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At Center for Story & Witness, we’re uplifting books that build a better world.

Just a few of the Center for Story & Witness writing workshop alums and organizational partners who’ve published notable books.

Writing books that build a better world. 

So if you’re looking for a book that moves you, teaches you, challenges you, and perhaps even makes you a bit more joyful, browse just a few of the groundbreaking books our Center for Story & Witness writing workshop alums, staff, Advisory Board, and Launch and Leadership Circle members have written. 

Whether it’s a YA novel that illuminates what it means to be a refugee girl; a memoir that makes real the experience of being trafficked; or a work of historical fiction that challenges our understanding of people and events we thought we knew, you just might discover your next favorite read.

Storyteller, Zouhair Khaznaoui, during a Center for Story & Witness workshop in Marrakesh, Morocco.

If you’re ready to use story to create social change, our Center for Story & Witness testimonial writing program is the place for you.

Our testimonial writing workshops at Center for Story & Witness were developed to help those who have lived through or witnessed gender-based violence and other social injustices use their voices, faces, and stories to call the public to greater compassion and, equally importantly, social action. We ground each writing workshop in a simple belief: that we are here to be heard.

During each immersive, two-day testimonial writing workshop, a cohort of survivors, witnesses, writers, and activists come together to read and discuss culture-changing literature … take part in a series of innovative, real-time writing exercises … and share creative work in moderated, trauma-informed workshop sessions. Media neutral and genre inclusive, this writing program was created to support those who seek to use their testimonial voice as a vehicle for personal or political transformation.

Award winners Sonia Ossoria of NOW-NYC, Christian Eduardo (accepting on behalf of Yasmin Vafa of Rights4Girls), and Anne K. Ream of Center for Story & Witness.

Congratulations to Center for Story & Witness's Anne K. Ream, recipient of the 2026 Epic Women for Justice & Advocacy Award.

Center for Story & Witness Co-founder Anne K. Ream was among the 14 inspiring and inspired recipients of the 2026 Epic Women for Justice & Advocacy Award. Presented at the New York City Bar Association’s 6th Annual International Law Conference on the Status of Women - which ran alongside the 70th Session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women - this was powerful recognition of the leadership role that a collective of extraordinary activists and artists have played in the fight to end gender-based violence and exploitation. We salute Anne, and all the award winners!

UPCOMING EVENTS

CREATIVE INTERRUPTION: THE THEOLOGY OF PEACE CONFERENCE.



Center for Story & Witness co-founders Anne K. Ream and R. Clifton Spargo and ethicist and theologian Wolfgang Palaver are keynote presenters.

July 7, 2026 | 9A-5P CST

DePaul Center

Chicago, IL

THE HAROLD WASHINGTON LITERARY AWARDS: A PRINTERS ROW LIT FEST EVENT.

Keynote TBA; Co-Chairs Anne K. Ream of Center for Story & Witness & Rosellen Brown of Art Institute of Chicago to give opening remarks.

September 2026

The Union League Club

Chicago, IL

BEARING WITNESS: A CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION & AUCTION.

Presented by Center for Story & Witness in partnership with Art Works for Change; curated by Randy Jayne Rosenberg in alliance with Tiphanie Spencer-Babinet.

Fall/Winter 2026