Discussion: The Ethics of Storytelling

Tubby & Coo’s will host a celebration of Independent Bookstore Day at 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, at their storefront (631 N. Carrollton Ave).

In their Ethics of Storytelling session, writers will discuss how fiction and media are influential in powerful ways.

More people read fiction than read the news. How stories are told, who tells them, when they’re told, how many stories are told – all these things factor into readers’ worldviews. What is the writer’s ethical responsibility to society? Whose fault is it if your work has a bad influence? Can this responsibility be overlooked for the sake of entertainment? And how do you know if a story is yours to write?

The discussion will include local artists and activists Jose Cotto and Michael “Quess?” Moore.

JOSE COTTO was born and raised in Great Brook Valley, a housing project in Worcester, Massachusetts. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Fine Arts degree in Architecture, he moved to New Orleans in 2012 and completed his Master of Architecture degree at Tulane University in 2014. Jose currently serves as the Associate Director of Place + Design Education at the Arts Council New Orleans, where he has worked since 2015. In his spare time, Jose can often be found with a camera or working on freelance graphic design projects.

MICHAEL “QUESS?” MOORE is a poet, educator, and actor in that order. His writing and work with youth led him to the classroom where he recently spent four years as an English teacher. He is a founding member of Team SNO (Slam New Orleans), New Orleans’ first slam poetry team since Hurricane Katrina. He is also a founder of the Take ‘Em Down NOLA movement, which is responsible for the removal of local confederate monuments.