MTS 12: Telling lies, asking questions & discovering personal truth in writing with Yahdon Israel

In this episode I talk with Yahdon Israel, one of Under the Gum Tree's previous contributors. Yahdon is 27-year-old writer from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, who has written for Avidly, The New Inquiry, Brooklyn Magazine, LitHub, and Poets and Writers. He graduated from the MFA Creative Non-Fiction Writing program at the New School. He is the Awards and Membership VP of the National Book Critics Circle. Run a popular Instagram page which promotes literature and fashion under the hashtag Literaryswag, and host a web show for writers called LIT.In this episode we talk about:Writing as a means to confronting the worldTelling lies to find your voice, and writing as a way to be heardGetting to the truth of feelings through false constructs like memory and objectivityHow James Baldwin has influenced Yahdon as a writerWhite editors and their expectation that black writers should answer their questionsComplexity of asking questions that reveal assumptions and lies we tell ourselvesThe essay as a form of asking questions that may never be answeredWhat the literary market wants and expects from writers of colorThe Women, by Hilton AlsThe importance of literary citizenship and contributing to community beyond writingYahdon's interview with Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Tyehimba JessYahdon's popular Instagram hashtag #literaryswag and his new web show for writers called LIT.Visit Yahdon online at yahdonisrael.com. Follow him on Instagram @yahdon and on Twitter @yahdonisrael.Follow Yahdon's projects on Instagram @litplatform and @literaryswagbookclub.Visit us online at moretothestorypodcast.com and visit Under the Gum Tree at underthegumtree.com.Follow Under the Gum Tree Twitter and Instagram @undergumtree. Follow me on Twitter @justjanna and @jannamarlies on Instagram.Find out about my 6-week email audio course at jannamarlies.com/cnf101course. Get full access to More to the Story with Janna Maron at moretothestory.substack.com/subscribe