Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS - October 2026
In this issue:
MESSAGE FROM HARVARDWOOD
NEWS
The Showrunner Class with Joel Church-Cooper: Harvardwood Discount
Boston Harvardwood Writers Program Applications Open
Seeking Winternship Opportunities for Harvardwood 101 Students (Virtual or In-Person)
Seeking Homestay Hosts for Harvardwood 101 Students
Announcing the Winners of the 2027 Harvardwood Writers Competition & Most Staffable TV Writer
Featured Job: Senior Marketing Project Manager
FEATURES
Harvardwood Profile: Miranda Yousef AB ’98 (filmmaker)
Industry News
Exclusive Q&A with Nicole Levin AB ’15 (author)
CALENDAR & NOTES
Harvardwood Lowdown with New Harvardwood Vice President! (Virtual)
Selling a Screenplay with the Writers of TONY (Virtual)
Harvardwood Freewriting Sessions (Virtual)
Navigating the Current TV/Film Industry with Joel Church-Cooper (Virtual)
Last Month at Harvardwood
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
It's October, my nose is bleeding, let's get jiggy with it.
Joel Church-Cooper has a new Showrunner Class, check it out if you like shows or Joels or Churches or Coopers. Boston Harvardwood Writers Program Applications are open--finally, am I right? I am.
We are seeking Wintership Opportunities for Harvardwood 101 Students, so let us know if you'll be wanting to shape a young and tender mind this winter. Since most of them will also be wanting to sleep inside, we also need Homestay Hosts for Harvardwood 101 Students.
Long live the New Harvardwood Vice President! Come kiss the ring at the Harvardwood Lowdown, then join us for Selling a Screenplay with the Writers of TONY. We'll learn the magic of what it takes to get your screenplay out there in today's market.
As always, if you have an idea for an event or programming, please tell us about it here. If you have an announcement about your work or someone else's, please share it here (members) and it will appear in our Weekly and/or next HIGHLIGHTS issue.
Best wishes,
Grace Shi
Operations and Communications
The Showrunner Class with Joel Church-Cooper
My name is Joel Church-Cooper, and I'm excited to share a new online TV writing workshop called The Showrunner Class.
It’s an eight-week class limited to ten writers, designed to simulate a real writers’ room and help each participant leave with a finished half-hour television pilot. I have spent two decades writing and running television shows, and the class is built around the actual process of breaking story, writing pages, getting notes, rewriting, and making a script substantially better.
The September class has sold out, but there are plans for another class in October that meets Wednesdays at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET.
Harvardwood members receive 15% off the class. To get the discounted enrollment link, email showrunnerclass@gmail.com with the code HARVARDWOOD.
Boston Harvardwood Writers Program Applications Open
Strengthen your screenwriting skills in the Boston Harvardwood Writers Program! This group meets Tuesdays 7:30 - 9:00 pm, twice per month (October - May) on Zoom to workshop scripts by two participants at each meeting. We will workshop TV pilots, feature scripts, as well as short film scripts. Priority will be given to Boston-area writers; there may be opportunities for in-person gatherings. We welcome Harvard College undergraduates!
For questions, please reach out to workshop co-directors, Heather Faris (heather@museindustries.com) and Caro Ribeiro (caro.ribeiro08@gmail.com).
Applications are due by midnight on Sunday, October 11, 2026. Apply Now!
Seeking Winternship Opportunities for Harvardwood 101 Students (Virtual or In-Person)
The annual Harvardwood 101 career exploration program for undergraduates is coming up in January 2027! If you or your company are interested in hosting one or more current Harvard College students, either virtually or in-person, we offer our Harvardwood 101 Winternship program, which matches students with companies for 1-2 week educational experiences. You can think of them as informal short-term internships or “shadowing” opportunities. Official program dates are January 11-22, 2027, and Winternships can last between 1-2 weeks during that time or be open-ended if you find that your needs extend past the dates of the program.
