Meet the Staff
Paula Martin Morell, Executive Producer and Host
Paula Martin Morell was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and moved with her family to Little Rock when she was twelve. After high school she began traveling and lived in the US Virgin Islands; Breckenridge, Colorado; and Miami, FL, where she received her BA in English from Florida International University. She then headed back to the South, earning her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop, before several more years of traveling and living across the States and overseas. She finally came home for good to Arkansas in 2002. Paula has been teaching creative writing for over 20 years, and her short stories, poetry, and creative non-fiction have won numerous regional, national, and international awards. Three times she has been featured as an emerging writer at the International Conference on the Short Story in English. Her critically-acclaimed novel-in-stories broken water was published in 2006, and her writing workshop Invoking the Gifts is being used in recovery centers nationwide. She started Temenos Publishing Company, a small literary press, in 2005, and she embarked on this incredible journey of creating, producing, and hosting "Tales from the South" within a few months of Temenos' startup. She is a mother of three and teaches Creative Writing for Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, and she and her husband Jason own Starving Artist Cafe' in the Argenta Arts District, where "Tales from the South" takes place.
Paula Martin Morell was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and moved with her family to Little Rock when she was twelve. After high school she began traveling and lived in the US Virgin Islands; Breckenridge, Colorado; and Miami, FL, where she received her BA in English from Florida International University. She then headed back to the South, earning her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop, before several more years of traveling and living across the States and overseas. She finally came home for good to Arkansas in 2002. Paula has been teaching creative writing for over 20 years, and her short stories, poetry, and creative non-fiction have won numerous regional, national, and international awards. Three times she has been featured as an emerging writer at the International Conference on the Short Story in English. Her critically-acclaimed novel-in-stories broken water was published in 2006, and her writing workshop Invoking the Gifts is being used in recovery centers nationwide. She started Temenos Publishing Company, a small literary press, in 2005, and she embarked on this incredible journey of creating, producing, and hosting "Tales from the South" within a few months of Temenos' startup. She is a mother of three and teaches Creative Writing for Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, and she and her husband Jason own Starving Artist Cafe' in the Argenta Arts District, where "Tales from the South" takes place.
Jay Jones, Production Engineer and Technical Director
Jones joined the Tales team in the spring of 2011 and instantly took the show to a whole new level. With 23 years of experience in the entertainment audio industry, there’s not much that Jay hasn’t done, from recording engineer & producer to live sound engineer to award winning theatrical sound designer, and more. In the fall of 2006 Jay became a Digidesign Certified Pro Tools Operator. After attending 10 days of extensive training and taking 4 tests he became one of the few certified Pro Tools Operators in the state of Arkansas. “It’s all about keeping up with the Jones’….you think it’s hard keeping up with us, you ought to try being one!”
Jones joined the Tales team in the spring of 2011 and instantly took the show to a whole new level. With 23 years of experience in the entertainment audio industry, there’s not much that Jay hasn’t done, from recording engineer & producer to live sound engineer to award winning theatrical sound designer, and more. In the fall of 2006 Jay became a Digidesign Certified Pro Tools Operator. After attending 10 days of extensive training and taking 4 tests he became one of the few certified Pro Tools Operators in the state of Arkansas. “It’s all about keeping up with the Jones’….you think it’s hard keeping up with us, you ought to try being one!”
April Gentry-Sutterfield, Stage Manager
April earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts cum laude from Hendrix College in 2001. After interning at Parkview Arts and Sciences Magnet High School in Little Rock, Hendrix awarded April with the James W. Meriwether Award for Secondary Education. She went on to develop the magnet theatre program at Hot Springs Middle School in Hot Springs, Arkansas where she worked as a classroom drama teacher for three years. In 2007, April graduated from the top-ranked Drama and Theatre for Youth MFA program at the University of Texas at Austin where she co-founded UT Connections.
April earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts cum laude from Hendrix College in 2001. After interning at Parkview Arts and Sciences Magnet High School in Little Rock, Hendrix awarded April with the James W. Meriwether Award for Secondary Education. She went on to develop the magnet theatre program at Hot Springs Middle School in Hot Springs, Arkansas where she worked as a classroom drama teacher for three years. In 2007, April graduated from the top-ranked Drama and Theatre for Youth MFA program at the University of Texas at Austin where she co-founded UT Connections.
Mark Simpson, Original Music
Mark has recorded with John Weston, Richard Johnston, and Juke Joint Boys (David Kimbrough Jr., Kinney Kimbrough, Eric Deaton, Mark Simpson). He was featured performing at the King Biscuit Blues Festival (held in Helena, Arkansas) in "Blues in the Delta," a documentary by Jack Hill. He has appeared on the "Beale Street Caravan" radio show as well the "King Biscuit" radio show on KFFA. Mark's guitar playing on the CD "Blues at Daybreak" was reviewed in Living Blues and described as "shimmering slide...stinging slide guitar pattern i the style of vintage-era Muddy Waters." He toured with the late bluesman Willie Foster out of Greenville, Mississippi and was a featured house guitarist at the late bluesman Junior Kimbrough's juke joint in Chulahoma, Mississippi.
Mark has recorded with John Weston, Richard Johnston, and Juke Joint Boys (David Kimbrough Jr., Kinney Kimbrough, Eric Deaton, Mark Simpson). He was featured performing at the King Biscuit Blues Festival (held in Helena, Arkansas) in "Blues in the Delta," a documentary by Jack Hill. He has appeared on the "Beale Street Caravan" radio show as well the "King Biscuit" radio show on KFFA. Mark's guitar playing on the CD "Blues at Daybreak" was reviewed in Living Blues and described as "shimmering slide...stinging slide guitar pattern i the style of vintage-era Muddy Waters." He toured with the late bluesman Willie Foster out of Greenville, Mississippi and was a featured house guitarist at the late bluesman Junior Kimbrough's juke joint in Chulahoma, Mississippi.
V.L. Cox, Set Artist
Cox lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas and has been painting for 26 years. She currently works full time as an artist and her work can be found in private and corporate collections nationwide. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, V.L. Cox later moved to Arkadelphia and acquired a Bacelor of Fine Arts degree from Henderson State University. While working as an artist in Dallas, Texas, Cox worked in the scenic industry constructing and painting large backdrops for theatrical organizations such as the Dallas Opera, the Dallas Ballet, and the Las Colinas Film Studios. One of her most important achievements was painting the background for the National Civic Rights Humanities Awards in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1999, Cox was selected for 1999 International Women's Works Competition in Chicago, Illinois.
Cox lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas and has been painting for 26 years. She currently works full time as an artist and her work can be found in private and corporate collections nationwide. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, V.L. Cox later moved to Arkadelphia and acquired a Bacelor of Fine Arts degree from Henderson State University. While working as an artist in Dallas, Texas, Cox worked in the scenic industry constructing and painting large backdrops for theatrical organizations such as the Dallas Opera, the Dallas Ballet, and the Las Colinas Film Studios. One of her most important achievements was painting the background for the National Civic Rights Humanities Awards in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1999, Cox was selected for 1999 International Women's Works Competition in Chicago, Illinois.
