On this show, guest host Kate Burton introduces two stories that look at the joys and complexity of motherhood. They were chosen by the novelist Celeste Ng and memoirist and essayist Mary Karr. In “Looking for a Thief” by Danielle Lazarin, a suburban mother questions her choices. The story is performed by Heather Burns. And Burton reads Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing,” in which another mother wonders if she’s done right by a challenging first child.
ACTORS & ARTISTS
Heather Burns’ stage credits include The Kid Stays in the Picture at The Royal Court, Dinner with Friends, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Medieval Play, Will Eno’s Middletown, Fran’s Bed, Lobby Hero, Writer’s Block, the West End production of This Is Our Youth, and most recently, Peace for Mary Frances. Her film credits include You’ve Got Mail, Two Weeks Notice, Miss Congeniality I & II, Bewitched, The Groomsmen, Choke, Breaking Upwards, Ashes, What's Your Number?, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, Brave New Jersey, and Manchester by the Sea. On television, Burns currently appears on Blindspot, and other recent credits include Sneaky Pete, Friends from College, and Bored to Death.
Kate Burton was nominated for Tony Awards for her work in Hedda Gabler, The Elephant Man, and The Constant Wife. Additional Broadway credits include Spring Awakening, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Jake’s Women, Company, Some Americans Abroad, and most recently, Present Laughter. Her film credits include Big Trouble in Little China; The Ice Storm; Unfaithful; 2 Days in New York; Liberal Arts; 127 Hours; and Where'd You Go, Bernadette? On television, she has appeared in multiple Law and Orders, Empire Falls, Rescue Me, Veep, Grimm, Modern Family, Supergirl, The Gifted, Strange Angel, Scandal, and Grey's Anatomy, for which she has received numerous Emmy nominations. Burton has directed at the LA Philharmonic and is a professor at the University of Southern California.
Danielle Lazarin is the author of the short story collection Back Talk. Her fiction has been published in The Southern Review, BuzzFeed, Colorado Review, Glimmer Train, Boston Review, Five Chapters, Electric Literature, and Lit Hub, and her nonfiction has been featured in Lenny Letter, The Cut, and The New York Times. Her work has been honored by the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, the Glimmer Train Family Matters Award, and the Hopwood Awards.
Mary Karr is an award-winning poet and memoirist. She is the author of the poetry collections Viper Rum and Tropic of Squalor, which was longlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2018, the memoirs Cherry, Lit, and The Liars’ Club, winner of the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, and the nonfiction work The Art of Memoir. Karr is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Whiting Award, the Radcliffe Bunting Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She has contributed to The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Poetry magazine. Karr currently teaches at Syracuse University.
Celeste Ng’s debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, won the Massachusetts Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and the ALA’s Alex Award. Her second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, was a New York Times bestseller and is currently being adapted for television. Ng is a 2016 National Endowment for the Arts fellow, and her work has been further honored with the Pushcart Prize and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, One Story, The Guardian, and TriQuarterly, among other publications.
Tillie Olsen (1912 - 2007) was an author and activist, best known for her short story collection Tell Me a Riddle, the novel Yonnondio from the Thirties, and the nonfiction work Silences. Her work has been widely celebrated and recognized with the O. Henry Award, the Contributions to American Literature Award from the American Academy and the Institutes of American Arts and Letters, the Rea Award for the Short Story, and multiple honorary degrees and fellowships, among other honors. An expanded collection of her work, titled Tell Me a Riddle, Requa I and Other Works, was published posthumously in 2013. She was the subject of the 2007 documentary film Tillie Olsen: A Heart in Action.
