60 seconds with jessica vaughn martin: “food is a way into conversation that leads to powerful connection.”

National Nonprofit Day was August 17th – but we’re spending all month spotlighting nonprofit leaders and the organizations they serve.

And one of the first ones that came to mind is Jessica Vaughn Martin, co-founder and Board President of Midwest Women Who Write, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and seasonal retreat series for women writers across the Midwest. 

I had the privilege of meeting Jessica many, many years ago at a mutual friend’s bridal shower. I remember that mutual friend telling me, “I think you and Jess would really get along.” 

Spoiler alert: we did. For a long time, that friendship stayed mostly in the realm of Instagram – liking each other’s posts and occasionally messaging. We lived two and a half hours apart and were both starting careers and families, so an in-person friendship was harder to build. But our shared love of language, storytelling, and community kept us connected. 

Today, I’m proud to say that friendship has successfully transitioned from the internet to IRL – and I owe that to Midwest Women Who Write. 

When Jess shared her vision of what MWWW could be with me, it was impossible to say “no.” I knew I wanted to be part of it, and I knew there was no one better to do that with than Jess. 

She is many things – a co-founder of an amazing organization, a storyteller, a James Beard Award nominee, the ultimate foodie, a wonderful mother, a vintage cookbook collector, a gardener – but above all, Jess is a good human doing good work in the world. 

It’s an honor to share this Q&A with you.

– steph

toth shop (ts): Recently, your story "Annie Fisher’s Ghost" in The New Territory magazine was nominated for a prestigious James Beard Media Award (!!!!). Annie Fisher was a legendary Black biscuit maker and entrepreneur in Missouri whose legacy was largely forgotten. What was the journey of unearthing her story like?

Jessica Vaughn Martin (JVM): Oh boy. Do I have eight thousand words to evangelize about newspapers.com? I don’t remember who exactly told me about Annie Fisher, though I think it was my friend Gaby Weir Vera. Once I learned about her story, it stuck with me for years until an opportunity opened to pitch it to a magazine that really understood its breadth. 

My first draft focused solely on Annie and two local women who had unearthed her story in the late 90s. Then my editor, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marcia Chatelain, read it and told me I needed more voices. She was right, and I ended up speaking to these incredible scholars of Black food and history from across the country, who introduced me to historical figures like Annie, and helped me understand her story through theirs. I also spent hours in the State Historical Society digging through boxes (thank you to the historians who helped me here!) and going down many newspapers.com rabbit holes (my favorite kind). Near the end of my research for this piece, I met with Matt Fetterly at the Boone County Historical Society, who trekked through the snow with me to find a physical piece of Annie’s story that was still standing: a kitchen where she learned to cook. I walked the same back staircase that she used daily during her time here, and that felt like meeting a ghost. 

The journey was inspiring and heartbreaking all at once, and I believe there’s still more to learn about Annie and her legacy. 

ts: You've described your work as understanding a place "by and through its food stories" – how did that lens develop?

JVM: I spent a month in Italy on a study abroad trip called “Will Write for Food & Wine” the summer after my junior year of college. Journalism was the third (and final) major I landed on, and this trip, early into that switch, completely framed my storytelling. I began to see stories in everything on the plate, in the field, in the hands of the people who were making and growing food. Conversations through and around food quickly became the way I understood—and quickly came to love—the culture. When I returned to the states, I began to look at my own homeplace through this lens, and that’s how I’ve told stories ever since. Outside of storytelling, food is central to how I've built community, personally and professionally. There’s no better or more beautiful way to get to know each other than over a meal, especially if that meal is tied to the cultural heritage of someone at the table. That’s why we always begin and end our MW retreats with food: it’s a way into conversation that leads to powerful connection.

ts: You’ve founded Midwest Women Who Write, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to set the table for Midwestern women writers of all ages, genres, and experience levels to hone their craft and cultivate a rooted community through a shared love of storytelling. What was the catalyst or moment that sparked this?

JVM: I was an attendee at the inaugural Women Who Write retreat, hosted by award winning author and journalist (also my mentor and the leader of the Will Write for Food & Wine study abroad trip) Nina Mukerjee Furstenau. After attending the second retreat, Nina pulled me and another attendee aside and asked us if we’d like to take over the leadership roles. It was a no-hesitation yes. Since then we’ve gone through a couple of different iterations: first Missouri Women Who Write, then, after a conversation with a Kansas friend who only sort of jokingly asked “can I still attend if I’m from Kansas?,” we expanded to nonprofit status and rebranded as Midwest Women Who Write. 

ts: In 10 words or less, what does it mean to be “a Midwest woman who writes”?

JVM: A Midwestern heart, either in yourself or in your writing.

ts: Every person we interview answers this same question last – Mile 18 is generally considered to be one of the hardest miles in a marathon. You’re hitting a wall. You’re forced to dig deep. What’s mile 18 in your line of work, or at a point in your career, and what do you tell yourself when you find yourself in the middle of a mile 18?

JVM: Oof. Great question! I'm someone who takes a step back to assess the situation. What are my priorities? What is working and what isn’t? What do I need to do to fix it? Once I stop to answer these questions, then I can move on with a clear head and vision. (And as many writers do, I’ll generally ponder these while doing absolutely anything else besides writing.)