Percival Everett has said: “Since telling the South Carolina State Legislature in 1989 that I couldn’t continue my address because of the presence of such a conspicuous sign of exclusion [the confederate flag], I have not really considered South Carolina.” This is a wickedly subversive story, about symbols and their meaning. "The Appropriation of Cultures" was written in 1996, and published in Everett's 2004 story collection, Damned If I Do, by Graywolf Press.

WORD for WORDcast is Word for Word Theater Company's podcast. We specialize in bringing works of literature to the stage, using every word of a text in a dynamic, evocative style that preserves the original beauty of the prose or poetry.

It’s our incredible pleasure to announce the upcoming second season of the WORD for WORDcast!

Join us on Thursday, July 22 as we release Season Two’s first episode, “The Appropriation of Cultures” by Percival Everett. Season Two continues through the rest of 2021 and features such authors as Anna Maria Ortese, George Saunders, and Toni Cade Bambara.

We hope you’ll join us as we continue to bring your favorite short stories from the page to the airwaves (and smart phones, and home computers…) Happy listening!

“Books & Roses” is the story of Montserrat, a foundling left in a Catalonian chapel at the feet of the Virgin de Montserrat. Her only possessions are a key hanging on a golden chain around her neck, and a note. Cared for by the monks of the order, she grows up and finds work in a laundry, where she encounters Señora Lucy, a painter who also wears a key. Montse eventually discovers that she and Lucy are linked, when she finds the lock that fits her key. Her reaction is bittersweet: "She'd carried the key to this place for so long and now that she was there she didn't know where she was."

"Books & Roses" is from Oyeyemi's short story collection, What Is Not Yours is Not Yours (described as "flawless" by NPR).

“Books & Roses” is the story of Montserrat, a foundling left in a Catalonian chapel at the feet of the Virgin de Montserrat. Her only possessions are a key hanging on a golden chain around her neck, and a note. Cared for by the monks of the order, she grows up and finds work in a laundry, where she encounters Señora Lucy, a painter who also wears a key. Montse eventually discovers that she and Lucy are linked, when she finds the lock that fits her key. Her reaction is bittersweet: "She'd carried the key to this place for so long and now that she was there she didn't know where she was."

"Books & Roses" is from Oyeyemi's short story collection, What Is Not Yours is Not Yours (described as "flawless" by NPR).

“Books & Roses” is the story of Montserrat, a foundling left in a Catalonian chapel at the feet of the Virgin de Montserrat. Her only possessions are a key hanging on a golden chain around her neck, and a note. Cared for by the monks of the order, she grows up and finds work in a laundry, where she encounters Señora Lucy, a painter who also wears a key. Montse eventually discovers that she and Lucy are linked, when she finds the lock that fits her key. Her reaction is bittersweet: "She'd carried the key to this place for so long and now that she was there she didn't know where she was." "Books & Roses" is from Oyeyemi's short story collection, What Is Not Yours is Not Yours (described as "flawless" by NPR).

“Citizen” by author Greg Sarris, tells the story of Salvador, born in the U.S., raised in Mexico; son of an American Indian mother and a Mexican father. He has returned to California to find his mother, or rather, her grave. Working in the fields and ranches around Santa Rosa, he meets his mother's family, encountering both kindness and opportunism, as well as glimmers of hope. An American citizen, who speaks no English, Salvador procures his proof of citizenship and begins to discover his true identity, and what it means to belong.

“Citizen” by author Greg Sarris, tells the story of Salvador, born in the U.S., raised in Mexico; son of an American Indian mother and a Mexican father. He has returned to California to find his mother, or rather, her grave. Working in the fields and ranches around Santa Rosa, he meets his mother's family, encountering both kindness and opportunism, as well as glimmers of hope. An American citizen, who speaks no English, Salvador procures his proof of citizenship and begins to discover his true identity, and what it means to belong.

The WORD for WORDcast returns with “The 14 Mission,” a gritty Christmas story about loneliness and friendship by San Francisco writer Anita Cabrera. On Christmas Day, a man takes a crosstown bus to visit his best friend. The man remembers his own life as a drunken outcast, so troubled he was once thrown off the bus he is now riding. As the bus ride proceeds and he traverses the neighborhoods of San Francisco, he considers what he owes his friend.

WORD for WORDcast's final installment of E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops." Written in 1909, this is a dystopian look at the future, where everyone lives underground, is controlled by “The Machine,” and communicates with each other over vast distances through glowing blue plates

WORD for WORDcast continues E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops." Written in 1909, this is a dystopian look at the future, where everyone lives underground, is controlled by “The Machine,” and communicates with each other over vast distances through glowing blue plates.