Megan Kate Nelson
Megan Kate Nelson was born and raised in Colorado; she is now a writer and historian living in Lincoln, Massachusetts. She earned her BA from Harvard University in History and Literature and her PhD from Iowa in American Studies. Her new book, The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West, was published by Scribner in February 2020. This project was the recipient of a 2017 NEH Public Scholar Award and a Filson Historical Society Fellowship.
Dr. Nelson is the author of two previous books: Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War (Georgia, 2012) and Trembling Earth: A Cultural History of the Okefenokee Swamp (Georgia, 2005). She has also written about the Civil War, the U.S. West, and American culture for The New York Times, Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, Preservation Magazine, and Civil War Times. Her column on Civil War popular culture, "Stereoscope," appears regularly in the Civil War Monitor.
Twitter: @megankatenelson
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
When I first saw the film “Memento,” I was blown away. I didn’t know that you could mess with narrative storytelling in that way (moving both backwards and forwards) and that it would work structurally, thematically, and emotionally. That film, along with TV shows like the first season of “Westworld” (SPOILER ALERT—where storylines you thought were concurrent are actually sequential) have inspired me to think differently about narrative, and to write history books in more creative ways.
Favorite non-reading activity?
I watch a LOT of television when I’m not reading. Especially now, in the context of the pandemic lockdown, I like to be immersed in other worlds. TV is doing that especially well right now. And as I’ve noted above, so many shows are experimenting with storytelling styles that I find inspiration in them—it’s not just a passive activity for me.
Is your go to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?
I like a nice blend of sweet and savory. I know that this will be controversial, but I love a good chocolate/nut combination, like a dark chocolate-hazelnut candy bar. The perfect double-whammy of sweet and savory, with hits of both sugar and protein. But I also like all kinds of food, and I like cooking (mostly because I find chopping a very Zen activity).
Food does not really inspire my writing, but now that I am writing narrative history, I am much more interested in what the historical figures in my books were eating. I integrate those details into the narrative, so readers can have a sense of the material reality of the past.
Vacation druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?
We live in a kind of rural-ish suburb of Boston, so I prefer cities for vacation. There is so much to do: museums, parks, bookstores, restaurants. The perfect vacation day for me is: breakfast in a great café, walking around city neighborhoods, visiting a museum or park, going back to the hotel for an afternoon nap, then heading out for cocktails and dinner somewhere cool. The pandemic has brought our traveling and our urban rambling to a screeching halt, and I really miss both of these activities.
What brings you great joy?
So many things! Going out on an early morning bike ride with my husband. Watching our cats nap and stretch in the sunshine. Writing a really great sentence. Reading a really great sentence. A perfect piece of chocolate cake. Watching people dance on TikTok. Seeing the change that activists and protesters are bringing to the world right now. All of these things bring me great joy.
