Storytelling is serious business. A well-told story can generate resources and build relationships. It can heal, awaken, challenge, or inspire. It illuminates possibility and invites change.
I believe the ability to write is a call to service. Good writing shines light on what has been shoved into dark corners. It comforts the afflicted — and afflicts the comfortable. Intention matters. And so does deep listening and close attention.
My essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine; O: The Oprah Magazine, CNN, The Sunday Times (London), and elsewhere. I am the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Award, a Pushcart Prize, a Bread loaf scholarship, and a North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship. My work has been translated and reprinted in Indonesia, Turkey, Iran, and South Africa; and I have been featured on National Public Radio, and on PBS. I am also the former associate publisher of The Sun.
My memoir A Tender Struggle (Algonquin, 2014) explores intimacy, otherness, and what enduring love looks like. My current project is a nonfiction exploration of freedom, domination, and the upside of downward mobility.
Do you have a story that needs to be told with precision and heart?
