Plot Synopsis

Created by Craig Renaud and Courtney Pledger, SOUTHERN STORYTELLERS is a one-hour docuseries that celebrates Southern identity through the eyes of contemporary creators of literature, music, film and television, including authors Jesmyn Ward, Michael Twitty, Angie Thomas and David Joy; poets Jericho Brown and Natasha Trethewey; songwriters Jason Isbell, Lyle Lovett, Tarriona "Tank" Ball, Adia Victoria, Amanda Shires and Justin Moore; songwriter/screenwriter/actor Billy Bob Thornton and songwriter/actress Mary Steenburgen; and screenwriters Qui Nguyen and Michael Waldro. The three episodes are:

Episode 1 (Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 9pm): In the first of a three-part series, Southern creators of literature, music, and film explore deep ties to their native South: Billy Bob Thornton reflects on a life of writing songs and screenplays; Adia Victoria celebrates her music and marriage near Nashville; David Joy laments the disappearance of the Appalachian culture he loves; Jericho Brown reveals the South as essential to his creativity; and Mary Steenburgen remembers her Arkansas childhood in song.

Episode 2 (Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at 9pm): Six of the South's most influential creators take us home to the places that define them: Mississippi's Angie Thomas as she writes to change young lives; Jason Isbell remembers his roots in Muscle Shoals while Amanda Shires invites us home to the Tennessee farm the couple shares; Michael Twitty uncovers his roots in Alabama; Lyle Lovett traces his love of stories back to his childhood; Qui Nguyen reveals the small town that showed him the power of personal stories.

Episode 3 (Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 9pm): In this third and final episode, some of the South's most compelling and influential contemporary creators take us home to the places that fertilize the stories they tell in books, songs, poems, and on screens large and small: Mississippi author Jesmyn Ward and poet Natasha Trethewey; Georgia screenwriter and series creator Michael Waldron; Arkansas songwriter Justin Moore; songwriter Tarriona "Tank" Ball from New Orleans; and Virginia songwriter Thao Nguyen.