Hear-Tell

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.  T...

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 healt...

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 p...

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 abou...

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 i...

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 help Harold relearn how to live in the world. A veteran reporter and TV broadcaster, Shavin lives in A...

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. She lives in Atlanta, where she is the founder of  Dope Sista , an online publication highlighting the ac...

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, especially true ones, are so important to us.  Voices heard during the intro belong to MFA alums Katoya Fleming, Marty Padgett, and Tracy Coley. Learn more about Hear-Tell and the innovative Low-Residency...