Hear-Tell

30/06/2024

In this episode, celebrity ghost writer Nick Chiles discusses the process of writing in someone else’s voice.

Nick, who graduated from UGA with his MFA in 2022, has won nearly 20 major journalism awards, including a 1992 Pulitzer Prize as part of a New York Newsday team. He is currently writer in residence teaching Feature Writing courses at The University of Georgia.

Nick is also the author or co-author of 22 books, including four New York Times bestsellers he wrote with R&B icon Bobby Brown, civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, gospel superstar Kirk Franklin, and Dallas pastor, T. D. Jakes. His most recent book, “Killing the Image: A Champion’s Journey of Faith, Fighting, and Forgiveness” was co-written with Hall of Fame boxer Andre Ward.

https://lnkd.in/ezG-WXUE

24/04/2024

A new episode just dropped.

In this show, 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 developing the atomic bomb while a scientist in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, home to the top-secret Manhattan Project. She also talked about her growth as a journalist while weaving together family secrets into a narrative that explores the long-term impact of nuclear weapons.

Hear-Tell is a podcast featuring students, alumni and faculty from the Grady College Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction program.

21/02/2024

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,” which was edited by the late Valerie Boyd, the founder of UGA’s MFA in Narrative Nonfiction program.

Publishers’ Weekly listed “Bigger than Bravery” among their Big Indie books of fall, Library Journal named it one of the best books of 2022 and Foreword Indies named it the Silver Winner for Anthologies. It also won the Georgia Author of the Year Award in the Specialty Book category.

KaToya talks about the wonder of editing writers she admires and the labor of love in completing the project after Boyd passed away. Also in this episode, Lolis Eric Elie, a former mentor in the MFA program reads from his essay, “A Survivor Looks Back;” program mentor and alumna, Rosalind Bentley (MFA ’17) reads from her essay, “Iron and Brass.”https://grady.uga.edu/hear-tell/

08/01/2024

In this episode, Brandon P. Fleming, renowned speaker, nationally acclaimed educator and former debate coach at Harvard University, discusses his memoir, "MisEducated," (Hachette, 2021).

Brandon, who earned his MFA in 2021 and worked primarily wiht 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.

Brandon talks about how an why it's so important to tell the truth when writing a memoir, as well as the best way to navigate family members who not only question why you're sharing the story but who also may not appear in the best light.
https://grady.uga.edu/hear-tell/

Please listen and let us know what you think.

15/11/2023

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.” His article was recently featured in Food Stories: Writing That Stirs the Pot, an anthology published by The Bitter Southerner.

Listen here:

Hear-Tell is a podcast featuring students, alumni and faculty from the Grady College Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction program.

10/10/2023

In this episode, Shannon McCaffrey (MFA ‘23) and Jan Winburn, Distinguished Professor of Practice, 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 many beautifully constructed scenes contained in the narrative, as well as the emotion she was able to evoke from her main character.

Listen here:

Hear-Tell is a podcast about narrative nonfiction from the Grady College of Journalism.

08/09/2023

In this episode, 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 questions on how to keep a story moving forward, to ways to humanize famous historical figures, and how to change the world through narrative this conversation gets to the core of why we write.https://grady.uga.edu/graduate_studies/hear-tell/

28/07/2023

The ninth year of the MFA Narrative Media Writing fall residency takes place July 30 to Aug. 5.

25/07/2023

25/07/2023

Hear-Tell is back! In this episode of Hear-Tell, we delve into the art of writing short. Mississippi writer and poet Beth Ann Fennelly and author of Heating and Cooling taught the art of the micro memoir to the January 2023 residency. You’ll hear Fennelly, Grady's new MFA program director, Moni Basu and two MFA students, Beth Burch and Colin Donohue read the micro-memoirs that evolved from a writing session led by Fennelly. In the second half of the show, Basu who took over the program after the death of her best friend and former program director, Valerie Boyd, discusses how starting small can help us to think big.

This show was produced by Diana Keough, edited by Amy Pedulla and hosted by Josina Guess, and recorded in the New Media Institute podcast studio at the Grady College of Journalism.

Stay tuned for more episodes. Let us know what you think or send show ideas to [email protected]

01/06/2021

Congratulation to 2018 MFA alum Marty Padgett on the publication today of his first book, "A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Disco, and Atlanta's Gay Revolution."

In our latest episode, hear Marty read an essay adapted from the book and discuss what it means to place this nearly forgotten era of Southern and q***r history into the public record: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-13-martin-padgett-underneath-the-sweet-gum-tree/id1497953422?i=1000523650328

07/05/2021

Stories about the love that challenged us, nurtured us, and made us who we are.

Hear-Tell honors Mother's Day in a special REVISED episode featuring stories from Dorothy Lennon, Karen Thomas, and John T. Edge.

Listen this Sunday, May 9, at 6 p.m. on WUGA 91.7FM in northeast Georgia in the This American Life slot.

Available now on all podcast platforms: https://msha.ke/heartell/

07/04/2021

A story about a parent's struggle to build a nest, rather than a cage, for his baby bird.

In our latest episode, Max Blau reads his story "How Jim White Helped His Bluebird Spread Her Wings," about musician Jim White, his relationship with his daughter Willow, and how they learn to overcome turmoil to love each other on equal terms.

Listen now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-12-max-blau-how-jim-white-helped-his-bluebird-spread/id1497953422?i=1000515965564

09/03/2021

In our latest, Moni Basu takes us to Cassadaga, a mecca for mystics in a sleepy central Florida town.

The veteran narrative reporter and educator also discusses the distance between first person and subject, skepticism and revelation. Tune in now!



https://msha.ke/heartell/

09/02/2021

"Always a Mammy, never the Mom."

