Six Men Writing about Fatherhood
A group exploration of a topic core to every man's experience, whether or not they have children of their own.
I’m excited to announce that this week brings something new: a series of pieces by six men writing on Substack that has been meeting as a group for the past few months. This group came together out of initial conversations between myself and
and has since grown to include andIn this first series, we’re sharing pieces on the topic of fatherhood—something that all men can relate to, whether they are fathers of their own children or not. We’ll release one piece each day over the course of this coming week, and we’ll update this post as each piece goes out so that all of the work is linked here.
Our intention is to continue this group project on a quarterly basis with other topics; if there’s something you’d be interested in us exploring as a group, please let us know!
The Writers
writes The Recovering Academic. He’s also a memoirist, book coach, and journalist. Follow him for interviews with academics pivoting to industry, thought pieces on higher ed, and literary work. As a writing coach, he specializes in memoir but also accepts clients for short projects such as op-eds, college essays, or graduate school applications. is a former paperboy, D&D player, skateboarder, teenage boozehound, geographer, programmer, conference producer, and entrepreneur who recently completed the manuscript for his memoir about learning to listen to and act upon the voice of self. His writing, which includes the serialized memoir as well as essays and other work, appears at is a writer, husband, father, disability advocate, creative coach, and Steward for writers at Foster. In his writing, he hangs out at the intersection between the stories we tell others and the stories we tell ourselves. You can find Lyle’s writing at is a writer and freelance book editor. Michael’s fiction has been published in: The New Guard; Concho River Review; Adelaide Literary Magazine; and much more. His articles have been included in Writers’ Digest, Writer Unboxed, Creative Penn, MASH, Books & Buzz; and more. At Michael Mohr's Sincere American Writing he writes everything from memoir to personal essay to fiction to cultural-political commentary and much more. is a seasoned entrepreneur and passionate spokesman for addiction recovery. A dog dad of 4 rescues and a loving uncle of 4 beautiful nieces; Dee takes a crack at fatherhood in this series, and his writing appears at is a writer and storyteller. His writing explores how we use stories to build deeper connections and find fulfillment. In the past he was a Navy pilot, business leader, venture capitalist, and entrepreneur. Latham's Substack is an exploration of how men can continue to mature through their spirituality, philosophy, work, and families, and the culmination of a lifelong search for fulfillment and truth.
The Series
Links to the actual pieces in the series will be added here as they are published.
Michael Mohr kicks it off on Tuesday Sept 19
Bowen’s piece came out Wednesday Sept 20
Latham’s essay from Sept 21 is here
Josh’s piece, published Sept 22:
Lyle’s piece from Sept 23 is
And here is Dee’s piece, published on Sunday, Sept 24
The Group
We host a monthly group for men on Substack writing memoir, autofiction, personal essay and other first-person informed work—which really could include just about anything, including fiction.
Participation is by request and invitation. If you’re interested in the possibility of joining us, please complete this questionnaire.
⭐️⭐️ THANK YOU FOR READING ⭐️⭐️
⬇️ Please COMMENT below ⬇️
Questions for you
What did these piece(s) bring up for you?
What’s been the most challenging aspect of being a father—or not being a father?
What’s your own relationship with parenthood, and how has it changed over time?
How did you decide to become a parent, or not?
Have you read, watched, or listened to anything that has informed your thinking about parenthood?
What other subjects would you like to see this group explore?
Please share, comment, restack, recommend, and click the little ♡ heart right there👇🏻 if you dig this piece. We’d love to hear from you!
 | A guest post by
|
 | A guest post by
|
 | A guest post by
|
 | A guest post by
|
Thank you all for reading and commenting here and on the individual pieces!
We'd love to hear your further feedback on how the series landed for you as readers, and also any thoughts you have on topics you'd like us to explore in our next series, coming in Q4 of this year.
Love this so much. Just forwarded to my husband. He does a lot of work in the world of fatherhood. Also a podcast called thriving in fatherhood - might be of interest.
Thank you for having important conversations