Episode 59: Interview with Author Jennifer McGaha

In Episode 59 of Literary Prospects, we talk with author Jennifer McGaha about her new essay collection, The Joy Document.

Jennifer is the author of three works for creative nonfiction: Flat Broke with Two Goats, a  2018 OverDrive Big Library Read, Bushwhacking: How to Get Lost in the Woods and Write Your Way Out, a Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award finalist, and, most recently, The Joy Document, a collection of 50 essays celebrating midlife. Her work has also appeared in many magazines and literary journals including Image, The Huffington Post, The New Pioneer, Lumina, PANK, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Brevity, Bitter Southerner, Crab Creek Review, River Teeth, and others. An Appalachian native, Jennifer teaches at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, where she also coordinates the Great Smokies Writing Program. She lives in a wooded North Carolina hollow with her husband, two cats, four unruly dogs, nine relatively tame dairy goats, and an ever-changing number of chickens.

In this interview, Jennifer talks about the conversation with her grandmother that inspired The Joy Document, defining moments of joy, writing as a spiritual practice, how her latest project has changed her, her road to publication, and much more...