Examples of support that our students can provide include short-term research, general organizing, exploring emergent digital technologies, social media support, etc. We just ask that you provide about 15-20 hours per week of experiential learning for them (working on projects, observing meetings, etc) and chat individually with your student(s) for 30-60 minutes per week. They’d be eager to learn from you in any capacity!
If you’re interested in a Winternship match, please contact our Programs Manager Laura Yumi Snell at lsnell@harvardwood.org.
Seeking Homestay Hosts for Harvardwood 101 Students
Every year, our Harvardwood 101 career exploration program offers a few dozen Harvard College students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend discussions with Hollywood executives, agents, writers, and artists.
Our Harvardwood 101 “Winternship” program (short-term professional experiences) spans 1-2 weeks in January, and we are currently looking for homestay hosts during that time in LA (approx. January 9-23, 2027).
If you’re able to provide a spare room/couch/air mattress to host a college student (or three!) for free, we’d be eternally grateful.
Please contact Programs Director Laura Yumi Snell at programs@harvardwood.org with your name, address/neighborhood, and the number of students you’re able to host. Thank you!
Announcing the Winners of the 2027 Harvardwood Writers Competition & Most Staffable TV Writer
Harvardwood is thrilled to announce the winners of the 20th annual Harvardwood Writers Competition!
These talented writers were selected by a panel of industry professionals in a blind judging process. Each writer will receive one-on-one mentorship as well as a cash prize. This year’s mentors include Carlton Cuse (Lost, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan), Mark Goffman (Bull, Umbrella Academy, The West Wing, The Irrational), Gregg Hurwitz (Orphan X, The Book of Henry), and Ed Zwick (Nashville, Blood Diamond, Woman Walks Ahead). Harvardwood aims to spotlight talented up-and-coming writers and connect them with mentors as well as producers, agencies, and management companies.
FEATURE CATEGORY WINNERS:
CROSSFIRE by Michael Connors (Action / Thriller)
Logline: After his best friend's death is ruled a suicide, a scapegoated Green Beret joins the private military company his friend founded to uncover the truth — but as he's pulled back into the adrenaline and brotherhood of combat, he discovers the company is secretly waging a cartel’s war on the streets of Los Angeles.
Michael Connors is a former U.S. Army Captain turned award-winning filmmaker. His time in the military informs the projects he writes — stories about loyalty, institutions that betray the people who serve them, and the moral compromises that follow. He is the co-founder of Five by Eight Productions, where he has directed and produced several narrative and documentary features that have received recognition at the Tribeca, Seattle, Austin, and London film festivals.
RUSSIAN RIVER by Robert Cain (Western)
Logline: In the brutal WWII winter of 1942, a misfit trio of Texas cowboys takes on Hitler’s army, driving a herd of cattle across Nazi-occupied territory to deliver beef to besieged and starving Leningrad.
Robert Cain has worked in the entertainment industry since 1991, first as a Hollywood guild and studio executive, and later as an entrepreneur and producer. He has financed, produced, and managed film and television productions across the U.S., China, and Russia, where he conceived the idea for the RUSSIAN RIVER screenplay. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Wharton MBA program.
FEATURE CATEGORY RUNNER-UP:
BELONG by Daniel Parino (Historial Drama)
Logline: In 1955 New Orleans, a Black couple’s plan to adopt a little girl they’ve grown to love is upended when the state declares her legally “white,” sparking a landmark courtroom battle that forces an inexperienced young lawyer to challenge the very definition of race and family to decide who this child can truly belong to.
Daniel Parino is a screenwriter and USC School of Cinematic Arts alum who writes character-driven stories grounded in rich, immersive worlds. A Harvard Law School grad, he discovered the true story behind BELONG in his Civil Rights Litigation course, and was so compelled that he began writing the screenplay while still in school, eventually traveling to New Orleans to research the case and interview the attorney who tried it.
TV CATEGORY WINNER:
HOUSE OF DEVLIN by Michael Connors (Half-Hour Comedy)
Logline: In 1972, a decorated Vietnam veteran returns home to the Bronx determined to leave war behind, only to be drawn into his Irish immigrant family's secret gun running operation for the IRA — where the violence he honed in war becomes his only way to belong.
