"Whole Story was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I found myself re-entering my story in ways I'd not considered before. The event created a democracy for artists to explore my story world, to reimagine it, and then to present their new, personal visions in active and interactive ways. I felt I was engaged in a vivid conversation with some very talented and very intelligent people, and my voice was nothing but my story. What writer could ask for more?" - Jim Nelson, author of A Concordance of One's Life

view the artwork photo album
view the event photo album
download the story (pdf)
read the story online (html)

With artwork by:
Alexandra Jean, Amber Cady, Bret Hitchcock, Britta Austin, Chris Baty, Dafna Kory, Dane Argentieri, Elly Karl, Geoff Cunningham, Helene Poulshock, Howard Junker, Jana Flynn, Jennifer Davis, Jill Randall, Karen Ondracek, Karla Nielsen, Ken James of Fellow Travelers Performance Group, Kristina Fiedrich, Laura Moore, Leslie Outhier, Lisa Wentz, Liz Worthy, Mary LaBianca, Minky Lew, Rebecca Johnson, Sherry Koyam, Stephen Nichols, Matt Volla, Nicole Zvarik, Eve Ekman, Jeff Noll, Will Pritikin, Britt Foster, Jacob Evans, Dustin Heron, Cyndera Quackenbush, Ben Chaffin, Ian Shaul, Thu Tran (check out his musical response to Jim Nelson's story)

"Local literary magazine Watchword further explores the multidimensional potential of the literary arts with a series of 'living literary dioramas' aimed at demonstrating the ways in which a single short story can provide creative fuel for artists working across a variety of forms." - SF Weekly

"As a performance form, short story readings leave quite a bit to be desired. The most common venues -- bookstores and coffeeshops -- typically lace adequate seating, good sound systems, enticing visuals or good booze...But Watchword, a local literary magazine whose mission is to give space to emerging artists, has found a way to get creative with its readings." - SF Gate

"...the next best thing to crawling inside a writer's imagination..." - Flavorpill

Whole Story: A Concordance of One's Life is supported by Theatre Bay Area's CA$H Grant.