“Selected Shorts,” which has paired renowned actors with classic works of short fiction for more than 20 years, is getting in the spirit of Black History Month.

(Left) Michael Genét; (right) Myra Lucretia Taylor

Texas Public Radio's KSTX 89.1 FM and Gemini Ink are pairing up to present “Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story,” which will pair stage and film actors with the works of three contemporary African American writers. The event is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 16, at San Antonio College's McAllister Auditorium.

“.‘Selected Shorts' is revered for exposing up-and-coming literary talent to a wide-ranging audience,” said Janet Grojean, director of corporate relations and community outreach for Texas Public Radio, in a news release.

The three literary works on display are:

Dr. Charles Johnson's “Dr. King's Refrigerator,” according to Simon & Schuster, is “an illuminating and deeply human tale about pre-Montgomery (Ala.) Martin Luther King Jr. and a revelation he had when he looked into his refrigerator late one night.”

Percival Everett's “The Fix,” according to Magill Book Reviews, “centers on a handyman who knows how to repair everything, from broken compressors to broken hearts.”

Edwidge Danticat's “The Bridal Seamstress” tells the story of a bridal seamstress whose encounter with a neighbor drudges up memories of her past.

The live reading will include Broadway actors Michael Genét and Myra Lucretia Taylor and will be preceded by “The Ballad of Henry Box Brown.” The short, a scene from Sterling Houston's “Black and Blue: 400 Years of Struggle and Trancendence,” fuses jazz music with slavery-era readings.

“The true story of Henry Box Brown, an enslaved man who literally mailed himself to freedom, is compelling,” said Bett Butler, director of “Black and Blue: 400 Years of Struggle and Transcendence,” in a news release. “This is not just black history. It's the history of our nation, the history of us all.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA