On the last Monday of every month, community members come together at the Broome County Public Library for a one-hour session of dramatic short story readings by local actors. The program, known as the Hungry Ear, was founded in 2007 by Judy McMahon, 86, of Binghamton.

McMahon, who received a graduate degree from the Yale School of Drama, described how the Hungry Ear came to be.

“We started it when the library here in Binghamton put in a new garden and they were having a special fest,” McMahon said. “They knew that I was an actor, and they said, ‘would you like to come in and maybe read a story for the people who come to celebrate the opening of the garden?’ And that’s really how it all got started.”

Typically, she chooses two pieces that can fit in a one-hour time frame and will occasionally bring back stories to reread if they were successful and generated engagement. Some months may also revolve around a specific theme, like stories that align with the current season or a certain emotion.

This month’s picks were “The Drummer Boy on Independence Day” by E. L. Doctorow and “Woman, Frog, and Devil” by Olga Tokarczuk.

David Cleutz of Binghamton, the reader of Doctorow’s story, mentioned his fascination with the author’s work.

“It’s a hard thing to do, to write a fictional story and fit it into real history,” Cleutz said. ”You’re jamming something in where it doesn’t belong, and to meld that in, to slip it in there in a way that’s realistic and believable, is not an easy thing to do. And of course Doctorow did that beautifully here.”

A Civil War historian and an author himself, Cleutz has written several books, including “War & Redemption, a Civil War Tale” — a novel that centers the 137 New York Infantry Regiment that was organized in Binghamton.

“If you read enough, you know what comes across good and what doesn’t,” Cleutz said. “And so my writing is informed by what I’ve read from others. I’m standing on the shoulders of a million other readers.”

Tokarczuk’s story, read by Charles Berman of Binghamton, leans into the use of fantastical elements, eccentric characters and the psyche to tell the tale of a boy struggling to find his place in the world.

McMahon described what she hopes listeners get out of the program.

“Maybe not necessarily learn something, but maybe laugh at something, maybe understand something more,” McMahon said. “Maybe it would lead you to maybe look up the author’s book and [think] ‘maybe I’ll read one for myself,’ you know?”

Cleutz echoed this sentiment.

“I hope they leave with an appreciation for literature and the craft of writing and the joy of reading what somebody’s craft was,” Cleutz said.