Home | Trent Kay Maverick

Writing

I love to write and tell stories. I’m an MFA candidate in fiction (and stealth nonfiction, don’t tell) at Colorado State University, where I’m the Gill-Ronda Fellow and assistant editor at Colorado Review. I’ve read for waaay too many literary magazines, including The Common at Amherst College, where I served as editorial liaison for four years. I also interned for Random House, the MIT Press, and Folio Literary. Ask me about my novel-in-progress Basement Tapes, which is a love letter to sasscore, the NYC rock revival, and being a teenager in the aughts, y’all missed out. You can read my essays in The Washington Post and in the anthology Red State Blues: Stories from Midwestern Life on the Left.

Audio

I caught the dj bug at Stanford and I’ve been bonkers about college radio ever since. I’ve hosted a mix of music shows including “The DJ Never Has It” (indie/punk, here and here) at KZSU and “Blank-Wave Arcade” (new wave/goth/industrial) at WJCU, and you can occasionally hear me spin stompy synth in dance clubs as Merricat McGee. My audio narrative “Goth Grows Up,” produced at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, was a Finalist for The Missouri Review’s 2021 Miller Audio Prize. I also wrote and produced the 7-part investigative true crime series “Lost In Panama” for Kast Media in 2022. I’m very proud to have facilitated two Sound Of Us workshops for Ideastream Public Media, training members of the Cleveland community to write and report short podcasts.

Teaching

I’ve been in academia most of my life, as a teacher, student, or both! I have a decade-plus of classroom experience: after earning my Master of Arts in Teaching (7-12 Mathematics) at Stanford, I went on to teach creative writing, podcasting, math, computer science, and lots of people how to counter-coil. For three years I directed John Carroll University’s radio education program. I also created computer science curriculum and professional development programs for Google and Code.org. I taught high school computer science for many years, and I still fly to Kansas City every summer to help grade the AP CSA exam. I currently teach undergraduate creative writing at Colorado State University.

Portfolio

Ideastream Public Media

Sound of Us: Stories of Marriage

Five short audio pieces about marriage and relationships written and reported by Cleveland-area adults in my 8-week podcasting workshop. All pieces produced by me. Released online and on air on Ideastream Public Media in October-November 2023.

Listen & Read

Kast Media

Lost In Panama

A seven-part investigative true crime limited series about the mysterious deaths of Dutch hikers Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, whose remains were found in the Panamanian jungle in 2014. Written and produced by me; published by Kast Media. Released October-December 2022.

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KCRW Public Radio

Pictures of the Kids

A 4-minute humorous piece about some... inappropriate content on my grandfather's iPhone. Recorded, written and produced by me and my mom on November 12-13, 2022. Runner-up for KCRW's 2022 24-Hour Radio Race.

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The Washington Post

I'm Dating a Conspiracy Theorist. But It Feels Like I'm the One Going Crazy.

A personal-meets-political essay about dating a conspiracy theorist during the 2020 pandemic lockdown. Published in The Washington Post (print and online) in August 2020.

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Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

Goth Grows Up

A 12-minute autobiographical narrative feature written, produced, and voiced by me. Submitted as my final project at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in 2019; finalist for the 2021 Miller Audio Prize.

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Duke Center for Documentary Studies

Black Magic

A 4-minute video developed, shot, assembled, and produced during the Center for Documentary Studies's 1-week documentary video intensive in 2019. Co-created with Talibah Aquil and Bunny Laden.

Watch

Trent Kay Maverick

I write, teach, and make radio.

Writing

Audio

Teaching

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