Elizabeth Cambridge is an avid daydreamer and storyteller originally from Cleveland, Ohio. Inspired by RuPaul, she tell stories around Chicago and hosts a podcast called Random Conversations with Elizabeth.

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Elizabeth competes in The Moth’s StorySLAMs and hosts Do Not Submit, a community-based storytelling open-mic show in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Steve Glickman has been telling stories at weddings and funerals his whole life to wide critical acclaim. He is the co-host of the monthly open-mic storytelling show Do Not Submit at Uptown Underground in Chicago, and has performed at the Laugh Factory, the Moth, the Evanston Storytelling Festival, This Much Is True, Story Club, OUTspoken, and other shows in Chicago. 

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Steve is a software engineer by day and a proud nerd. He loves classical music and can often be seen air-conducting whatever symphony or opera is playing on his iPod or in his head.  He lives in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago with his partner Mark and their imaginary dog Ruffles.

Linda Beckstrom is a freelance corporate writer and creative director. She runs her own company (the Beckstrom Group) so she gets to work in her jammies a lot!

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To balance her corporate footprint, Linda is active in peace and justice issues. In 2005 she co-produced and directed a documentary about resistance to the Iraq war, called “Where We Stood,” garnering an Emmy nomination. Along with her husband and son, she produces the New Jazz Roots stage at the Bucktown Arts Fest in Chicago, which is dedicated to showcasing young musicians and will celebrate its 10th anniversary in August. 

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Linda’s been writing short stories for years and is currently working on a memoir about her family. She loves writing fiction but has learned to tell the truth out loud at storytelling events around the Chicago area.

Ada Cheng is a college professor turned storyteller, improviser, and stand-up comic. A tenured professor in sociology at DePaul University for 15 years, Ada resigned her position to pursue theater and performance full time in 2016. Since then, she has won a Moth StorySLAM, been a featured presenter at the National Storytelling Conference, and was a runner-up at Chicago’s Bughouse Square Debates.

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Ada's book, "Standing Up: From Renegade Professor to Middle-Aged Comic,"(Difference Press © 2016) aims at encouraging mid-lifers to embrace fear about uncertainty and to pursue their passion and dreams. Her motto is, “Make your life the best story you tell.” 

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In her free time, Ada loves to sleep and read. She also loves cats, Ethiopian food, and Chinese pastries. And, since she's been teaching citizenship classes in Chinatown, she gets to eat three Chinese pastries and coffee for breakfast!

David Fink is a founder and co-owner of The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan, producing live entertainment including a number of storytelling shows. He also curates OUTspoken!, a monthly LGBTQ storytelling show in Chicago.

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David has been told he’s the worst cook on the planet, and hates the gym but goes regularly because his doctor makes him. His favorite activity is introducing people he knows to other people he knows, hoping some good will come of it.

Phyllis Porché was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. She teaches English composition at a small technical college and writes fiction (MFA from Columbia College in Chicago).

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An avid listener of NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour, Phyllis mustered her nerve to compete in a Moth StorySLAM last year – and won! She went on to compete in the Moth Grand Slam, and has participated in other storytelling shows around Chicago.

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Phyllis credits her parents for her love and reading and writing, and is regularly inspired by her muses: strong coffee, meditation, and milk chocolate Hershey’s Kisses.

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Rebecca Anderson is a pastor who's starting a church that's all about sharing good food, beautiful creative worship, and true stories: Gilead Chicago. She tells stories all around Chicago and recently began helping other congregations and organizations tell their stories, as a coach and facilitator, through her new project, Earshot Stories.

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Rebecca runs outside in almost any kind of weather, but won't bike into a headwind. She has a loom (and uses it!), usually has a knitting project going, and prefers gardening over almost anything else. Her most prized possessions are a cross-stitched sign reading, "We make our own shit," and a CD made by her brother, in which he hums along with recordings of Christmas classics.

Susan Cramm has been a regular competitor in The Moth StorySLAMs around Chicago for the past two years, winning with stories on the themes “Courage” and “Fathers.” 

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She has also been a featured artist at Poetry’s Love Letter and the Teen Writers and Artists Project. Her name is often on the list at Royal Souls and Do Not Submit, regular open-mic storytelling shows in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago that Susan calls home. Having never considered herself a writer, Susan draws on skills learned while obtaining her BFA in Acting from the University of Memphis for all of her storytelling ventures.