Interviews and Reviews
“Kelly Baker’s Dreams Resonate in Grace Period,” Tallahassee Democrat (January 27, 2018):
As much as “Grace Period” is a memoir about Kelly Baker’s transition out of academia, it is a book about dreams: what they give us, what they take from us, how they break us, and how they re-make us.
“Tuesday Chat: Kelly J. Baker, Author of Grace Period,” Tall Poppies (January 2, 2018):
I do think Grace Period gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the harrowing nature of the job market in academia, especially the Humanities, and also what it is like to work as academic adjunct.
“On Transitioning Out of the Academy: Seven Questions for Kelly Baker,” Sacred Matters (December 5, 2017):
I’m more concerned with what happens to the discipline and our institutions if contingent work is the majority of work available. I’m more concerned with the norms, or maybe conventions, of what academic life is supposed to look like and how impossible it is to be “conventional” when your work and life are precarious.
“Excerpt from Grace Period,” The Revealer (October 17, 2017);
But, I only missed a turn. I was able to make it again when I had another chance. I made my flight and then the next.
“Sense of Place with Minelle Mahtani-Kelly Baker,” Roundhouse Radio (August 24, 2017):
Minelle talks to author Kelly J. Baker about her new book, Grace Period: A Memoir in Pieces, about failed dreams and missed opportunities.
“Kelly Baker on Women in Higher Education,” Purse Strings (August 22, 2017):
Today on Purse Strings, Maria is joined by Kelly Baker the editor of Women in Higher Education and a freelance writer who covers religion, racism, higher education, gender, labor, motherhood, and popular culture.
“Riot Round-Up: The Best Books We’ve Read in June,” Book Riot (July 3, 2017):
In a series of vivid and beautiful essays, Baker uses her changing relationship to academia to reflect on “grace periods,” those moments (or strings of moments) when you leave one possible future behind without quite knowing what’s next.
“A Memoir on Leaving the Faculty,” Chronicle Vitae (July 6, 2017):
At the same time, I wanted to show readers my transition, or transitions, as they happened in real time — alongside the emotional fallout that came along with giving up my dream of a faculty career. At that time, there was still so much silence about folks who chose to leave academia, or were forced out. The only track my advisers ever suggested was the tenure track.