Michael was awarded the additional honor of "Most Staffable Writer" because her outstanding TV pilot was incubated in the Harvardwood Writers Program.
For more information or to read the winners' scripts, please contact admin@harvardwood.org.
Visit our Harvardwood Writers Competition page to learn more.
Featured Job: Senior Marketing Project Manager
Job Description:
Skydance Games is seeking a Senior Marketing Project Manager to help drive the planning and execution of marketing initiatives across our portfolio of games. In this role, you will partner closely with marketing, creative, community, production, and development teams to ensure campaigns and initiatives are delivered on schedule and aligned with business objectives.
Alumni Profile: Miranda Yousef AB ’98 (filmmaker)
by Laura Frustaci AB ’21
Miranda Yousef is an accomplished Emmy-winning documentary director and editor whose work has screened at major outlets including Sundance, Tribeca, PBS, and HBO. Selected editing credits include: Emmy winner BLINK (Telluride 2024, NatGeo); PHOENIX RISING (Sundance 2022, HBO); Emmy winner ART & KRIMES BY KRIMES (MTV Documentary Films); INEQUALITY FOR ALL (Sundance 2013 Special Jury Prize winner); and Academy Award winner Morgan Neville’s Emmy nominee TROUBADOURS (Sundance 2011).
A graduate of Harvard College, Yousef studied documentary filmmaking at UCLA and won the DGA Award for Best Director, Women’s Category, for her graduate thesis film. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Documentary Branch. Her critically acclaimed directorial debut ART FOR EVERYBODY premiered at SXSW 2023, and in 2025 was released theatrically nationwide. The film was nominated for “Best First Documentary Feature” by the Critics Choice Awards, and was named to several best-of lists, including the BBC’s “25 Best Films of 2025” (one of only two documentaries listed), the New York Times’s “Our Favorite Movies from 2025,” and Variety’s “Best Documentaries of 2025.”
Filmmaker Miranda Yousef AB ’98 entered Harvard thinking she was going to be a poet and landed happily in the Comparative Literature Department. “That was a time when the field was becoming very interdisciplinary, so prior to that, it was like, ‘Okay, I'm going to go study the use of the brooch in 17th century French literature as compared to the necklace in 20th century Egyptian literature or something like that.’” Miranda laughs. “It was becoming more about applying the techniques of literary analysis to other fields of artwork… I was taking classes in music and visual arts, but probably most importantly, film theory. As a junior, I was enrolled in an Eastern European cinema class with Svetlana Boym, where we would watch a movie at the Carpenter Center every week… One week, they screened a Russian art film called MIRROR by Andrei Tarkovsky. And I remember, after the film, I just sat there in my seat for a full 10 minutes without saying anything. I was just so blown away.” That was the moment Miranda knew that filmmaking was what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
After graduation, she moved to Singapore for a year to teach abroad (and made one short film there which she hopes “never sees the light of day”), then applied to UCLA upon her return to the U.S. She was accepted to their MFA program in Film Directing and Production. “It's kind of a boot camp the first year,” she recalls. “You learn all of the basic production positions. We were shooting on 16mm. My class was the last class that used flatbeds. You would spool your film dailies onto a reel, play it, stop where you wanted to make a cut, and use a grease pencil to mark it; and then you would take it off of the reels and use a splicer to actually physically cut the film strip… Up until a certain point, all the great Hollywood film editors were working on that kind of machine.”
Miranda’s thesis film won a DGA Student Film Award and got distribution through a Canadian short film distribution company. “I was coming out of film school with my bright eyes and my bushy tail and my notion that it was all gonna happen,” Miranda jokes. “That did not happen.” She worked for the Sundance Film Festival for several years, and that’s where in 2006 she ran into Doug Blush, a very accomplished documentary editor, producer, and director. “He was at Sundance that year because he had edited a film called WORDPLAY, which was about the New York Times crossword puzzle… That film made a huge splash,” Miranda remembers. “It was a real crowd-pleaser. It was very well done. Doug had been my production sound teacher at UCLA. So, we ran into each other on the bus, and I said, ‘I'm looking to get into documentary editing.’ And he said, ‘Oh, great!’ And then a few months later, he called me.”
