Richard Goodman, a University of New Orleans professor of creative nonfiction writing, sits down with Jack Hope to discuss the new Storyville series — a collaboration between WWNO and the university’s Creative Writing Department.
Goodman has been at UNO for three years as an assistant professor to both graduate and undergraduate level students. Describing himself as a lifelong writer, Goodman also touched on some of his work, including his first book, French Dirt.
Goodman the idea for Storyville came about one day, when he was driving through the city and listening to WWNO. He thought that the two seemed to be a “natural collaboration.” Soon after, he got in touch with WWNO’s general manager, Paul Maassen, and they started a Kickstarter in order to raise the money.
Storyville is a program in which creative nonfiction graduate students tell their stories of the city on-air. The stories are written and told by students from various regions of the country,as well as the state of Louisiana. Goodman describes his students as “fantastic writers, each with an unique voice,” who offer new looks at the city.
The series will run on WWNO intermittently, and all of the stories will be archived online, along with enhanced multimedia content and podcasts.
There’s isn’t a set end date for Storyville… Goodman says he hopes the public will love the series and that it will last forever.
