Stories&: An Evening of True Stories and Original Songs

Stories& features the authors, Steve Almond, Marjan Kamali, and Lorena Hernández Leonard sharing true, personal stories, followed by singer-songwriters unveiling brand-new songs inspired by them — all performed live on the GrubStreet stage. The night brings together amazing literary talent and genre-spanning music — acoustic folk, R&B, soul, electronic pop — performed by the incredible artists, Alastair Moock, Alester, Kiki Saraia, Tiril Jackson, and TIHANE, backed by the wonderful Phillip Young and Berklee College of Music musicians.

Together, our featured authors and musicians make the creative process visible. Expect an incredible night of storytelling and original music.

Doors to the event space open at 7:00 pm, with the show to start at 7:30 pm. Come as early as 6:00 pm, grab a drink and an empanada in our cafe, and connect with a friendly, curious crowd of fellow music and story lovers before the event!

FEATURED AUTHORS

Steve Almond is the author of twelve books of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football.

His recent books include the novel All the Secrets of the World, which has been optioned for television by 20th Century Fox, and William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life.

For four years, Steve hosted the New York Times Dear Sugars podcast with his pal Cheryl Strayed. He is the recipient of a 2022 NEA grant in fiction, and his short stories have been anthologized in the Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Erotica, and Best American Mysteries series. He also publishes crazy, DIY books.

Marjan Kamali is the New York Times bestselling author of The Lion Women of Tehran, an instant national bestseller, The Stationery Shop, a national and international bestseller, and Together Tea, a Massachusetts Book Award finalist.

Marjan’s novels are published in translation in more than 30 languages. She is a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship.

Marjan holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from New York University. Her essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Literary Hub, and The Los Angeles Review of Books.

Born in Turkey to Iranian parents, Marjan spent her childhood in Turkey, Iran, Germany, Kenya, and the U.S. She lives in the Boston area with her family.

Lorena Hernández Leonard is a Latina writer, storyteller, and filmmaker born in Colombia whose work has been recognized in The Best American Essays Notable list, was a finalist for the PEN America Emerging Writer Fellowship and the CRAFT Creative Nonfiction Award. Her writing has been published in Corporeal KHÔRA, NPR’s Cognoscenti, Tasteful Rude, Pathfinders Collective, and elsewhere. She has received support for her memoir, Salsipuedes: Leave if You Can, about growing up during the Colombian drug war and her forced immigration to the U.S. as a Pauline Scheer fellow at GrubStreet Creative Writing Center, and by the Mass Cultural Council, Tin House, Juniper Writing Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and others.

Lorena has appeared on WORLD Channel and PBS’s nationally televised program Stories from the Stage and performs for Suitcase Stories, a program featuring immigrant stories produced by Stellar Story Company and in partnership with the International Institute of New England. She is co-producer of the award-winning animated short film Demi’s Panic which has screened at film festivals around the world and was long-listed for the 94th OSCARS.

She holds an MA from Emerson College and a BA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She resides in the Boston area with her family and dog.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Alastair Moock is an award-winning singer-songwriter; a Grammy-nominated family musician; a social justice and songwriting educator for all ages; and co-founder of The Opening Doors Project, an anti-racist music organization. The Boston Globe calls him “one of the town’s best and most adventurous songwriters” and The Washington Post says “every song is a gem.”

Hailing from the frigid landscapes of the east coast, Alester marries electric performances with passionate lyrics and icy sonics. His recent release, the “How to Build a Bomb EP,” features guilt-ridden slow jams and acerbic singer-songwriter fare. His forthcoming album “There Has To Be A Better Way” is out on June 7, 2025. A graduate of Berklee School of Music, Alester is an alum of GrubStreet’s Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP).

Kira Sarai Helper, also known as Kiki Saraia (suh-RYE-uh) is a singer-songwriter, actor, director and board certified music therapist proudly born and raised in the Bronx, NY. Her sound is most inspired by the indie/pop, rock, neo soul, r&b, jazz and anti-folk sounds of the early 2000s. She holds an MFA in musical theater from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Kira is the founder of The Helper Collective: an arts organization providing retreats for artists to have designated time and space to work on their personal projects amongst nature and their peers. She is currently composing music for a new musical premiering at Zeiders American Dream Theater in Virginia Beach, VA in 2026.

Tiril Jackson is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, and producer. She was raised by her mother and grandparents in Senja, a small Island in the North of Norway. At the age of 12, she was put into vocal lessons after her family noticed her expanding interest in performing. In her childhood, she spent a lot of time singing covers around bars, cafés, and small events in Norway. Tiril´s sound has a soulful essence to it with a mixture of modern jazz, R&B, and neo-soul. Her music draws heavily from life experiences and challenges she has had trying to find herself.

TIHANE is a Polynesian Croatian artist who blends her Pacific Islander and Eastern European influences into a soulful mix. Born in California and raised in Hawaii, she spent a decade in Kenya and is now based in Los Angeles. TIHANE has performed at historic venues like L’Olympia (Paris), Bush Hall (UK), Toad’s Place (USA), Soho House (NYC) and festivals like SXSW (USA), Homecoming (South Africa), Nyege Nyege (Uganda) & African Nouveau (Kenya) alongside appearances at TEDx, BBC Introducing & Stamp The Wax. Her debut album, The War On Love, will be released in July 2025. Meanwhile, you can find her on Apple Music and other streaming platforms.