→ I'm currently producing director Lavinia Jones Wright's hybrid documentary film about legendary New York City acting coach Alice Spivak, LOVE ALL ALICES.
→ I work with independent writers, filmmakers, and creatives to craft their most passionate stories and help place them in publications.
↓ From 2013 to 2019, I was an editor at the Oxford American magazine, where I worked on journalism, short fiction, and literary nonfiction. For the last five of those years, I also produced the magazine’s acclaimed annual Southern music issue and compilation.
↓ Before that, I worked with Interactive Knowledge as a contributing researcher, writer, and editor on websites for clients including the Smithsonian and PBS.
→ I work with independent writers, filmmakers, and creatives to craft their most passionate stories and help place them in publications.
↓ From 2013 to 2019, I was an editor at the Oxford American magazine, where I worked on journalism, short fiction, and literary nonfiction. For the last five of those years, I also produced the magazine’s acclaimed annual Southern music issue and compilation.
↓ Before that, I worked with Interactive Knowledge as a contributing researcher, writer, and editor on websites for clients including the Smithsonian and PBS.
→ Although I’m primarily focused on visual design these days, I’m always game to collaborate as an editor, curator, or producer. Here are some endorsements, a selection of favorite work, and miscellaneous highlights.
↓ Keep scrolling and you’ll find links to my own writing on music, culture, and the creative impulse at large.
↓ Keep scrolling and you’ll find links to my own writing on music, culture, and the creative impulse at large.
ENDORSEMENTS
“It has been my privilege to work with [Max] closely and watch him develop into a remarkable editor whose ideas and intelligence have gone on to shape countless editorial projects at the OA. He has earned a reputation for being an exceptionally gifted story editor. . . . He has great taste and inexhaustible curiosity, and he possesses an encouraging and sensitive manner that leads writers to produce their best work.”
→ ELIZA BORNÉ, editor of The Oxford American
“You can spot a Max George feature from a mile away: it’s long, well-structured, and engrossing; features complex and rich characters; tells a story of profound national applicability that’s also grounded in a specific world you probably know nothing about.”
→ JONATHAN BLITZER, staff writer at The New Yorker
“I can say without equivocation that Max is one of the best (and kindest) editors I’ve ever encountered. He’s adventurous but meticulous; he’s funny but profound.”
→ AMANDA PETRUSICH, staff writer at The New Yorker
“You meant so much to OA selfishly to me. You pushed me to see that [Outkast] piece as something classic, not just a run of the mill piece about artists and art I loved. Thank you for that and so much more.”
→ KIESE LAYMON, author of Heavy: An American Memoir
“Yes, he can work wonders on a sentence. Yes, he can find sense and structure in 10,000-word mush. But he’s got other stuff going for him, too. He’s fast on his feet, easily adaptable to the idiosyncratic, push-pull rhythms of each new writer-editor partnership. He’s serious and gentle. He’s generous and courageous, taking risks on talent that hasn’t been proven. He goes hard in the paint for his writers without making them feel like they owe him a thing. He is young, he is wise, and I trust his instincts. I can’t wait to work with him again.”
→ LAUREN DU GRAF, culture writer
→ ELIZA BORNÉ, editor of The Oxford American
“You can spot a Max George feature from a mile away: it’s long, well-structured, and engrossing; features complex and rich characters; tells a story of profound national applicability that’s also grounded in a specific world you probably know nothing about.”
→ JONATHAN BLITZER, staff writer at The New Yorker
“I can say without equivocation that Max is one of the best (and kindest) editors I’ve ever encountered. He’s adventurous but meticulous; he’s funny but profound.”
→ AMANDA PETRUSICH, staff writer at The New Yorker
“You meant so much to OA selfishly to me. You pushed me to see that [Outkast] piece as something classic, not just a run of the mill piece about artists and art I loved. Thank you for that and so much more.”
→ KIESE LAYMON, author of Heavy: An American Memoir
“Yes, he can work wonders on a sentence. Yes, he can find sense and structure in 10,000-word mush. But he’s got other stuff going for him, too. He’s fast on his feet, easily adaptable to the idiosyncratic, push-pull rhythms of each new writer-editor partnership. He’s serious and gentle. He’s generous and courageous, taking risks on talent that hasn’t been proven. He goes hard in the paint for his writers without making them feel like they owe him a thing. He is young, he is wise, and I trust his instincts. I can’t wait to work with him again.”
→ LAUREN DU GRAF, culture writer
SELECTED STORIES
Here are some timeless stories I was lucky to get to work on, each one a masterpiece:
→ “Crossing Over” by JONATHAN BLITZER —— a profile of Claudia Delfin, a transgender activist who lives between El Paso and Juárez.
→ “Da Art of Storytellin’ (A Prequel)” by KIESE LAYMON —— an essay about family, Mississippi, work, and Outkast.