Miranda then worked as the assistant editor on a film with Doug, who she describes as “the kind of mentor that you want, because he was interested in fostering and nurturing me… He was a cheerleader for my professional advancement and development, and I would not have a career if it wasn't for Doug Blush.” After that, things started taking off.
Miranda met her producing (and life) partner in film school, and they’ve been together ever since. “We really love working together,” Miranda says. “He was working as a producer and an executive, and then when the pandemic hit, we found ourselves with the opportunity, finally, to collaborate on a feature. We were talking with some artist friends of ours during the pandemic, and they mentioned that there was something interesting and unusual about Thomas Kinkade. Now younger readers are not going to necessarily know who Kinkade was, but he was huge in the 1990s and the early 2000s. He painted these completely anodyne cottages and gardens, and basically, he had presented himself as this upstanding, wholesome American painter for the evangelical Christian population who didn't have a connection to fine art, or felt alienated from the world of fine art. But then he died in a cloud of scandal, and what we learned was that after his death, his four daughters went into the vault where he kept all of his work––and they discovered this whole other body of work that's dark, bizarre, and psychologically complex, and completely different from the work that he had been known for.”
Miranda and her husband instantly knew they had stumbled on a gold mine. “In addition to these hundreds of thousands of photographs and thousands of artworks, they had hundreds of hours of cassette tapes where he had started recording himself and his thoughts on art since he was 16 years old in 1974…. There was obviously a story there. We got the money through the Sundance Catalyst Forum, and we made the movie in record time: 13 months from the start of filming to delivery. We premiered at South by Southwest in 2023, had our festival run in 2023 and 2024, and released it in theaters in 2025. We wound up on several best-of lists at the end of 2025, including the New York Times and BBC, and we were nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best First Documentary Feature.” ART FOR EVERYBODY was a real success.
As a first-time feature director, but with a long list of features under her editor’s belt, Miranda relied on her editing toolkit to approach pre-production and production. “It was an interview- and archival-driven film, so I laid out a cork board with colored index cards, and we wrote down what the scenes were going to be. I did some pre-interviews in order to be able to do that, and then we just kind of went from there: I need a scene where we do this, my interviews have to address these topics.” Miranda notes that it’s crucial to know what you want to talk about as you move into the filming process, but also, “to be open to the vicissitudes of the universe. Perhaps you may get slightly derailed, but if the subject gives you something unexpected, it’s usually worth exploring that.” Flexibility and adaptation are key in the documentary-making process. Miranda concludes: “As an editor working for quite a number of years, I have become very used to killing darlings. There is a long, bloody trail of darlings in my wake.”
Another key to documentaries is that you have a willing subject. “If you're going to make a film about somebody, you want it to be someone who wants to tell their story––who's ready to tell their story,” Miranda says. “If they don't want to, and you're trying to pull it out of them, they're not going to give you what you want. They're not going to be honest with you, they're not going to be open, it's not going to work.”
As for how she decides what will make a compelling subject, like with Kinkade, Miranda says, “It has to ring a bell inside of me. I'm really interested in stories where you can talk about larger human or social themes, but through the lens of a compelling character story. So, the Kinkade film, on the surface, was about ‘Who is the real Thomas Kinkade?’ But it really was about ‘What is Art, and who gets to decide?’ It was about the politicization of taste. It was about how our culture and our politics create each other.”
