Episode Details

What happens when someone who once struggled with English in high school eventually becomes a university writing instructor, author, poet, and mentor to aspiring writers?

In this episode of Thought Atlas, H. A. Callum shares how a lifelong love of reading and writing eventually led him from a career in the legal field into literature and education.

We explore the connection between law and storytelling, and how working on major legal cases taught Callum to think in terms of narrative, evidence, credibility, and perspective. He also explains why he encourages his students to write in their own voice, embrace the “nastiest, ugliest first draft,” and understand that much of the real writing happens during revision.

Callum also shares his perspective on artificial intelligence as a tool for creatives, the fear surrounding AI and creative work, and how technology can potentially free people from administrative tasks and give them more time to create.

The conversation touches on teaching, creativity, fatherhood, writing for young readers, community engagement, and his decision to connect his upcoming book Red, White, and Buttercup with Historic Fairhill in Philadelphia.

Most importantly, Callum offers encouragement to anyone waiting for permission to begin: believe in yourself, protect your creative time, learn from rejection, and don’t give up.

Food for thought: “There are two gifts we should give our children. One is roots, and the other is wings.”

To learn more about H. A. Callum, his books, and his work, visit HACALLUMWRITES.com, which he says also contains links to his social media and a contact form.

Listen, reflect, and continue mapping the landscape of ideas with Thought Atlas.

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