Mary Dean Cason
Mary Dean Cason absorbed the art of storytelling on the front porches of North Carolina where she grew up. She is a featured writer/performer at numerous Chicago area storytelling venues including This Much is True, Story Sessions, Homewood Stories and more. She is the founder of Wine, Women & Stories and Michiana Stories. Mary Dean is a graduate of the University of Chicago’s Story Studio where she won the 2008 Prize for Fiction.
Mary Dean’s book What Solomon Saw and Other Stories will be available for purchase at the Book & Zine Fair. You can also catch her performing during the Speakeasy @ Artspace!
What Solomon Saw and Other Stories showcases the dazzling storytelling skills of award-winning author Mary Dean Cason. Set in the American South, Chicago, New York City, and Europe, the eleven insightful short stories in this collection explore the lives of women young and old, who may be strong, emotionally fragile, or befuddled by life’s contradictions.
The title story takes its name from the wise old willow oak that cradles the tree house of young Martha, who finds herself reeling in a rapidly changing world. In “A Whore for Thursdays,” Gina Pella investigates what is behind her angelic husband’s shocking deathbed admission that he has been unfaithful every Thursday, except on Thanksgiving, for thirty years. “Girl Interrupted at Her Music” follows cellist Nora Steele into a spiral of depression and confusion after she loses her husband—and all hope for babies and a normal life—in the South Tower. And in “A Split in the Seam,” Tess receives unexpected visits from her parents, proving that parents continue to watch over their children—even after they die.
Whether lighthearted tales or heartbreaking dramas, these stories focus on the relationships women forge with their families, friends, lovers, and the world around them.
Praise for What Solomon Saw— “A true southern voice is rare—a harmony and a cacophony of insincerity and slander all smothered in grits and gravy and peppered with an essence of downright meanness. So, right this way, y’all. Mary Dean is in the kitchen.” —Ken Burger, author of Swallow Savannah and Sister Santee
What Solomon Saw and Other Stories, is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