Miranda believes that audiences really respond to authenticity. “When you are working with footage where a person is showing you who they are without meaning to… I love that. I think all films can make us feel less alone. I believe that the service that documentary provides to its subjects is it gives them the chance to have a voice. So, for instance, with ART FOR EVERYBODY, Thomas Kinkade was a huge celebrity, and his persona and his business cast such a long, dark shadow over his four daughters and his wife that their voices were never really heard. They were a part of this package that he was selling, but nobody ever saw them. So I really wanted to give them the opportunity to have their voices heard. I think that people really appreciate that, if you do it with respect and compassion and love.” Miranda also notes that “it's really important to be ethical when you're doing this. It's a service. If you're doing it for your own glory, then I don't think you're in it for the right reasons. Documentary is in this weird place between journalism and fiction film… You have the capacity to be experimental and artistic in a way, to play with aesthetics in a way that journalism doesn't, but at the same time, I do think you need to be as accurate as you possibly can… I think audiences can sniff it out when you are lying to them or being inauthentic; but also, it's a betrayal. When you're interviewing people and you're asking them to honor you with their story, you are asking a great deal. That's a precious thing that they're giving you, so I think that you have to treat it as sacred.”
This goes along with the questions Miranda asks herself on every shoot: how do we get to the emotional and spiritual truth here? How can we treat our characters with compassion? “One of my guiding principles is that you have to love your subjects. I don't mean to be in love with your subject, and I definitely don't mean only see them through rose-colored glasses. What I mean is to accept the whole of them for who they are, and treat them with compassion.” That, too, is Miranda’s advice for aspiring documentarians. “Treat everyone with respect,” she says. “Don't go in thinking that you know more than everyone else … You can learn something from everyone.”
Industry News
Dr. Saira Hashmi GSD ’17 has published A MOTHER, HER SON, AND THE SECRET OF THE FUSION MOTHER TREE, a tween/teen STEAM novel where fusion science meets the hidden intelligence of forests through the journey of a scientist mother and her 13-year-old son. Featured during U.S. Fusion Energy Week 2026, the story brings together science, sustainability, courage, faith, and hope for the generation that will inherit and shape our energy future. (Amazon)
In Rebecca Chamian Ribaudo AB ’93’s debut novel CROSSING DIVISION STREET (Skyhorse), a high-powered attorney is forced to reckon with her buried past in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green, once Little Sicily. The novel has been called “a tender, astonishing debut” by The Baltimore Sun and a “revelatory venture into racial fear, anxiety, and resentment…” by HLS Professor Randall Kennedy. (Amazon)
Dylan MarcAurele AB ’16 is the writer and composer of Off-Broadway musical HEATED RIVALRY: THE UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL PARODY, which opened at the Culture Club on May 26th. The original cast album was released on September 18th, available for streaming and download. (Broadway World)
Cynthia Meng AB ’15 is the music director and conductor of the off-Broadway revival of SPRING AWAKENING, a coming-of-age musical about German teens who navigate their desires and fears. It will open on December 17th at Studio Seaview. (New York Theatre Guide)
Neil deGrasse Tyson AB ’80 is an author of LOST IN SPACE: 5,000 FACTS FOR NAVIGATING THE UNIVERSE, a 400-page space encyclopedia consisting of hundreds of galactic illustrations, images, charts, maps, and more. It was released on September 15th by National Geographic. (Space)
Noah Oppenheim AB ’00 is the writer of an upcoming HAWAII FIVE-O movie, alongside BAD BOYS FOR LIFE writer Chris Bremner. The film will be directed by SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY director Destin Daniel Cretton, and is currently in early development. (BusinessToday Malaysia)
Hoon Lee AB ’94 features in the Netflix adaptation of John Steinbeck’s EAST OF EDEN, a multigenerational story that follows two families in California, exploring themes of free will, generational trauma, and the corruption of human nature. The limited series, written and directed by Zoe Kazan, will be released October 1st. (Variety)
David Javerbaum AB ’93 is the writer of THE DOG SHOW: COME. SIT. STAY, a new comedy where actors perform a series of monologues from the perspective of dogs. Directed by Richard Israel, the off-Broadway production is set to open on October 18th. (Broadway World)
