Ian Belknap

Ian Belknap is a writer, performer, teacher, and coach living in Chicago. He is an MFA candidate in creative writing at Bennington College in VT. He has been named to New City Chicago’s “Lit 50” list twice. He is founder of WRITE CLUB, world’s greatest competitive reading series, with current chapters in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Denver, and former chapters in San Francisco and Toronto. WRITE CLUB has been named “Best Literary Series” and “Best Reading Series” in the Chicago Reader, Chicago Magazine, Time Out Chicago, and New City, he is contributor and co-editor of Bare-Knuckled Lit: The Best of WRITE CLUB (Hope & Nonthings, 2014). His essays, opinion, satire, and criticism have appeared in The Rumpus, Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, Ian has been a speaker, presenter, or panelist at TEDx Greenville (SC), Decatur (GA) Book Fest, Chicago Humanities Festival, the Poetry Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Ideas Week, Chicago Writers Conference, Printers Row Book Fest, the Smart Museum of Art, Chicago Book Expo, and others. He has taught creative nonfiction workshops, humor writing workshops, storytelling workshops independently and with StoryStudio Chicago, Second City Training Center, and at Northwestern University’s Summer Writers’ Conference. He has over 20 years’ experience as an actor, comedian, and solo performer and his work has appeared at Steppenwolf Theatre, The Neo-Futurists, the Rhino Theater Fest, Fillet of Solo Fest, Den Theatre, PushPush Theatre (ATL), the Vic Theatre, and Skyline Stage at Navy Pier, and others,