135. INTERVIEW: Shannon TL Kearns

Beckett’s Babies

Hello listeners! This week’s guest on the show is SHANNON TL KEARNS! A former fundamentalist who became the first openly transgender man ordained to the Old Catholic priesthood, Shannon TL Kearns believes in the transformative power of story. As an ordained priest, a playwright, a theologian, and a writer all of his work revolves around making meaning through story.

Shannon TL Kearns was a recipient of the Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellowship in 20/21, a playwright in residence at the Inge House in 2021, a Lambda Literary Fellow for 2019, and a Finnovation Fellow for 2019/2020. Shannon’s plays include Body+Blood, in a stand of dying trees, Line of Sight, Twisted Deaths, The Resistance of My Skin, and Who Has Eyes To See. His television pilots include The Family Unit, Transformed, and Freedom, Kansas. He and his plays have been: a finalist for the Equity Library Theatre of Chicago’s Reading Series, 2019 TransLab, and American Stages 2019 New Play Festival, semi-finalist for the New Works series at Garry Marshall Theatre. He was a semi-finalist for SPACE on Ryder farm in 2020.
Shannon is an ordained priest in the Old Catholic Church and a theologian. He’s the co-founder of QueerTheology.com which has reached more than a million people all over the world. He will soon be publishing his first book with Eerdman’s.

To learn more about Shannon and his work, be sure to visit his website and on social media:
https://www.shannontlkearns.com
https://twitter.com/shannontlkearns
https://www.instagram.com/shannontlkearns/

GLISTENS:

• Cho - The Slap heard around the world.
• Sam - Aurora Fox theater production of Hurricane Diane by Madeline George
• Shannon - The band "Yes You Are" and their album "Here's to the Great Unknowns".

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Theme Music: "Live Like the Kids" by Samuel Johnson, Laura Robertson, Luke O'Dea (APRA)

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