Shelf Life: A Big Read Storytelling Event

Shelf Life was a popular show-and-tell storytelling series at The Brick hosted by writer and director David Wayne Reed. Throughout its five-year run, the stories at each event were sparked by an object and followed a theme, such as winning, time, and unwanted gifts.

As part of Big Read 2025, a free, city-wide reading and public engagement initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, Shelf Life returns with a focus on soma, or the body, exploring how we live in our bodies, how we relate to our physical selves, and how our bodies carry us through the world.

The event features five new stories from Kansas City-based creatives, including Reed, Big Read featured author Rebekah Taussig, musician and amputee advocate Billy Brimblecom, actor, choreographer, and director Vanessa Severo, and visual artist and educator Kathy Liao.

There’s a “power of sharing one’s own story on stage,” Reed says, “and the palpable empathy … from the audience.”

ASL interpreters at featured presentation.