Ben Cleary has written extensively for a variety of media. From 1979–2003 he worked as a freelance writer and editor, contributing countless columns and feature stories to Virginia publications, notably Commonwealth, 64, Style Weekly, the Richmond Afro-American, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Virginia Episcopalian. His radio journalism includes stories and commentaries for the National Public Radio shows All Things Considered and Morning Edition and for Pacifica News. From 1988–1990 he produced Virginia Writers, a show heard statewide on public radio stations. He was the scriptwriter and co-producer for a 1997 historical documentary, The Forgotten Fourteen, which won a Bronze Telly and was endorsed by the National Association of Social Studies Teachers. He has also published several articles on the Disunion website of The New York Times. Since 2003 he has taught full-time in Virginia’s juvenile justice system, and now teaches high school English at the Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center. He earned an MA in English from the University of Virginia, where he studied with Peter Taylor, John Casey, and Gregory Orr.  

Photo by Jay Paul, 2013