Ghost Maps — forthcoming from Dzanc Books in 2027

A literary work about what violence leaves behind, Ghost Maps is the winner of Dzanc’s 2025 Nonfiction Prize, which recognizes “daring, original, and innovative writing.”

Essays

Contact me for access to any of my publications.

“Like Dogs,” on the place of dogs in Rwandan society, the experience of uncomfortable embodiment in a foreign place, and whether anthropology is a forgivable sin, appeared in Kenyon Review. You can hear me read the piece aloud and also read about my most memorable job.

“Bones of Buried Kings,” on human remains and the act of looking, appeared in the literary magazine The Rumpus and was included in a Memoir Monday reading list.

“A Ghost Map of Kigali,” on navigating Rwanda’s past and present, won the Society for Humanistic Anthropology’s creative nonfiction award and was published in Anthropology & Humanism.

“What We Save, What We Destroy: A Reading List on Difficult Heritage,” an aggregation of longform articles and essays, with commentary, appeared in Longreads.

“Lived in the Fire,” on the long shadow of past violence as it falls across the plantation ruins of St. Croix, was published in Tampa Review.

“On Birkenau, by Gerhard Richter,” in the Ekphrastic Review, discussed Richter’s abstract Birkenau paintings, photography, and depictions of horror.

“No Pictures Accompany This Essay,” in Epoiesen, considered the ethics and problems of looking at human remains, playing with expectations about visuals and proof.