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Carl Nagin

(He/Him)
carl nagin headshot

Contact

Room 546

Courses Taught

College Writing

Creative Writing classes in Poetry, Memoir, Short Fiction, and Advanced Rhetoric

Modern Currents in Latin American Literature

Shakespeare

Dramatic Literature

Education

BA, Romance Languages & Literature, Boston University

Awards & Recognitions

Massachusetts Artists Foundation fiction prize

Four-time recipient of grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research, writing, and documentaries

Q&A

What is your hometown?

I was born in Pittsburgh and reside in the East Bay where, apparently, according to a reliable source, I was conceived.

What is your favorite recording? Why?

Currently,  Fina Estampa by Caetano Veloso, a Brazilian singer whose voice finds the heart, mystery, humanity, and humor in every song he sings.

What are you passionate about outside of music?

Reading and writing. Long walks and listening in natural spaces. Any creative or critical work that challenges my thinking and inspires me to go beyond what I already know.

Who were your major teachers?

My mother, who encouraged me to write, memorize Shakespeare, and be curious and compassionate. The artist Arthur Okamura, who taught me the difference between seeing and looking and the importance of shadows and negative space. And everyone who has taught me the way of gratitude, mindfulness, caring for others, and living a meaningful life to the fullest.

What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?

"Teach thy tongue to say I do not know and thou shalt progress." Maimonides

What question do you wish students would ask sooner rather than later?

How do I take notes and how do I revise what I write?

What was a turning point in your career?

As a writer, understanding the primacy of a character's voice and learning the difference between reporting and story telling. As a guitarist and aficianado, traveling to Andalucia and studying pueblo-style, gitano flamenco.

If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?

What I always do: Read and write

What is your unrealized project?

A biography of the 20th century Chinese artist and forger Chang Dai-ch'ien

Please list your most important collaborations.

Jeff Schaire, a brilliant magazine editor, worked with me on "Peruvian Gold Rush" and showed me how to structure and narrate a complex 14,000-word feature story using scene-by-scene narration with shifting character viewpoints. Producing weekly flamenco shows in San Francisco. 

Biography

My professional background includes three decades of work as a journalist, author, editor, and teacher. In print, my investigative features have appeared in The New Yorker and other national publications; in broadcast, I was a staff reporter and writer for the PBS series FRONTLINE. My reporting on the global traffic in stolen art was cited in a New York Times editorial. A four-time recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, I also received the Massachusetts Artist Foundation's fiction prize. As an editor, my experience has encompassed all aspects and phases of publishing and includes award-winning exhibition catalogues for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, academic and trade books on environmental justice, political science, and art history, as well as a stint as editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine, Common Ground. I was lead editor and writer for successful, multi-year federal and private foundation grants awarded to Bay Area arts, social service, and education non-profits. I have served as an education writer and editor for WestEd and the National Writing Project, where I researched and wrote Because Writing Matters, a Jossey-Bass best seller. At Harvard University, my writing courses received commendations for teaching excellence, and I directed the writing program at the New England Conservatory of Music. I am currently producing Of Color and Ink, a documentary on the Chinese painter and forger Chang Dai-ch’ien (1899-1983) and am a contributing writer for the West Marin Review, an award winning all-volunteer arts and literary magazine, now in its tenth year.