Two Extraordinary Storytellers Telling Stories

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Since 2003, public radio listeners have been listening to interviews of individuals across the country as part of the oral history project Storycorps. On Tuesday, Feb. 12, Storycorps founder David Isay will join Northwestern University storyteller and writer-in-residence Alex Kotlowitz in a free and public conversation Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Northwestern University. 

“A Conversation on the Art of Storytelling with Alex Kotlowitz and Dave Isay” will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. at the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, 1870 Campus Drive on the University’s Evanston campus. A booksigning event at 5:30 p.m. will precede their discussion.

Isay, a MacArthur “genius” award winner,  founded Storycorps to give Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs the chance to record, share and preserve their stories. To date, more than 45,000 interviews involving nearly 90,000 participants have been archived at the Library of Congress. And many of them have touched the hearts of public radio listeners.

Kotlowitz  -- author of “There Are No Children Here” and an award-winning print and broadcast journalist -- has earned a reputation for writing and producing narratives of individuals that shed light on the national social and political landscape. His most recent book, “Never a City So Real,” chronicles the lives of 10 largely unsung Chicagoans, and is the University’s “One Book One Northwestern” community reading selection.

The recipient of six Peabody Awards and other broadcasting honors, Isay has written and edited several books that have grown out of his public radio work. The latest is titled “All There is: Love Stories from Storycorps.”

For more about the free and public conversation presented by Northwestern’s Center for the Writing Arts, visit http://www.northwestern.edu/writing-arts/, email words@northwestern.edu or call (847) 467-4099.