Neal Baer MD ’96 is an associate producer of RUSH, an eight-part 45-minute French medical drama, which is set to start shooting this fall. The drama follows three doctors in Paris’s emergency medical service and their response to emergencies in the capital. The series is part of HBO’s expansion in the release of French originals. (Variety)
Han-na Chang AB ’04 is set to launch a new orchestra at Seoul Arts Center in 2027 to strengthen the South Korean classical music ecosystem. The orchestra will be established with government funding, with auditions taking place across the country. (The Korea Herald)
Becky Hartman Edwards AB ’85, along with Echo Lake Entertainment, members of the entertainment industry, and more, put on Ballots Over Broadway 8: A Magical Evening Under the Stars, which featured musical performances to raise money for DemocraShe, a nonpartisan nonprofit that trains high school girls with the skills to lead. (Patch)
Bess Wohl AB ’02 is one of the presenters for Arts Ignite’s 20th Anniversary Gala event, ILLUMINATE. The event will be held on October 12th in New York City, celebrating Danielle Brooks, Whitney White, and Tom Viola. (Playbill)
Tom Morello AB ’86 released his first solo rock album, EVERYONE GETS EVERYTHING THEY WANT on September 25th. The album was inspired by the idea that music is “a weapon for change,” and a force to bring about joy and laughter — acts of resistance. (NME)
Jeremy Kleiner AB ’98 will produce, along with Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner on behalf of Plan B Entertainment, the sequel to WORLD WAR Z, a film released in 2013 based on Max Brooks’s 2006 novel WORLD WAR Z: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE ZOMBIE WAR. (Deadline)
Eli Attie AB ’89 is an executive producer of THE DIPLOMAT, a political thriller following an American diplomat appointed as the ambassador to the United Kingdom. The series’ fourth season is set to premiere on October 15th on Netflix. (Variety)
Exclusive Q&A with Nicole Levin AB ’15 (author)
Nicole Levin is an artist and environmental organizer living in Los Feliz. Raised in Fairfield, California, Levin studied environmental science at Harvard, and her work reflects contemporary social anxieties in a conscious, poignant voice—with a hearty portion of Jewish humor.
Her writing has appeared in THE NEW YORKER and THE HARVARD CRIMSON, and she has written for THE HARVARD LAMPOON as well as the television series LETHAL WEAPON. Levin previously worked at the Sierra Club, where she helped lead campaigns to phase out urban oil drilling in Los Angeles. Most recently, she has devoted her time to completing an all-white 1,000-piece puzzle. She lives in Southern California with the love of her life, Nina.
Q: Congratulations on the release of DIARY OF A MAD GIRL: ME VS. THE OIL INDUSTRY VS. MY NONPROFIT JOB. Described as “Part diary, part existential comedy, and part psychedelic feminist fever dream,” what inspired you to write this story?
Honestly, recording my audiobook for my first book, DIARY OF A SAD GIRL: OR MY QUEST TO FIND LOVE ON A DYING PLANET, was so fun I was like, let’s write another. As I began writing, I noticed so many themes of burnout and economic (as well as ecological) collapse emerging in my writing and my life.
Often for me, I don’t know what’s sitting under the surface until I begin to write, and that was the case here. I wrote, and a story followed.
Q: This book is also described as “An illustrated work of literary satire exploring climate anxiety, burnout culture, millennial disillusionment, and the absurdity of surviving late-stage capitalism.” What are you hoping readers take away from DIARY OF A MAD GIRL?
Oh my god, so much. First, I want people to like me. Which is insane, but a big motivator for everything I do.
But as a climate organizer and artist, I’m very concerned about how individualist our culture is. I share my writing to create community, so that people know they are not alone in their climate grief, hopelessness, anger. Our world and society are so broken and sick, and as a result, so many of us feel depressed, anxious, and scared. And yet, our tools for dealing with these collective issues are individualistic — therapy, drugs, self-help, and self-care. And of course I do all these things! I love my Lexapro and my therapist and my yoga instructors, but I do think collective trauma requires collective healing. And that is a big part of the book. We need each other. And the best way to heal collective trauma is through collective action. And that can look so many ways; it can be through art, movement, mutual aid, volunteering, or just talking to our neighbors.
Q: With parallels to our current-day society, does this book give us hope for the future? Or is this more of an attempt to capture and package younger generations’ climate change-induced anxiety?
