Hear-Tell

What happens when a journalist known for telling other people’s stories turns the spotlight on her own? In this episode of Hear Tell, host Laurie Hertzel sits down with Pulitzer Prize–winning journal...

This week on Hear-Tell, host Diana Keough sits down with journalist and CNN International supervising producer Sam Bresnahan to discuss her powerful new book, In Blood, Flowers Bloom: A World War II ...

In this episode of Hear-tell, Pat Thomas—MFA Distinguished Professor of Practice at the University of Georgia—joins award-winning author Jessica Handler to talk about Pat’s essay for The Bitter Southe...

In this episode of Hear-Tell, Martin Padgett illuminates the complicated, very human life of Michael Hardwick—the Atlanta man at the center of Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), the Supreme Court decision tha...

In this episode of Hear-Tell, Rosalind Bentley—distinguished professor of practice in the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program—sits down with recent MFA graduate and freelance jour...

In this episode, Moni Basu, the director of the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program, talks with journalist and author Kim Cross. Kim spent many formative years in the South, swimm...

In this episode, John T. Edge, a distinguished professor of practice in the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program, talks with Tommy Tomlinson about his latest book, “Dogland: Passio...

In this episode, we talk to Ashley Fantz about her transition from an senior investigative reporter at CNN to writer, reporter and host of two hit podcasts. Ashley graduated with her MFA from UGA in 2...

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 aw...

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 Secre...

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 Reclama...

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 ...

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...

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 quie...

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 betwee...

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 crit...

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 mi...

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 At...

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 stor...

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 R...

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 whi...

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. T...

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 Th...

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 in...

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...

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 Afric...

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 Ji...

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 Potl...

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 ...

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 fro...

Valerie Boyd, director of the Low-Residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction program at the University of Georgia, joins host André Gallant to help define narrative nonfiction and discuss why stories, espe...