Writer Caleb Johnson to Present “Telling Fact from Fiction” on Oct. 10

The MFA Org’s Local & Visiting Writers Series welcomes Caleb Johnson, who will give a talk titled “Telling Fact from Fiction: Using Autobiography and Research in the Novel.”

In Caleb’s words: “I’ll discuss how in order to write and revise the novel I’m working on at the moment I had to reimagine my relationship with research. I’ll share tips for conducting research, as well as potential pitfalls for us fiction writers. I’ll also talk about my background in journalism, how that impacts my fiction-writing process, and the autobiographical origins of my novel-in-progress.”

Caleb Johnson is the author of the novel Treeborne (Picador), which received an honorable mention for the Southern Book Prize. His nonfiction has been cited in Best American Essays, and appears in Garden & Gun, Southern Living, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. His short fiction and poems are forthcoming or have been published in Appalachian Journal, The Carolina Quarterly, and Joyland. Caleb studied journalism at The University of Alabama, and earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Wyoming, where he also taught. He has received fellowships from The Jentel Foundation, the Longleaf Writers Conference, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. After four years teaching at Appalachian State University, he currently teaches at the University of South Alabama and lives in Mobile with his wife, the writer Irina Zhorov, and their son, Felix.

In-person at the Writers House, first floor. Swipe your RUID at the rear door for entry.