I really want people to get a sense of hope from my book. The oil industry *wants* us to give up. And I think on just on the basis of denying them my corporation in our collective destruction, I refuse.
I see hope as a choice. One we get to make, and one that our survival depends on. And I think so much of our burnout is due to a lack of hope. Why are we working so hard if we are all doomed? This treadmill to nowhere, so to speak.
My character begins to set boundaries and refuse the norms we are all swimming in. When it comes to work, play, art. She finds healing and hope in selfish acts of resistance. In play. In joy.
As a climate organizer, I’m often really frustrated with the lack of joy in our movements. Yes, the problems are dire, but this is our life! Things are already so hard - maybe we don’t need to match the hardness with more hardness. Maybe we can be softer. Watery. Flow through.
Q: How did your time at Harvard influence writing this piece? How do you think it influenced your overall career trajectory as a whole?
Oh, wow. I’ve had a real 180 when it comes to Harvard. And I think that comes through in this book and my work. My first book really untangles my time at the Lampoon and how the hazing and culture turned me nihilist and cold.
This book touches on how hookup culture coupled with childhood trauma left me feeling inadequate, and the work of writing the book helped me heal it. But not to spoil, my character returns to Harvard to give a speech at her reunion, signaling a shift in looking to Harvard to solve her problems and tell her what to do, to instead using it as a pulpit to spread her ideas of resistance.
—
I really appreciate Harvard now that I’m 11 years out. What a special, beautiful, bubble I was lucky to be a part of.
My whole goal of high school was to be the best so I could go to a good school. Which I did. Once I got to Harvard I just wanted to be Iiked. I thought it would be a panacea. I thought it would solve all my problems and give me direction. But by the end I felt more lost.
I think as a result I no longer idolize institutes. Oh they have their strengths (resources, intelligent people) but for me I’ve learned that my power does not come from the top down. It comes from the bottom up. From communities. From talking to people on the ground. From the earth. Harvard is a tool, a beautiful special tool with faults. And now that I know that, I have a much better relationship to the school.
I think processing this is part of why I chose to self publish. I looked to an institution to give me validation and to some extent it did, but it never felt like enough. And so, why should I wait for someone to decide my art is good enough? I think it is good enough. I want to share it.
Q: What was the most challenging part of writing this story? Were there any scenes or characters that were particularly difficult to get right, especially considering the sensitive nature of the topics you were dealing with (capitalism, climate change, hope)?
Actually, the hardest part was the portions about “My Boyfriend.” I finished the first draft when we were still together, but when it came to editing we’d broken up. This book really feels like a documentation of things falling apart, and that was hard to get through. The good times. The bad.It took a lot of willpower to not completely erase the sweet moments between us or add “that dick!” to his name. I really love the character of My Boyfriend. (As do I love my Ex.) And book three will definitely dive into our breakup once I have the distance and energy to dive into my heartbreak.
Q: What’s your process like for starting, writing, illustrating, and finishing a story? What are the challenges, and what comes easiest to you in the process?
My process is so chaotic. At first I just wrote about everything. Then I got sick of writing everything that happened. So I took a break. Then I wanted to write more fiction. So I did that. Then I got sick of that. I didn’t want to write anything. I began drawing, just my friends. I put the book aside. I picked it back up (who knows what inspired that). I started a new book. I got an editor! Thank god I got an editor. I owe so much to Veronika. She believed in my writing when I did not. When I wanted to cut everything. She helped me sort through the chaos and through our dialogue we created a plan, and I had some accountability.
I hear about people waking up every day and writing, and I have tried that. But geez, after decades of working on my laptop I have come to despise my screen. I think for book three I’ll buy a typewriter or write it all by hand.
All this is to say, I wrote in bursts, I wrote nothing at all, I wrote every day for hours. I wrote when I felt like it. I wrote when I didn’t feel like it out of obligation. And geez, I actually am in awe that this book came together at all.
Q: Who are some writers or storytellers who have influenced you? What is one book you think everyone should read?
