Introducing New Mentors to the MFA Program
Introducing New Mentors to the MFA Program
Updated 11/14/2023
This article is from 2016 – new mentors are better represented by the Faculty sections of the program pages. Screenwriting mentors and Narrative Nonfiction mentors
Original Article
UGA Online is excited to welcome four new mentors to the MFA Low Residency program! The program trains writers who will be published and produced in narrative journalism or screenwriting.
The Screenwriting concentration is designed for feature film and television writers who want to take their writing skills to the next level. Horace Newcomb and Hadjii Hand are joining Director of Screenwriting Nate Kohn, screenwriting mentor Christine Swanson and visiting mentors Holly Sorenson, Ramin Bahrani and James Ponsoldt to work one-on-one with students as experienced screenwriters who are currently vital members of the entertainment community.
Horace Newcomb
Horace Newcomb is Professor Emeritus and Emeritus Director of the Peabody Awards at the University of Georgia. He is the author/co-author of major critical works in the field of Television and Media Studies. Newcomb has taught screenwriting, including both feature writing and writing for television at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Georgia.
“I am a sucker for story, and I love fictional narrative, and it had been a major part of my home life from when I was about 12,” said Newcomb, on his passion for media writing. To learn more about Newcomb, see his faculty bio.
Hadjii Hand
Hand is an acclaimed writer and producer giving voice to a new generation of comedy. His first feature, “Somebodies,” premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive a Golden Thumb Award from legendary film critic Roger Ebert. After the success of his film “Somebodies,” Hand wrote, executive produced, and starred in “Somebodies” the television series for BET. The show was praised by the Associated Press as “One of the Five New Shows to Watch,” and recognized by the LA Times Critic’s Choice as one of the highlights of 2008. Find out more about Hand on his faculty bio.
The Narrative Nonfiction track is designed for students who want to develop their research, reporting and writing skills to take on topics of national and global importance and write a book on a subject they feel passionate about. Narrative nonfiction mentors Lolis Eric Elie and Diane Roberts will be joining Narrative Nonfiction Director Valerie Boyd, mentors Moni Basu and John T. Edge, and visiting mentor Melissa Fay Greene to help students explore writing long-form, research-based narratives that rise to the level of literature — factual literature.
Lolis Eric Elie
Lolis Eric Elie is a New Orleans-born, Los Angeles-based writer and filmmaker who has published in several genres. A staff writer for the AMC show “Hell on Wheels,” he also worked as a story editor for the HBO series “Treme.”
A contributing writer to The Oxford American, he has published work in Gourmet, The Washington Post, Time, The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Downbeat and The San Francisco Chronicle. For more information, check out Elie’s faculty bio.
Diane Roberts
Diane Roberts is a native Floridian who was educated at Florida State University and Oxford University, where she was a Marshall Scholar. She’s a political columnist for The Guardian newspaper and The Tampa Bay Times, an essayist for National Public Radio, a commentator for the BBC and a contributing editor at the Oxford American magazine. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, Best American Essays and Best American Food Writing.
“I like to describe what I see. The way I describe it lets you in on how I feel about it. Maybe that’s a battle cry, though in my case it’s probably more of a battle snark. Satirizing something is a great way to call for change in it. Humor is subversive,” explained Roberts. Read more about Roberts on her faculty bio.