SongWriter turns stories into songs

SongWriter turns stories into songs

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Caregiving and Reconciliation: Silas Howard + Dorian Wood

Filmmaker and director Silas Howard reads a story about caring for his mother in the years before her death. Dr. Fayron Epps speaks about her research in caregiving, and about caregivers who struggle with complicated and often painful family memories. Songwriter and performer Dor ...  Show more

Flourishing After Disaster: Patrice Francis + Selah Moonie

Bahamian playwright and teacher Patrice Francis performs a dramatic piece about recovering from Hurricane Dorian, live at the Fuze Art Fair at Bahamar. Patrice wrote the piece based on the research of Dr. Stephanie Hutcheson, who describes what she learned about post-traumatic gr ...  Show more

The Echo of Theodicy: Kaveh Akbar + Jamila Woods

At a live show at Metro in Chicago, bestselling author Kaveh Akbar reads a poem about empathy that he wrote for Jamila Woods. Jamila and Kaveh are old friends, and they discuss empathy in a brutal world, and the echo within questions of theodicy. The University of Chicago’s Dr. E ...  Show more

Belonging & Collective Action: Viet Thanh Nguyen + Thao Nguyen

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen (The Sympathizer) gives a talk about belonging at a live performance at the Litquake Festival. San Francisco State University’s Dr. Russell Jeung speaks about founding Stop AAPI Hate and Asian identity and belonging. He describes ho ...  Show more

Fear & Political Polarization: Beth Macy + Palmyra

Journalist and bestselling author Beth Macy (Dopesick) reads a piece she wrote to accompany her new memoir Papergirl, about her family's struggle with opposing political views. She describes a slow process of reconnecting with her conservative brother through simple things like f ...  Show more