BIO
Fern is a queer educator, writer, and psychologist in Chicago. She enjoys working with narrative and group process in her making, and she draws on her training in psychology and qualitative research to create meaningful and connecting experiences. Her projects span writing and facilitating ceremonies of all kinds (weddings, funerals, grief anniversaries), storytelling, short stories/vignettes, songwriting, and other gatherings that depart from convention in favor of vulnerability and authenticity.
INSPIRED BY
The Art of Gathering, group theory, The Lover's Dictionary, political speeches. I'm also inspired by grief processes. Ceremonies of all kinds (e.g., marriages, funerals) also inspire me due to the juxtaposition between convention and departing from the mundane.
EXPLORING
I am developing a 90 minute artifact-based storytelling experience called The Show and Tell Show that is co-created by myself and the audience. I am combining my skills of group facilitation and here-and-now work as a therapist with my newfound interest in storytelling as oral history and in vivo memoir. Speaking to the meaning of the items we acquire over the years and place in our homes is a way to reconnect with our choices and what matters.