More to the Story Podcast with Janna Maron

Kristie Robin Johnson is an educator, essayist, and poet from Augusta, Georgia. She is the current Chair of the Department of Humanities at Georgia Military College’s Augusta campus where she is an Assistant Professor of English. A graduate of the MFA Creative Writing program at Georgia College and State University, Kristie’s writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has received other awards and recognition, including an AWP Intro to Journals award, the 2020 Porter Fleming Prize for Nonfiction, and the 2021 Page Prize for Nonfiction from The Pinch Literary Journal. Her work has been published in numerous literary magazines, journals, and anthologies. Her first book, High Cotton, was released in 2020 by Raised Voice Press.In the episode we talk about: Hip hop as Kristie’s first introduction to literatureWriting essays as a function of journaling, being a young mother, and writing letters to her unborn childThe transition from being a poet to being an essayistMaya Angelo, Harlem Renaissance writers, and imagining her first poems as if Tupac or Biggie and Langston Hughes had a babyBilly Collins’s theory that every poet has 200 bad poems that they have to get outDetermining whether a piece is an essay or a poemWriting about the same things over and over as a writer of color, in reference to the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery and his murder being particularly difficult because of not being able to gather during COVIDThe impact that reading Black male authors had on her young sonAddressing race with kids and how parents make the choice of when, where, and how to talk about itHow the media has changed the frequency at which we see racial injusticeKristie’s strongest writing coming out of examining the intersections of life as a woman, a Black person, a single mom, and a returning college studentThe benefits of publishing with a small pressFind Kristie online at kristierobinjohnson.comKristie’s essay collection High Cotton is available on raisedvoicepress.com and everywhere books are soldVisit us online at moretothestorypodcast.com and visit Under the Gum Tree at underthegumtree.com. Follow Under the Gum Tree Twitter and Instagram @undergumtree. Follow me on Twitter @justjanna and @jannamarlies on Instagram. If you’re looking for a place to find more support with writing your true personal story, join the More To The Story community! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit moretothestorypodcast.substack.com

Timothy J. Hillegonds is the author of The Distance Between (Nebraska, 2019), a finalist for the 2020 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Tim's work has appeared in The Guardian, the Chicago Tribune, Salon, The Daily Beast, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Rumpus, Assay, Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction, River Teeth, Baltimore Review, Brevity, Under the Gum Tree, Hippocampus Magazine, The Fourth River, Midway Journal, RHINO, Bluestem Magazine, r.k.v.r.y. quarterly, and others.In 2019, Tim was named by the Guild Literary Complex as one of their thirty "Writers to Watch,” and he currently serves as a contributing editor for Slag Glass City, a digital journal of the urban essay arts.In the episode we talk about: The practice of writing in rehab at the beginning of a serious writing life and as an integral part of healingComing to nonfiction as a result of traumaGetting an undergrad degree at age 30Recovery as never being singular, we're constantly recovering from one thing or anotherNever writing the same book twice and giving yourself permission to try something differentCrafting a persona in creative nonfictionTruth vs subjectivity in nonfiction, honesty in recoveryUsing the second-person perspective in nonfictionThe challenges of an addiction memoir and a story of abuse from the perpetrator’s point of viewThe benefits of publishing with a university pressWriting visceral scenes of using after being soberThe moral inventory of self and wrestling with privilege working on his behalfHow to reinvent a story like an addiction that is, let’s be honest, so played outWriters Hope Edelman, Michele Morano , and  Sheryl St. Germain Find Tim online at timhillegonds.com.Visit us online at moretothestorypodcast.com and visit Under the Gum Tree at underthegumtree.com. Follow Under the Gum Tree Twitter and Instagram @undergumtree. Follow me on Twitter @justjanna and @jannamarlies on Instagram. If you’re looking for a place to find more support with writing your true personal story, join the More To The Story community! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit moretothestorypodcast.substack.com

Award-winning essayist Kelly Fig Smith discusses turning grief journals into essays, the art of flash and 'micro' writing, learning to love things without owning them, and the balance between creating with care vs. self-imposed deadlines. The episode delves into themes of loss, relationships, and personal growth through writing.

Writer Kati Standefer discusses heartbreak, conflict minerals, and illness as a driving force for nonfiction writing. She explores crafting personal stories with narrative depth, the ethical implications of conflict minerals in medical devices, and the emotional hurdles in her writing journey. Her book 'Lightning Flowers' delves into a complicated relationship with her ICD, the healthcare system, and the global supply chain.

