Seeing my name listed alongside such accomplished authors, storytellers, and performers felt a little surreal. Was I qualified to be here? What could I possibly offer these seasoned writers? Wouldn’t they already know everything I had to say? Part of me wondered if I was the one who should be sitting in the audience taking notes.
Before our session began, I caught up with fellow panelist Antonio Sacre—a bilingual Cuban and Irish-American storyteller whose name I’d known long before we shared a stage two years ago. He’s nationally recognized, and as we chatted about recent projects, he asked about my solo show.
“Who was your director?”
“Jane Morris.”
He lit up. “She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”
Turns out, he had an entire section in his handout about the importance of having a director—and Jane’s name was right there. What a small, beautifully interconnected world. Six degrees? Try two.
The session itself? Even better than I imagined.
Every speaker dropped gold:
Cara Lopez Lee broke down the difference between writing for the page and writing for the stage in such a clear, compelling way.
Brenton Zola wowed us with his thoughtful, audience-centered approach.
Antonio Sacre shared solo show insights that had everyone scribbling notes.
And me? Well… I’ll let you be the judge. Watch the video and tell me what you think. Was I the nervous newbie—or did I hold my own?