Greetings and welcome to WORDTheatre Weekly: The Short Story Podcast where great authors and actors meet!

My name is Alyssa Monteiro, and I’m the WordTheatre audio editing intern! I’m currently a rising senior at Emerson College studying film, focusing on audio post production.

This week, we’re bringing you the recording of our 2024 event, “Black Folk Could Fly” which celebrates the works of novelist Randall Kenan. Raised in North Carolina, Kenan draws on his heritage in his writing, infusing his stories with the food, culture, and folklore of the rural South. The performers at this event include Queer as Folk’s CG, Hell on Wheel’s Dohn Norwood, Bones’ Eugene Byrd, and The Devil Wears Prada’s Tracie Thoms.

Please note that WORDTheatre holds the copyright to these recordings and no portion of anything you hear on WORDTheatre Weekly, our short story podcast may be reproduced without permission.

And now, here is “Black Folk Could Fly: On the Wings of Randall Kenan.”

RECORDING

And once again, you just heard a collection of stories by Randall Kenan, performed by CG, Dohn Norwood, Eugene Byrd, and Tracie Thoms. If you would like to support our podcast, live events, and our live and digital programming for students with WORDTheatre Campus, please consider signing up to become a Patron or Enthusiast Member, and you will be able to watch recordings of almost all our LIVE events from the comfort of your own home.

If you want to read more from Randall Kenan or other authors from WORDTheatre Weekly, visit bookshop.org and look for the WORDTheatre affiliate page, where you can find all of our featured authors. If you enjoyed this episode of the WORDTheatre Weekly podcast, consider following us on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever else you’re listening. Also be sure to write us a review and tell your friends! And if you want to learn more about WORDTheatre and our upcoming live events, please visit WORDTheatre.org, or if you are based in the UK, visit WORDTheatreUK.org. Also be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky for more posts and updates!

On behalf of Cedering Fox and Kirsty Peart, thank you to the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, Randy & Jane Sinisi and Phiphen Studios, our Executive Coordinator Scout Riley, and our podcast writer Alex Kauffman. Thank you for listening, this is Alyssa Monteiro, signing off!