One of our most popular events of the year, each Moth Mainstage features simple, old-fashioned storytelling, by five wildly divergent raconteurs who develop and shape their stories with The Moth’s directors.
This year’s theme: Lost and Found.
Hosted by Jon Goode, our storytellers are: Becky Chan, George Dawes Green, Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton, Will Mackin, El Sanchez! Click “Learn More” to read their bios.
Host:
Jon Goode is an Emmy nominated author, poet, and playwright currently residing in Atlanta, GA. He has been a featured performer on HBO’s Def Poetry, TVOne’s Verses & Flow, and BET’s Lyric Café. Jon’s debut collection of poems and short stories, Conduit, has received to date 54 five star reviews, spent 16 weeks as a #1 title on Amazon and is the best reviewed book of poetry on Amazon for 2015/16. Jon has released his first novel, Mydas, which also debuted as a #1 title on Amazon. He is the regular host of The Moth StorySLAM in Atlanta, GA. IG: @jon_goode
Storytellers:
Becky Chan retired in Seattle as a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI after 22 years. Prior to Seattle, Becky was assigned to FBI Hong Kong for four years. An avid gardener, she stays busy volunteering, traveling, running, biking, hiking, and foraging the wild in the Pacific Northwest. She’s also a freelance writer for the Seattle community newspaper The Northwest Asian Weekly. Becky and her family came to the U.S. in 1971 and settled in Putney, Vermont where she learned to square dance, skinny dip, and make pizza out of Velveeta cheese, Chef Boyardee sauce, and English muffins. A graduate of Brattleboro Union High School, she was the 1976 440 yard dash Vermont State Champ. Becky also ran track at North Carolina State University, alongside Joan Benoit Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in the marathon. Joan has no recollection of ever running with Becky.
George Dawes Green, founder of The Moth, is an internationally celebrated author. His first novel, The Caveman’s Valentine, won the Edgar Award and became a movie starring Samuel L. Jackson. The Juror was an international bestseller in more than twenty languages and was the basis for the movie starring Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin. Ravens was chosen as one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Daily Mail of London, and many other publications. George’s new book, The Kingdoms of Savannah, coming out this July, has already won wide acclaim. Neil Gaiman calls it “the apotheosis of Southern Gothic Noir.” Kurt Anderson praises its “unparalleled insight into a famously bewitching city and its arrangements of race and class, all depicted in gorgeous prose.” Publishers Weekly says: “Deeply rooted in Savannah’s at times horrific history, yet looking hopefully toward the future, this provocative page-turner is sure to enthrall a broad spectrum of readers. Green is writing at the top of his game.” George grew up in Georgia and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton, Ed.D, grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and was a member of the second class of African American students entering Little Rock Central High School in 1959. Dr. Hampton has participated in numerous professional and civic organizations over the years, including the Georgetown Foundation for Educational Excellence and the Eastern Association of College Deans and Advisors of Students. Some of Dr. Hampton’s awards include 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award, Teachers College, Columbia University; 2017 Award of Excellence, and the Little Rock Central High School Tiger Foundation. Her latest professional pursuits center on consulting with foundations, nonprofits, and colleges/universities, public speaking, and volunteering in her home community.
Will Mackin is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, GQ, Tin House, and The New York Times Magazine. His debut collection of short stories, Bring Out the Dog, won the 2019 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.
El Sanchez is a queer/trans/non-binary comedian and writer that has been performing at comedy clubs, festivals, conventions, nonprofit events, political fundraisers, college campuses, and Pride celebrations all over the country for over a decade. El has been called “a grumpy nugget of delight,” by writer Lindy West (Hulu’s Shrill) and “a brilliant new voice everyone should know,” by comedian Hari Kondabolu (The Problem with Apu). Grammy Award winning singer/song-writer Kimya Dawson has cited Sanchez as her ‘favorite underground Northwest comedian’ while W. Kamau Bell, Emmy Award winning comedian and host of CNN’s United Shades of America, once said, “El Sanchez is the truth.” El has appeared on NPR, PBS, the Nerdist Network and have been interviewed by both Teen Vogue and Allure magazines. El has opened for some of the best comics in the business including Jen Kirkman, Nicole Byer, Hari Kondabolu, W. Kamau Bell, Wyatt Cenac, Michael Che, and Marc Maron. El hosted the Seattle branch of The Moth from 2015-2021. They currently reside in Olympia, WA where they work for an LGBTQ+ non-profit organization that provides in-school support groups for LGBTQ+ youth.