Yes!! I’m so glad you asked this. This book was very much inspired by Mona Awad, Ruth Ozeki, Elena Ferrante, Rebecca Makkai, and Melissa Broder. I also found that Carmen Maria Machado’s stunning memoir IN THE DREAMHOUSE gave me permission to write whatever I want. In different tones. To be playful. Etc.
Q: What's next for you? Are there any upcoming projects or themes you’re excited to explore in your future work?
Oh yes! I’m noodling on book three, DIARY OF A BAD GIRL, 1000 BOYFRIENDS, which I think will explore my forays into non-monogamy and magic. I do think this book will be more fictional, partially to give me space to explore sex and boundaries while being safe in my body.
I have a lot of anger at the patriarchy - especially in this administration - I am so angry. DIARY OF A MAD GIRL is actually not that angry. Sure, I’m mad at the oil industry, but I think I’m more Mad as in crazy. And I’m very excited to see what happens when I give myself permission to really go off and get revenge on the systems that oppress women’s bodies.
Harvardwood Lowdown (Virtual)
Wednesday 10/07
Join Harvardwood for an informal event with our leadership team, including Mia Alpert, Adam Fratto, Diane Nabatoff, and introducing Harvardwood's new Vice President: Adam Wolman AB ’88!
Harvardwood Vice President Adam Wolman AB '88 consults for companies and individuals creating content for all media. As the #2 exec at HBO Digital, Adam developed short-form series for HBO’s digital platforms. As Executive Consultant, Disney/ABC Television Group, he was brought on to help launch ABC’s award-winning Micro-Mini Series; the position was expanded to include sharing oversight of the Disney/ABC Writing and Directing Fellowships and other programs designed to find and mentor diverse talent. Previously, Adam was VP, Original Series, Current and Development for MTV, where he was exec in charge of production on several series. He also served at ABC Entertainment as Director, Comedy Series Programming, and as Program Analyst at CBS Productions despite his childhood fear, still simmering today, of the CBS eye logo.
Selling a Screenplay with the Writers of TONY (Virtual)
Tuesday 10/26
Come talk to writers of the recently released hit film TONY, a biographical comedy / drama film about Anthony Bourdain's early years working in Provincetown, Massachusetts and based on his 2000 memoir KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL.
Screenwriters Todd Bartels AB ’06 and Lou Howe AB ’05 have been friends for 25 years, starting in high school, through their time at Harvard, and now in LA. They have been writing together for the last five years.
Their latest feature collaboration, TONY, was released this summer by A24, with Star Thrower producing. It tells the true story of a wayward young Anthony Bourdain, as he stumbles into a job washing dishes in the summer of 1975 in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and discovers his life's calling. Dominic Sessa stars as Bourdain, alongside Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, and Stavros Halkias. Matt Johnson (BLACKBERRY, NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE) directs.
Harvardwood Freewriting Sessions (Virtual)
Thursdays, Ongoing
Join our weekly online sessions to make real progress on your writing. Whether you’re starting a new project or advancing ongoing work, this is your dedicated space to write consistently and build momentum.
Sixty minutes, zero distractions, and 100% writing. Perfect for Harvardwood members looking to make steady progress.
Will be held Thursdays, 8am-9:30am PT (11am-12:30pm ET).
Navigating the Current TV/Film Industry with Joel Church-Cooper (Virtual)
Monday 11/09
TV and film are changing fast, and breaking in or staying in can feel more confusing than ever. Joel Church-Cooper will talk candidly about the current landscape, from pitching and developing projects to staffing, running rooms, working with studios and streamers, and how writers can navigate an industry that looks very different than it did even a few years ago.
Last Month at Harvardwood
Last Month at Harvardwood, we did a fireside chat with Anand Kini moderated by Gene Pao, talked pitching with Allison Kiessling, and more!
Clockwise from top left: Photos courtesy of David Alpert, Sarah Brockmann, Harvardwood, Joe Espo
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I appreciate the highlights you've shared, especially on community engagement! It made me think about how storytelling in platformer games could inspire collaboration among creators. Have any of your featured artists explored this connection?