In "Is That Your Mother?" Jasmin Pittman Morrell details the joys and struggles of early motherhood, while pushing back against the assumptions of the white gaze, which historically commodifies Black motherhood.

On this episode of Hear-Tell, featuring an essay originally published by The Bitter Southerner, Jasmin discusses writing to fully understand her humanity and the power she finds in choosing gratitude and celebrating abundance.

"I don't take the work of mothering or writing for granted."

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hear-tell/id1497953422 =heartell.podbean.com%2Fae1ab850-8bb5-3cc6-8a3a-932e6f0bc9b4

18/11/2020

As Hear-Tell gears up for a new season of true stories for 2021, we invite you to revisit our very first episode, an interview with Valerie Boyd, author of "Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston," and director of the Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Media Writing at the University of Georgia.

Listen on Apple Podcasts now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-0-why-narrative-why-now-a-conversation-with-valerie-boyd/id1497953422?i=1000464732737

13/10/2020

For decades, the fertile land around Quincy, Washington, irrigated by the Grand Coulee Dam, has produced apples and potatoes that get shipped around the world. Now data storage centers, owned by the likes of Microsoft, stand out across the landscape. What happens to a farming community when Big Tech comes to town?

In Kristin Lowe's essay "The Orchard on a Cloud," we learn one family's evolving connection to a way of life in flux.

Listen now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-9-kristin-lowe-the-orchard-on-a-cloud/id1497953422?i=1000494485065

12/10/2020

15/09/2020

When veteran journalist Jeremy Redmon, a 2019 graduate of the Grady Nonfiction MFA program, embedded with troops in Iraq, he did so to cover the biggest story of the day and better understand his father, an Air Force veteran who served multiple tours in Vietnam. He wouldn't return home the same. What came after reporting on war would be another journey.

Hear Jeremy's essay and how he writes about traumatic events in our latest episode, available on all platforms now.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-aa2r2-eb17a3

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 ...

12/08/2020

Wrestlers, roommates, small towns and beautiful eyelashes feature in Episode 7, the second installment in our short narrative series. Available now on all podcast platforms.

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-k5cxk-e613c8

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'l...

15/07/2020

Our latest episode, out now, features short narrative essays from current students in the MFA program: Kim Lute, Jasmin Pittman Morrell, Tom Cullen, and Diana Keough.

The essays explore the different ways we can interpret family, ancestry, and the lessons our loved ones offer us.

Avialable now on all podcast platforms!

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-...

15/06/2020

In our latest episode, writer Karen Thomas reads 'Traveling Graces,' a selection from an ongoing work that explores one African American family's experience with Alzheimer's.

Links to listen in the comments.

09/06/2020

*NEW EPISODE!*

"Long before daylight filled my New Jersey childhood bedroom, I gave up trying to sleep and crawled out of bed. As I tossed my clothes into a suitcase, I heard Mom shuffling around her bedroom at the other end of the hall. Downstairs below us in his bedroom, my brother Barry was up, too. Today was moving day.

Mom didn’t know that."

In 'Traveling Graces,' writer Karen M. Thomas recalls themes of freedom and self-care in the life of her mother, who had Alzheimer's and died in 2016, and writes into a daughter's sense of duty to carry forward the legacies of her elders.

Listen now on all major platforms.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-45eqq-df30a0

12/05/2020

New episode!

2018 graduate Samantha Bresnahan tells a story of reconciliation between former enemies, decades after the end of World War II, from her in-progress book "In the Blood, Flowers Bloom."

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 ali...

18/04/2020

Hear John T. Edge read "My Mother's Catfish Stew" and offer insight into how he crafts essays that blend personal narrative and Southern culture.

Links in the comments

14/04/2020

John T. Edge is no stranger to first person. He's present in most stories he writes, but in the background. But John T's own past became prompt in My Mother's Catfish Stew, an essay originally published in the Oxford American.

In our latest episode, JTE reads the essay and talks about how it marks a shifting approach to how he writes—and teaches writing—that lets the process be therapeutic...a little.

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...

01/04/2020

"I had a hard time writing about myself...I had to understand that it was my story to tell," said Dorothy Lennon-McFarland about finding the confidence to write the essay that became "Coming Out," which you can hear now on all major podcast platforms.

Dorothy Lennon reads from her essay “Coming Out,” about the author’s relationship with her mother, and how Lennon’s sexuality affected their family. Lennon, a 2019 MFA graduate, also holds degrees from North Carolina A&T State University, New York University, and currently teaches theatre. S...

19/03/2020

Listen to writer Mark Shavin read from "Unforgettable: Marriage, Memory and Madness in a Small Southern Town" on Apple podcasts now: https://apple.co/2x88srm

17/03/2020

How do you live in the world again after memory loss?

As a writer, why does a story stay with you over decades?

Find answers in our new episode featuring Mark Shavin and his book "Unforgettable: Marriage, Memory and Madness in a Small Southern Town." It's the story of Harold Riley, who lost his memory after brain surgery, and his wife, Elaine, who reintroduced him to his life. This episode also digs into how Mark reported the Riley's story over decades and how telling their story influenced how he views the world.

Mark Shavin reads a selection from his book-length manuscript “Unforgettable: Marriage, Memory and Madness in a Small Southern Town,” which is currently seeking a publisher. The story follows Harold Riley, who lost his memory following brain surgery in 1971, and his wife, Elaine, as she tries to...

05/03/2020

By writing memoir, we find power in ourselves and our stories.

Hear more from Dorothy Lennon-McFarland in this audio essay and interview: http://bit.ly/2POLvQm