Mud Season Review, the international literary journal run by members of the Burlington Writers Workshop, recently published their forty-fifth issue online. This issue features one story, one poem, and one nonfiction piece, namely Storey Clayton’s “Unbecoming Doogie.”

This issue’s editor letter describes the piece this way:

“Unbecoming Doogie” by Storey Clayton takes a deep dive into what it’s like to grow up labeled a child prodigy. Our editors noted that although our culture seems to love the hero story of the genius (think Good Will Hunting or Doogie Howser, M.D., of the story’s title), Clayton’s piece deftly helps us understand a real-life version of that story in all of its complexity. His wise, insightful writing examines this human tendency to both celebrate and stigmatize.

This is Storey’s twelfth nonfiction piece to be published in the last year.

Special thanks to Amber Hart and Julie Patterson for their selection, editing, and questions for the forthcoming interview on the site. And additional thanks to Katie Fallon for her insightful suggestions that really altered this piece, as well as everyone in her Creative Nonfiction workshop at West Virginia University last term for additional feedback that changed the work.