J.C. Hallman is the author of six books of nonfiction and a book of short stories. His work has been widely published an anthologized, and he had received fellowships from the Guggenheim and McKnight foundations.
At MacDowell in 2020, Hallman worked on a "notes archive" that would accompany his heavily researched book, The Anarcha Quest: A Story of Slavery and Surgery. The work on this book was built off of earlier essays published in Harper's Magazine, The Baffler, and elsewhere. It was published to acclaim in The New York Times and received a Phillis Wheatley Award. During his 2025 residency, he continued work on journalistic projects and embarked on a possible novel.
