Hear-Tell

In this episode, Laurie Hertzel, a distinguished professor of practice in the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program, interviewed Emily Strasser about her book, “Half-Life of a Secret: Reckoning With a Hidden History.” 

Emily visited Athens in January to speak to our MFA students during their winter residency. In this conversation, she discussed  her 10 years of research and writing about her grandfather’s role in...

In this episode, Lookout Books editor and writing professor KaToya Ellis Fleming (MFA '18) reflects on the work of editing the award-winning anthology Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic. Bigger Than Bravery was edited by the late Valerie Boyd who founded the MFA in narrative nonfiction program at UGA. Publishers’s Weekly listed Bigger than Bravery among their Big Indie books of fall, Library...

In this episode, renowned speaker, nationally acclaimed educator and former debate coach at Harvard University, Brandon P. Fleming discusses his memoir,  “MisEducated,” (Hachette, 2021). Brandon, who earned his MFA in 2021 and worked primarily with the program’s mentor Pat Thomas, shares the inspirational story of his transformation from a delinquent, drug-dealing dropout to an award-winning Harvard educator  – all by the age of 27...

In this episode, poet, educator and environmental writer James Murdock (MFA ‘21) discusses how using poetry, place and the natural world around him informed the reporting and writing of “Orange is the New Peach.” The piece was recently featured in Food Stories: Writing That Stirs the Pot, an anthology published by The Bitter Southerner.

James says good writing is built on the fine art of paying close attention and this article is ...

Moni Basu reads her story, "In Search of Spirits in Cassadaga," originally published in Flamingo Magazine. 

Basu, a member of the Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction faculty, travels to the quiet Floridian community of Cassadaga, known as the psychic capital of the world and home, since 1894, to followers of Spiritualism, a faith that believes that we never truly die. Instead, we leave our bodies and become another form of ma...

In this episode, Shannon McCaffrey (MFA ‘23) and Distinguished Professor of practice Jan Winburn discuss the challenges Shannon ran into while reporting and writing, “Sanctuary,” the love story between a woman named Carol and an elephant named Tarra and their 50- year bond that was published earlier this year in Atavist Magazine. Shannon’s article was described as “lyrical” by Sunday Longform, in part, because of the m...

In this episode, Distinguished Professor of practice John T. Edge interviews author Paul Kix about his latest book You Have to Be Prepared To Die Before You Can Begin to Live, which chronicles 10 critical weeks of the Civil Rights Movement. From nuts and bolts questions on how to keep a story moving forward, and how to humanize grandiose questions like how to change the world through narrative this conversation gets to the core of ...

Mississippi writer and poet Beth Ann Fennelly, author of the genre-bending Heating and Cooling, spoke at the nonfiction program’s residency in January 2023. She asked students to explore the art of micro-memoir. "What should we do when we can’t figure out how or where to start our story?" she asked. The answer? Start small. Precisely because they are so small, hummingbirds can do things other birds can’t do. In this episode of Hear...

Martin Padgett reads an essay titled “Underneath the Sweet Gum Tree,” originally published by the Oxford American, and adapted from his book, “A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Disco, and Atlanta’s Gay Revolution” (W.W. Norton, 2021).

The story follows Frank Powell, an architect of Atlanta’s queer nightlife from the 1960s until his death in 1996. One of Powell’s many nightclubs, the Sweet Gum Head, offered gay Atlantans a...

We're telling stories about a kind of love that created us, sustained us, maybe drove us crazy. A kind of love that—no matter what—made us who we are.

This special episode of Hear-Tell revisits stories about relationships with our mothers—how they cared for us and how we care for them. Stories come from past guests on the show: 2017 MFA graduate Karen Thomas, a professor of practice in journalism at Southern Methodist University;...

For parents, building nests, rather than cages, for baby birds can prove difficult. 

In Max Blau's story "How Jim White Helped His Bluebird Spread Her Wings," originally published by the Sunday Long Read, a songwriter and his daughter learn to overcome turmoil to love each other on equal terms. 

Blau, a 2018 graduate of the Low-Residency MFA program at the University of Georgia, spent years interviewing the subjects of the story, J...

Jasmin Pittman Morrell reads an essay originally published by the Bitter Southerner called "Is That Your Mother?" The story follows the author's experience as a Black mother to a child who appears white; it explores the commodification of Black motherhood throughout U.S. history and challenges the recurring assumptions of the white gaze. In response to hurtful encounters, Jasmin celebrates the fullness of her identity and family.

A...

Kristin Lowe reads an essay called "The Orchard on a Cloud," about the agricultural community of Quincy, Washington. The Grand Coulee Dam irrigates the apple orchard and potato fields around Quincy. That same water source has attracted data storage centers, run by the likes of Microsoft, creating fundamental shifts in how the people of Quincy define themselves. 

Returning to an important geography from her childhood, Kristin reflec...

2019 MFA graduate Jeremy Redmon reads an essay called “December 21 and What Came After,” about his experiences as a reporter embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq. The essay was originally published by The WarHorse, a nonprofit new website dedicated to telling stories about military service and the impact of war.

Redmon’s essay explores what drew him to covering armed conflict, what working in a war zone taught him about his Air Force ...

Current MFA students Alison Miller, Will Alford, Sierra Williams, and Stephanie Paladino read short narrative essays composed during their low-residency coursework over the past year. Their stories introduce us to fascinating characters and take us to communities across the US and Global South. We'll meet independent wrestlers, awkward roommates, stifling small towns, and almost romances. 

This episode is the second Hear-Tell episo...

Kim Lute, Tom Cullen, Jasmin Pittman Morrell, and Diana Keough read short narrative essays composed during their low-residency coursework over the past year. The stories share the theme of family, and consider the lessons our ancestors and loved ones provide us today. 

This episode is the first Hear-Tell episode produced from the safety of the homes of our guests and host. Considering the health of our contributors in light of the ...

Karen Thomas, a 2017 MFA graduate, reads an essay called "Traveling Graces," which is adapted from a chapter from an in-progress book project currently titled "Stealing Away: Alzheimer's and One African-American Family's Journey," which is currently seeking a publisher. 

The story follows the day Thomas moved her mother, who had Alzheimer's and died in 2016, into an assisted living facility. The plan had been long in the making, bu...

Samantha Bresnahan, a 2018 MFA graduate, reads a chapter from her book “In the Blood, Flowers Bloom,” which is currently seeking a publisher.

The story follows American and Japanese veterans of Iwo Jima during World War II and how the keepsakes that soldiers took from enemies kept the battle alive long after the fighting stopped. Bresnahan’s story concerns the trauma of war, but is ultimately about the necessity of reconciliation a...

John T. Edge reads his essay “My Mother’s Catfish Stew,” originally published in the Oxford American, about a son’s duty toward family memories and his mother’s legacy.

Edge is the author of “The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South.” He’s the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance and host of ESPN’s True South. Edge is also an original member of the Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction at UGA faculty. 

In ...