Hear-Tell

12/02/2025

New Episode Alert!

In this show, Moni Basu, the director of the University of Georgia’s MFA Narrative Nonfiction program, talks with journalist and author, Kim Cross.

Kim is the author of three books: “What Stands in a Storm,” explores how people came together in the aftermath of the deadliest tornado outbreak in America; “Stahl House,” is biography of an architectural gem in Los Angeles and “In Light of All Darkness,” delves into the investigation of the murder of the murder of Polly Klaas.

Kim’s books are so deeply reported that readers often feel like they’re standing in the room with her characters. In this conversation with Moni, Kim discusses how she finds her main characters and then, how she goes about pulling all those details out of them.

Podcast Episode · Hear-Tell · 02/12/2025 · 41m

13/12/2024

Latest episode just dropped. Lucky for us, Tommy Tomlinson agreed to stick around after he spoke to our UGA MFA students during the August residency, to discuss his writing process and other craft gems in the reporting of his latest book, Dogland: Passion, Glory and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show.

Podcast Episode · Hear-Tell · 12/12/2024 · 32m

15/11/2024

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 2024 and has more than 20 years of experience as a reporter, writing and voicing multimedia stories at CNN, where she won two Peabody Awards, an Eppy and numerous other awards.

But in 2021, facing burn-out and a rapidly changing media landscape, she made the jump to podcasting. Her first podcast, "Suspect: Vanished in the Snow," jumped quickly to number one on Apple charts. She followed that, with the multi-episodic podcast, "Body Brokers," whose performance online was equally impressive.

Podcast Episode · Hear-Tell · 11/11/2024 · 35m

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/

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