters I create, whether they are drawn from life or totally invented. I rarely know anything more than the first sentence when I begin a story, a play, a creative essay or poem. The rest is part exploration, part act of faith and a lot of problem solving. I am driven by a desire to find out what happens, and also by a desire to portray the world both as it is and as it could be. I try to follow Einstein’s famous advice, that you can’t solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it. So though my work is grounded in realism, it might be sprinkled with magic or fantasy or other surprising twists of fate, and usually a good dose of humor. All of these elements contribute to my ongoing effort to bring hope and life-affirming epiphany into the equation.  

Biography

Fran Zell is a fiction writer, playwright, lyricist, essayist and independent journalist. Her book, THE MARCY STORIES, won the Banta Award for Literary Achievement from the Wisconsin Library Association. Her musical VERVE (with composer Karena Mendoza) was selected for the 2020 Chicago Musical Theatre Festival produced by Underscore Theatre. She directed a staged reading of her play, READING ANNA K in March 2022 with Hyde Park Community Players in Chicago. She is a former feature writer and restaurant critic for the Chicago Tribune and has written for various other Midwest U.S. newspapers and magazines. Her work has most recently appeared in Door is a Jar literary Magazine, Wingless Dreamer Press, Splashmags.com and Mondoweiss.net. She has a masters degree in creative writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, lived for many years in South Central Wisconsin, and currently lives in Chicago.

Zoom Write-Along

Parrsboro area residents are invited to write along with Fran Zell on Zoom each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. during her residency at Parrsboro Creative. Write about anything you wish or use one of the writing prompts Fran will suggest each day. Each Zoom writing session will run 2 hours followed by a Q & A with Fran about the writing process. Participants are welcome to attend for some or all of each Zoom session, and take part in a brief check-in discussion after each hour of writing. There is no charge for the write-along. Advance registration is required.

 Writing is a solitary activity and when the Covid lockdown began and every aspect of life became solitary I stopped writing. Eventually I became a regular at some of the Zoom writing events that were springing up everywhere. I found a palpable connection to other writers that re-energized my writing and made it fulfilling again. In the sessions where we wrote for short periods of time to a prompt I wrote flash fiction and short-short essays for the first time, and relearned the importance of making every word count. As part of my residency at Parrsboro Creative I’d like to give Parrsboro area residents the opportunity to also experience Zoom energy by writing along with me.

Memoir Writing Workshop

This workshop is for adults at any level of writing experience. At the first session, (Saturday, Dec. 3), we will use examples from published memoirs, discussion, found objects, and writing exercises to evoke and explore meaningful memories. During the following week students will build on those resources by writing a short (1 to 2- page) memoir to present at the second session (Dec 10) for feedback from the instructor and other students. We will talk about creative ways to present memoirs as gifts to family and friends. Participants will have the option of sharing their memoir at a public reading on December 11 at Two Islands Brewery starting at 1 p.m. Class size is limited to 10. Free to Parrsboro Creative members; $20 for non-members..

Fran Zell

November 30 - December 11 2022

After harvesting raw materials from the land in Parrsboro, the group worked individually to process the porcupine quills and worked them into individual designs. Then, each design will be sewn together as a completed work.

"Our traditional work exists in a contemporary moment, and being able to share that with a non-Native audience facilitated through public programming is an opportunity to highlight that we are still here, and that our culture is not only alive, but vibrant."

Porcupine Quill Group

July 8-17, 2022