Elizabeth Nonemaker

About

I’m a journalist, writer, and editor specializing in arts & culture coverage and audio production. I’ve served as the executive producer of podcasts for WQXR, New York City’s classical music radio station; covered music for The Baltimore Sun; managed operations for the classical music division of the National YoungArts Foundation; and was the managing editor and in-house audio producer for 21CM.org, a digital magazine focused on the topics of artistry and entrepreneurship for musicians in the 21st century.I love telling stories about creative, curious people — and I love working with them, too! I bring an artist’s perspective to my work: I started out as a pianist and classical composer. I wrote music on commission, won prizes, and earned residencies at the MacDowell Colony and Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. In 2015, I hung up my composing hat to go to journalism school and deepen my interest in writing — and I haven’t looked back. As an arts reporter, I’ve been able to cover stories on health, science, religion, business, politics, and more. For me, the best arts coverage honors this all-encompassing nature of creative work. And, it illuminates some of the technique behind the craft while humanizing the people and labor that make it possible. These days, my creative practice is focused on writing fiction and creative nonfiction. I earned my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland, College Park, where I also worked as an instructor of rhetoric and creative writing classes. There, I discovered that teaching is another one of my passions. Particularly in creative writing workshops, I taught from the conviction that even if a student never wrote another story or poem after the class, the experience of learning empathetic, collaborative exchange would contribute to an open-minded and imaginative life for years to come. In my free time, I love to get outside, whether it’s hiking, biking, learning a new sport (usually poorly) — or enjoying a neighborhood walk with my dog.