In this episode, I talk with writer James M. Chesbro. James is the author of A Lion in the Snow: Essays on a Father’s Journey Home. His work has appeared in The Writer’s Chronicle, America, The Washington Post, The Millions, Essay Daily, and The Huffington Post. Essays from A Lion in the Snow were chosen as notable selections in The Best American Essays series 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018, as well as The Best American Sports Writing 2014.In the episode we talk about: Making sense of things in a private journalMourning the loss of a parent while trying to keep children alive at the same timeThe confluence of the role of son and father, feeling like a kid foreverHow becoming a father allowed him to learn about and understand his own father who passed away before he had kidsHow the memories that we  attach to objects allow them to take on a life of their ownJamie's book, A Lion in the Snow, Essays on a Father’s Journey Home compiling an essay collectionFinishing a project, even when it takes almost a decade, has to be an obsessionThe importance of books about men for men and exploring emotions as menjamesmchesbro.com / jamie_chesbro on Twitter & InstagramVisit us online at moretothestorypodcast.com and visit Under the Gum Tree at underthegumtree.com. Follow Under the Gum Tree Twitter and Instagram @undergumtree. Follow me on Twitter @justjanna and @jannamarlies on Instagram. If you're looking for a place to find more support with writing your true personal story, join the More To The Story community! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit moretothestorypodcast.substack.com

In this episode I talk with Tori Weston, creative writer and visual artist. Tori received a BFA in Writing and Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College. While working for the Professional Studies department and finishing her last semester of graduate school, she wrote a proposal for a creative writing high school program. Fifteen years later, she is now the Assistant Director of Pre-College Programs at Emerson College. When not running the pre-college program, she balances her professional life with her creative life as both a writer and artist. Her writing has appeared in What's Up Magazine, Providence Journal-Bulletin, Sleet Magazine, and Under the Gum Tree. She has also been a featured storyteller in the Risk! Live show, podcast, and book. Her artwork has been shown at the Somerville Museum, Diesel Cafe, and Bloc 11 Cafe. In the episode we talk about: Her 6th grad teacher’s quirky essay assignmentsTori's love of grammar & being rewarded for memorizing poems with partiesThe 1991 Doors movie inspiring a generation of creatives writing bad poetryThe recurring theme of teachers taking interest, encouraging her to pursue writingMoving to nonfiction as a result of telling personal storiesThemes unifying multiple short-short piecesThe richness of growing up in a cultural diverse neighborhoodTori’s memoir-in-progress about her whopping 38 roommate situationsCheck out her work at: ToriWestonWriterArtist.com Visit us online at moretothestorypodcast.com and visit Under the Gum Tree at underthegumtree.com. Follow Under the Gum Tree Twitter and Instagram @undergumtree. Follow me on Twitter @justjanna and @jannamarlies on Instagram. If you're looking for a place to find more support with writing your true personal story, join the More To The Story community! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit moretothestorypodcast.substack.com

Rebeckah Taussig, a writer and teacher with a PhD in disability studies, discusses disability in literature, including works by Wilkie Collins. She shares her experience of transitioning to a wheelchair and explores writing life stories shaped by her body. She also talks about writing flash-flash memoir on Instagram and encourages personal storytelling.

In this episode I talk with Liz Stephens, one of Under the Gum Tree's previous contributors. Liz is currently growing the Mojave Desert Arts project, a residency and workshop space outside Joshua Tree, California. Recent work can be found in the anthologies Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction and Dirt: A Love Story. Other work can be found in Fourth Genre and Terrain.org, among others. She has served as managing editor of Brevity, and teaches nonfiction with the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program and through private workshops and retreats. Liz’s essay “Because Faint Glitter Came Off Everything” appears in the April 2017 issue of Under the Gum Tree.In this episode we talk about:The difference between journaling and crafting true stories for an audienceHow writing creative nonfiction has taught Liz the craft and structure needed for returning to writing fictonBeing in transition as an adult and part of the artistic classHow places are created, whether people create it or whether place shapes and forms peopleLiving in the desert and choosing to stay in a place that's more difficult to liveThe inconvenience of wanting something that isn't easyPaying attention to surroundings as a way to occupy an over-thinking mindAn artist residency that Liz is working on starting called the Mojave Desert ArtsVisit Liz online at thedaysaregods.com follow Liz on Instagram at @doc_stephensVisit us online at moretothestorypodcast.com and visit Under the Gum Tree at underthegumtree.com. Follow Under the Gum Tree Twitter and Instagram @undergumtree. Follow me on Twitter @justjanna and @jannamarlies on Instagram. Find out about my 6-week email audio course at jannamarlies.com/cnf101course. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit moretothestorypodcast.substack.com

Dorian Fox, a writer and Under the Gum Tree contributor, discusses writing nonfiction, embracing subjective truth, anxieties of aging, teaching writing, and cult-classic films in this episode. He shares insights on the craft of memoir and his work at Grub Street. The podcast also explores themes of decay, reflection, and confessional writing. Dorian's upcoming publication and website are mentioned, along with a preview of the next episode.

"MTS 12: Telling lies, asking questions & discovering personal truth in writing with Yahdon Israel" features Yahdon Israel, a 27-year-old writer from Brooklyn and VP of the National Book Critics Circle. They discuss how writing helps confront the world, finding one's voice through lies, the influence of James Baldwin, the complexity of questions, expectations for writers of color, literary citizenship, and Yahdon's popular Instagram hashtag and web show for writers.