Two Street delivers twelve gritty, darkly funny short stories populated by small-time criminals, frustrated nurses, struggling families, and neighborhood characters who have mastered the art of hiding heartbreak behind a well-timed insult. What inspired you to bring these twelve stories together, and what connects them in your mind? 

I live in the Pennsport section of South Philadelphia, working-class on the waterfront. My neighbors are teamsters and stevedores, cops and contractors. Solid citizens all, along with semi-solid. We like our Phillies, and we like our Flyers, and we host the oldest New Year’s Day parade in the country, right down Two Street. What connects these stories is the city life, the close proximity, the shoulder-to-shoulder that connects and binds us. Or not. For a writer auditioning characters, the inner city is a casting gold mine.

What makes South Philadelphia such a rich setting for storytelling, particularly when it comes to its personalities, traditions, and sense of community?

South Philly has the Mummers and the Mafia. Couldn’t get more colorful than that. But a city with a strong working class will instill a deeper social awareness and collective identity in the people who live there. I know this to be true. The thing about Pennsport, you can’t live there and not schmooze the neighbors. It’s just not possible.

Your dialogue often features sharp exchanges, interruptions, and characters trying to outtalk one another. How did you develop your ear for these conversational rhythms?

Like most cities, South Philly has its own way of talking. As accents go, ours is not so easily identified. You just know it’s not from where you live. I’ve always loved dialogue, and there’s no accent more conducive to clever banter than Philly’s.

How did you choose the title Two Street, and what does it represent about the neighborhood and the stories within the collection?

Second Street in South Philly has long been called Two Street. The reference came with the establishment of numerous Mummers’ clubhouses along Second Street in the 1900’s.

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