All (good) writers are readers. Writing about books is how I first dipped my toe into the world of freelancing. I started with book reviews, listicles, and personal essays about my reading life. Even though I've moved past many of my beginning publications, my love affair with books remains strong.
The first time I really started to pour myself into studying books deeply, I was at Stetson University. I was lucky to have Mark Powell as my teacher. He opened up the world of southern literature to me and helped me start discovering my voice. Since then, I've cultivated my interest in southern literature into expertise.
In addition to being a southern literature expert, I'm also interested in (aka obsessed with) Hollywood history and Florida writers. Marjorie Stoneman Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston, Harry Crews, and Peter Matthiessen are all members of my personal Pantheon.
Read my work:
Selected Publications:
Paris Review
Goodreads:
- Interview with Karen Thompson Walker, 2019
- Interview with Taylor Jenkins Reid, 2019
- Interview with Mary Beth Keane, 2019
Broadly (VICE)
Tin House
- Tin House — “On Anna Maria Ortese’s The Iguana,” in Tin House vol. 20, num. 1
Literary Hub
- "How the Adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird Failed Scout Finch," 2019
- "How Winona Ryder Took Girl, Interrupted From Page to Screen," 2019
- "The CIA Scheme That Brought Dr. Zhivago to the World," 2019
- "Digging into the Queer Subtext of My Fair Lady," 2019
- “Silent Spring Is More than a Scientific Landmark: It’s Literature,” 2018
Pacific Standard
Los Angeles Review of Books
Real Simple
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- "Good Books" Series, 2019
- “15 Books Recommended by Your Favorite Celebrities,” 2018
- “How to Start a Book Club That Will Take Off,” 2018
- “9 Book Club Suggestions Everyone in Your Group Will Want to Talk About,” 2018
- “9 Books that Will Make Your Plane Ride Go Faster,” 2018
- “5 Surprisingly Great Freebies You Can Get With Your Library Card,” 2018
Travel + Leisure
Electric Literature
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- Interview with Anne Lamott, 2018
- “My Old Man and the Sea,” 2017
Southern Humanities Review
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward – November 2017
Ploughshares
- “When Rap Spoke Straight to God by Erica Dawson,” 2018
- Nomadland by Jessica Bruder – December 2017
- The Living Infinite by Chantel Acevedo – December 2017
Bustle
Earth Island Journal
- “Lives on the Vulnerable Edge,” 2018
BookBrowse
- Beautiful Country Burn Again by Ben Fountain, 2018
- Heartland by Sarah Smarsh, 2018
- The Map of Salt and Stars 2018
Entropy
Book Riot
- “The Leader of a Religious Group Burned These LGBTQ Books — Let’s Buy Them!“
- “The 2018 National Book Award Longlist for Fiction,” 2018
- “The 2018 National Book Award Longlist for Nonfiction,” 2018
- “The 2018 National Book Award Longlist for Poetry,” 2018
- “23 Resistance Poems to Express Your Rage,” 2018
- “Police Officers Challenge Books on South Carolina Summer Reading List,” 2018
- “Your Must-Read Book Club Suggestions for 2018,” 2018
- “Junot Diaz Accused of #MeToo Misconduct,” 2018
- “Book Riot’s Favorite Shakespearean Insults,” 2018
- “Announcing the 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning Books,” 2018
- “A Gentleman in Moscow to Get TV Adaptation Starring Kenneth Branaugh,” 2018
- “Anita Shreve, Author of The Pilot’s Wife, Passes Away at 71,” 2018
- “13 Reasons Why to Air Advisory Before Each Season,” 2018
- “John Oliver Trolls Mike Pence with Children’s Book that Hits Best-Seller List,” 2018
- “Reading Pathways: Where to Start with George Saunders,” 2018
- “How to Read Poetry,” 2018
- “New York Teacher Banned from Teaching the Harlem Renaissance,” 2018
- “Changes to Goodreads Giveaways Shrink the Number of Books Available,” 2018
- “5 Tips to Help You Reach Your Reading Challenge Goal This Year,” 2017
- “How to Become an Audiobook Narrator,” 2017
- “30 Books by Florida Authors Affected by Hurricane Irma,” 2017
- “How to Start a Book Club that Doesn’t Suck,” 2017
- “An Open Letter to People Who Don’t Think They Need to Read Diversely,” 2017
- “Literary Tourism: Orlando, Florida,” 2017
- “Environmental Fiction: A Reading List to Save the World,” 2017
- “10 Hilarious Fiction Audiobooks for Your Summer Road Trip,” 2017
- “10 Hilarious Nonfiction Audiobooks to Power Your Summer Road Trip,” 2017
- “Denis Johnson Died at 67: Eulogy for an Inspiration,” 2017
- “Thank an English Teacher,” 2017
- “Non-Fluffy Beach Reads to Get You Ready for Summer,” 2017