She received a BA in journalism and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama. She earned a PhD in English from Florida State University. Her areas of interest include African American history and cultural studies, narrative nonfiction, film and media studies, and twentieth and twenty-first century American literature. Past awards include the McKnight Fellowship, the Blount Junior Scholarship, and the Chips Quinn Scholarship. Her journalism work has appeared in the Commercial Appeal, the Herald-Dispatch, and the Tuscaloosa News (among other publications). Her work has appeared in the Communicator and Southeast Review Online.