→ “Sweet Bitter Blues” by AMANDA PETRUSICH —— strange encounters with the blues in Tokyo.
→ “O Beulah Land” by CATHERINE VENABLE MOORE —— a West Virginia history told through the stories of the women of Cedar Grove.
→ “Driving the Sunken Coast” by JUSTIN NOBEL —— an elegiac travelogue from America’s climate change ground zero.
→ “Plum Crazy” by GWENDOLYN KNAPP —— a dispatch from the International Plumeria Conference in Naples, Florida.
→ “Perfectly Boring” by WILL STEPHENSON —— the story behind William Eggleston’s iconic “Red Ceiling” photograph.
→ “Prayers for Richard” by DAVID RAMSEY —— calling Little Richard’s cell phone.
→ “Crossing Over” by JONATHAN BLITZER —— a profile of Claudia Delfin, a transgender activist who lives between El Paso and Juárez.
→ “Da Art of Storytellin’ (A Prequel)” by KIESE LAYMON —— an essay about family, Mississippi, work, and Outkast.
→ “Sweet Bitter Blues” by AMANDA PETRUSICH —— strange encounters with the blues in Tokyo.
→ “O Beulah Land” by CATHERINE VENABLE MOORE —— a West Virginia history told through the stories of the women of Cedar Grove.
→ “Driving the Sunken Coast” by JUSTIN NOBEL —— an elegiac travelogue from America’s climate change ground zero.
→ “Plum Crazy” by GWENDOLYN KNAPP —— a dispatch from the International Plumeria Conference in Naples, Florida.
→ “Perfectly Boring” by WILL STEPHENSON —— the story behind William Eggleston’s iconic “Red Ceiling” photograph.
→ “Prayers for Richard” by DAVID RAMSEY —— calling Little Richard’s cell phone.
MISCELLANY
→ FILM
In 2020, I started working on a new project by director Lavinia Jones Wright, a hybrid-documentary about her acting coach, the late Alice Spivak. Initially serving as a script editor, I have since been brought on as an executive producer on the film and the dramaturge of the stage version. More on this to come.
→ PODCASTING
In 2019, I co-produced some segments in the debut season of the Oxford American’s podcast Points South, including an audio adaptation of John Jeremiah Sullivan’s essay “Three Encounters” narrated by M. C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger in Episode 3 (with original music by Spacebomb). In Episode 4, I talked about the South Carolina Music Issue and talked with the writer David Ramsey about magazine story craft and his piece on the Charleston band Shovels & Rope; as a send-off at the end of the episode, I gave my “Top 5” Music Issue moments from my time at the magazine.
→ MUSIC PRODUCTION
From 2015 to 2019, I spearheaded the Oxford American’s annual Southern Music Issue & CD sampler, coordinating the mechanical and master song licensing for the cover mount compilation.
I served as music editor and producer for the South Carolina Music Issue (2019), North Carolina (2018), Kentucky (2017), Visions of the Blues (2016), and Georgia (2015), and I assisted previous music editor Rick Clark on Texas (2014) and Tennessee (2013).
Production credits on Discogs: SC / NC / KY / Blues / GA
I have licensed music by:
Alabama Shakes, Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, James Brown, Elizabeth Cotten, Drive-by Truckers, Bob Dylan, Everly Brothers, John Fahey, Rhiannon Giddens, John Lee Hooker, Sharon Jones, Loretta Lynn, Killer Mike, Les McCann, Johnny Mercer, Tift Merritt, Thelonious Monk, Outkast, Gram Parsons, Bonnie Raitt, Rapsody, Otis Redding, Gil Scott-Heron, Joan Shelley, Shovels & Rope, Nina Simone, Sturgill Simpson, Sun Ra, Superchunk, Sylvan Esso, James Taylor, Allen Toussaint, Dwight Yoakam, 9th Wonder
Among the record labels, music publishers, and institutions I have collaborated with:
Association for Cultural Equity + Alan Lomax Archive, Concord, Daptone, Drag City, Dust-to-Digital, Fat Possum, Library of Congress, Light in the Attic, Merge, Music Maker Foundation, New West, Numero Group, Paradise of Bachelors, Smithsonian, Sony + Sony/ATV, Southern Folklife Collection at UNC, Universal + UMPG, Warner, XL Recordings
In 2020, I started working on a new project by director Lavinia Jones Wright, a hybrid-documentary about her acting coach, the late Alice Spivak. Initially serving as a script editor, I have since been brought on as an executive producer on the film and the dramaturge of the stage version. More on this to come.
→ PODCASTING
In 2019, I co-produced some segments in the debut season of the Oxford American’s podcast Points South, including an audio adaptation of John Jeremiah Sullivan’s essay “Three Encounters” narrated by M. C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger in Episode 3 (with original music by Spacebomb). In Episode 4, I talked about the South Carolina Music Issue and talked with the writer David Ramsey about magazine story craft and his piece on the Charleston band Shovels & Rope; as a send-off at the end of the episode, I gave my “Top 5” Music Issue moments from my time at the magazine.
