Story shapes our world—the stories we have been told, the stories we read or watch or imagine—the ‘what if’ narratives, the ‘I could not stand it if they did that’ prayers, and most important of all—this is why I am the way I am stories. Examining the stories we love or hate or need to believe can tell us a great deal about the way the world works, and how it might be changed. In this lecture, Dorothy Allison will address the significance of story in relationship to themes of class, race, sexuality and gender.