A professor in New Orleans loses his job and resorts to a new line of work – mugging tourists in the French Quarter.
“Ghetto University” is a short story by Maurice Carlos Ruffin, featured in his 2021 collection, The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You.
Listen to the story here, and read along at ursastory.com/ghetto-university
Then come back next week for Ruffin’s in-depth conversation with Ursa Short Fiction co-hosts Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton.
About the AuthorMaurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, a New York Times Editor’s Choice that was also longlisted for the Story Prize. His first book, We Cast a Shadow, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize. Ruffin is the winner of several literary prizes, including the Iowa Review Award in fiction. A New Orleans native, Ruffin is a professor of Creative Writing at Louisiana State University, and the 2020-2021 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi.
Episode Links and Reading List:“Ghetto University”
Written by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Performed by Allan Thomas
Directed by Adetola Abdulkadir
Sound Design and Mixing by Alicia Qian
Illustrations by Anthony Santagati
Music: “Zizu de Calp,” Blue Dot Studios
Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong
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