Writers Workshop To Open Mic

In the summer of 2023, at the urging of a professor friend, I attended the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop. I took a week-long, autofiction class taught by Robin Hemley. We wrote every day in class, and I continued writing on my friend’s farm on the outskirts of Iowa City at night. One of the pieces I wrote was about my dad (it would end up being revised and included in my book “Where I Belong: A Black Teacher’s Quest to Find His Home”). At the conclusion of one of the classes, Hemley announced to us all that there’d be an open mic later that evening at one of the on-campus bars. He pulled me aside and told me it might be a good idea if I read the thing about my dad. I was hesitant at first, nervous as I approached the mic, and then all of a sudden, I wasn’t. Here it is.