A VERY SPECIAL WORD THURSDAYS FEATURING MONI BASU AND JAN WINBURN WITH COLIN DONOHUE, JOEY CUMMINGS, & KAREN ANDES

Word Thursdays Special Edition

Three writers in the University of Georgia MFA program in narrative nonfiction will read “micro-essays,” work that stems from their study of poetry and its capacity to elevate prose. Their readings will be followed by a discussion of the writer-editor relationship by Moni Basu and Jan Winburn. The two will talk about their 18-year-long partnership and deconstruct the making of a messy and fraught story that could have threatened everything they had built.

MONI BASU 

Moni Basu is director of the Master in Fine Arts in Narrative Nonfiction program and the Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer in Residence at the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She is formerly the Michael and Linda Connelly Lecturer in Narrative Nonfiction at the University of Florida. Moni worked as a reporter and editor for 35 years at CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other news outlets before becoming a full-time professor. She still writes as a freelancer, and her most recent work has been published in the Bitter Southerner and Flamingo magazine. Her 2012 e-book, Chaplain Turner’s War (Agate Publishing) grew from a series of stories on an Army chaplain in Iraq. A platoon sergeant gave her the moniker “Evil Reporter Chick,” and she was featured as a war reporter in a Marvel comics series. Moni was born in Kolkata, India, and grew up straddling two cultures. Her work has been recognized with numerous accolades but she is most proud of being named the 2020 University of Florida Teacher of the Year. Moni lives in the ATL and loves Sunday mornings, traveling, terrific storytelling and her dog Gizmo — not always in that order.

JAN WINBURN

Jan Winburn is a fan of artful storytelling, kickass reporting and the powerful melding of the two.

Jan spent more than four decades working in newsrooms as a narrative editor, writing coach, and investigative editor and has led workshops around the world. Her career was recognized with the 2009 Mimi Award given to editors “who encourage journalistic excellence and understand the emotional landscape of assignments on tragedy and trauma.” Selected to be a Pollner Professor by the University of Montana, she taught a course on reporting and writing about trauma. Winburn edited Lisa Pollak’s 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, and her writers have won many of the other top prizes in journalism, including a Peabody Award, an Edgar R. Murrow Award, the Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Storytelling, the Al Neuharth Award for investigative journalism, the Wilbur Award for religion coverage, and the Batten Medal for public service. She is especially proud of two young journalists she worked with whose stories captured the prestigious Livingston Award for journalists under age 35. Jan grew up in a small town in Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She is the author of Shop Talk and War Stories: Journalists Examine Their Profession and co-editor of two e-books, Secrets of Prize-Winning Journalism, 2013 and 2014.

COLIN DONOHUE

Colin Donohue has worked at Elon University in North Carolina for 16 years and currently serves as the School of Communications director of student engagement and special projects and as an instructor in journalism. Colin chairs the university’s student media board and handles alumni outreach for the School of Communications. He also serves as director of the Emerging Journalists Program, which offers journalism training and instruction to high school students from diverse ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. He has won awards from the College Media Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and Elon University for his work as an adviser, teacher and mentor. Colin earned a degree in journalism from Elon, a master’s in journalism from the University of Memphis. He will receive his MFA in narrative media writing at the University of Georgia in August.

JOEY CUMMINGS

Joey Cummings: “I like my chicken finger lickin’ good.” “Keep your eyes on your fries at McDonald’s.” “Doritos, one heck of a crunch.” Those are just a few words penned by Joey in the first 20 years of her career. She grew from a writer to the top jobs in global advertising agencies. Then she took a break to circumnavigate the world in a 40-foot sailboat. Upon her return, she took on Madison Avenue by starting her own NYC agency: The Joey Company, known for “Seeing what others fail to see®.” Among the campaigns she drove: for Trojan condoms (“You can’t wait to get it on”), for First Response pregnancy tests (“Because you are your baby’s first home”), and for the Brooklyn Book Fair (“Worms unite”). She has won every prestigious award in the industry, including the Cannes Lion and the Effie. Advertising Age recognized her as one of the 100 Best and Brightest in Advertising and Fortune Magazine called her a “People to Watch.” She’s a single-engine pilot and once held a 15-minute plank. Joey currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, in an area called DUMBO, her favorite childhood book, still

KAREN ANDES

Karen Andes is on the faculty of Brown University’s School of Public Health and is completing a Master of Fine Arts in Narrative Nonfiction writing at the University of Georgia. She writes on women’s issues, adolescent well-being, global health, marginalized communities and urban development.

Link to RSVP: Word Thursdays Featuring Moni Basu and Jan Winburn | Facebook