The Writing University conducts a series of interviews with writers while they are in Iowa City participating in the various University of Iowa writing programs. We sit down with authors to ask about their work, their process and their descriptions of home.
Today we are speaking with Grace Morse, MFA candidate in the Nonfiction Writing Program.
Grace Morse is a writer and artist raised in New Orleans. Her work can be found in CRAFT and has been shortlisted for several national literary journal awards, and her teaching and pedagogical work have been celebrated by the University of Iowa's Council of Teaching and the Englert Theatre, where she was a 2023-2024 Nonfiction Fellow. She looks forward to a future in curation, art-making, and community engagement.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about what brought you to the University of Iowa?
I visited Iowa City in 2016 to attend the Between the Lines summer program hosted by the International Writing Program. Years later, as I prepared to graduate and enter a variety of fields, I had fond memories of my time here and appreciated that Iowa offered a program dedicated to creative nonfiction. I formally fell in love with the genre in undergrad, and my faculty at UNC Chapel Hill were so supportive and encouraging of my applying.
2. What is the inspiration for your work right now?
I am in love with collision, collage, and hybrid writing. I'm also a faithful practitioner of memoir. Now, I'm learning about the space of the hybrid memoir and all that it can be (as well as what I'd like it to be).
3. Do you have a daily writing routine?
I am a near-daily journal-er; it's my precious, private place. Writing at night is akin to glory for me these days, and I love to light candles and enter my body in an extra-intentional way. Often, pieces from my journaling inform or directly enter my public writing.
4. What are you reading right now? Are you reading for research or pleasure?
Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life by Sofia Samatar has been incredible to read (shoutout to Prof. Tisa Bryant for introducing me to this book)! I continue to return to Tight Spaces, co-written by Dr. Cherry Muhanji, Dr. Kesho Scott and Prof. Egyirba High. This book is the primary text that has guided my thesis; it's also deeply pleasurable and provocative--- the best of both worlds for me.
5. Tell us about where you are from - what are some favorite details you would like to share about your home?
I was born in Washington, D.C., where my parents fell in love, but I was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. My relationship to the city is complicated, and often hard to talk about. Nonetheless, I love New Orleans for its pockets of quiet, the ability to commune with a variety of "ghosts", the beautiful nature and vibrant artistic atmosphere. Beautiful Black culture abounds in New Orleans, and whenever I need to come back to myself, I know I can go home to my family, my grandpa's house in New Orleans East, and even the bird sanctuary on the Westbank and remember who I am and how deeply loved I am.
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Thank you!