Megan Stielstra is the author of the story collection, Everyone Remain Calm, a Chicago Tribune Favorite of 2011, and her personal essay collection, Once I Was Cool, is forthcoming in May of 2014. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in The Best American Essays 2013, The Rumpus, PANK, Other Voices, f Magazine, Make Magazine, Joyland, Pindeldyboz, Swink, and elsewhere. She is the Literary Director of the critically-acclaimed 2nd Story storytelling series and has told stories for all sorts of theaters, festivals, and bars including the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Museum of Contemporary Art, Neo-Futurarium, and regularly for The Paper Machete live news magazine at The Green Mill. Currently, she teaches writing and performance at Columbia College Chicago and is the Associate Director of The Center For Innovation in Teaching Excellence. She is also a lecturer in creative nonfiction at Northwestern University, a lecturer in fiction writing at the University of Chicago, and a 3Arts Teaching Artist Award Finalist for her work with 2nd Story, helping people of all ages get their stories on the page.