Reviewed by: Caleb Turrentine
OUT NOW: Author releases second book telling short stories from AL
When you think of history, typically you think of memorizing dates taught by a teacher who probably works double-duty as the varsity baseball coach. But what if I told you all your grandfather’s stories of “back in my day…” also counted as history? That’s what Shawn Wright talks about in his second book: Alabama Short Stories Vol. 2.
We sat down with Wright to talk about his love for storytelling and how his creative drive led him to telling stories of his home state.
“As much as we live in a big state, we’re all really connected”
Shawn Wright loves stories. He’s not, however, a writer—at least he wasn’t, until the stories of Alabama drove him to create something. A podcast. Like many great books of the 21st century, the idea started with some microphones and a story.
He didn’t tackle the entire state with his first work, though. His first project, released in 2020, is Shades Cahaba: The First 100 Years, an oral-history project turned book that recounts the first 100 years of life in Shades Cahaba, outside Homewood.
A graphic designer by trade, the Shades Cahaba story gave Wright a new medium. He wanted to keep telling stories.
“I really enjoyed the podcast…and I was thinking, What can I do to continue this and you know, they always say write what you know. And you know, I’ve lived here all my life. And I’ve heard all the stories.”
Shawn Wright, author of Alabama Short Stories
And, thus, Alabama Short Stories was born. First as a podcast, later as two books.
The podcast
Started back in April of 2021, the podcast touts itself as diving into stories that “were not shared in your fourth-grade civics class.”
To date, there are six seasons, covering topics like the invention of the water gun, the story of the very first 911 call ever made in Haleyville and the story of the short time the Beatles were banned from Alabama’s airwaves.
You can listen to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts or here.
The books
Much like his Shades Cahaba project, the podcast inspired a book.
“Once I got there, I thought ‘this is enough for a book.’ I have 30 stories and that gets me about 250 pages. I’d already written out stories. So able to put it into a book pretty easily. I called it a volume one. I was being very optimistic that I was going to be able to get to volume two.”
Shawn Wright, author of Alabama Short Stories
Wright likes to dig into the stories that have been told and retold so many times, they’re almost their own form of recent folklore. But he digs deeper when he can. He pulls from family histories and gets reactions. He takes you there, often starting his stories by telling you about his own experience with the story before diving into the backstory.
“A lot of people [were] telling these same stories, but I found that some of the stories, things were left out or they just took the story they heard at face value. So I wanted to make sure that I went in and did a little more research.”
Shawn Wright, author of Alabama Short Stories
Each volume covers three seasons of the podcast. When I asked if another book (and its corresponding 3 podcast seasons) was in the works, Wright answered honestly—he doesn’t know.
“I don’t know. I’m trying to. I’m kind of agonizing over whether I want to do it or not.”
Shawn Wright, author of Alabama Short Stories
Whatever he does, we’ll be listening (and reading).
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