→ MUSIC PRODUCTION
From 2015 to 2019, I spearheaded the Oxford American’s annual Southern Music Issue & CD sampler, coordinating the mechanical and master song licensing for the cover mount compilation.
I served as music editor and producer for the South Carolina Music Issue (2019), North Carolina (2018), Kentucky (2017), Visions of the Blues (2016), and Georgia (2015), and I assisted previous music editor Rick Clark on Texas (2014) and Tennessee (2013).
Production credits on Discogs: SC / NC / KY / Blues / GA
I have licensed music by:
Alabama Shakes, Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, James Brown, Elizabeth Cotten, Drive-by Truckers, Bob Dylan, Everly Brothers, John Fahey, Rhiannon Giddens, John Lee Hooker, Sharon Jones, Loretta Lynn, Killer Mike, Les McCann, Johnny Mercer, Tift Merritt, Thelonious Monk, Outkast, Gram Parsons, Bonnie Raitt, Rapsody, Otis Redding, Gil Scott-Heron, Joan Shelley, Shovels & Rope, Nina Simone, Sturgill Simpson, Sun Ra, Superchunk, Sylvan Esso, James Taylor, Allen Toussaint, Dwight Yoakam, 9th Wonder
Among the record labels, music publishers, and institutions I have collaborated with:
Association for Cultural Equity + Alan Lomax Archive, Concord, Daptone, Drag City, Dust-to-Digital, Fat Possum, Library of Congress, Light in the Attic, Merge, Music Maker Foundation, New West, Numero Group, Paradise of Bachelors, Smithsonian, Sony + Sony/ATV, Southern Folklife Collection at UNC, Universal + UMPG, Warner, XL Recordings
WRITING
Essays and profiles on music, culture, and the creative impulse at large. Favs in bold.
→ “I Remember His Sweetness” (Oxford American, 2019) — an essay about the beautiful long friendship between jazz titan Dizzy Gillespie and editor William Whitworth; on jazz, love, kindness, and legacy.
→ “The Music of South Carolina” (OA, 2019) — about James Jamerson’s secrets.
→ “Foul In Wisdom” (OA, 2019) — following up on Ryan Adams in light of his appalling transgressions.
→ “I Would Call Myself a Gardener” (OA, 2018) — an essay about Ryan Adams, Thomas Wolfe, North Carolina, and leaving home.
→ “The Music of North Carolina” (OA, 2018) — about my beloved home state.
→ “The Music of Kentucky” (OA, 2017) — about songwriter Tom T. Hall’s story-collecting excursions.
→ “Visions of the Blues” (OA, 2016) — about Clemens Kalischer’s portrait of John Lee Hooker.
→ “Graham Gordy’s Long Road” (The Arkansas Times, 2016) — a profile of screenwriter and playwright Graham Gordy and his Cinemax show Quarry.
→ “Homecoming Queen” (OA, 2015) — a profile of the soul singer Sharon Jones and her late-in-life return to her hometown of Augusta, Georgia.
→ “James Salter on Takeoff” (The Arkansas Times, 2015) — a brief tribute to the novelist after his death, noting his time in flight school in Arkansas.
→ “Capturing the Chaos” (OA, 2015) — a short piece about Jim Dickinson’s Beale Street Saturday Night.
→ “The Texas Playboys’ Taxonomy of Farts” (OA, 2015) — a short piece about what the title describes.
→ “A Buzz Displaced” (OA, 2013) — an essay about my grandfather and the Charlotte Hornets (then the Charlotte Bobcats).
→ “I Remember His Sweetness” (Oxford American, 2019) — an essay about the beautiful long friendship between jazz titan Dizzy Gillespie and editor William Whitworth; on jazz, love, kindness, and legacy.
→ “The Music of South Carolina” (OA, 2019) — about James Jamerson’s secrets.
→ “Foul In Wisdom” (OA, 2019) — following up on Ryan Adams in light of his appalling transgressions.
→ “I Would Call Myself a Gardener” (OA, 2018) — an essay about Ryan Adams, Thomas Wolfe, North Carolina, and leaving home.
→ “The Music of North Carolina” (OA, 2018) — about my beloved home state.
→ “The Music of Kentucky” (OA, 2017) — about songwriter Tom T. Hall’s story-collecting excursions.
→ “Visions of the Blues” (OA, 2016) — about Clemens Kalischer’s portrait of John Lee Hooker.
→ “Graham Gordy’s Long Road” (The Arkansas Times, 2016) — a profile of screenwriter and playwright Graham Gordy and his Cinemax show Quarry.
→ “Homecoming Queen” (OA, 2015) — a profile of the soul singer Sharon Jones and her late-in-life return to her hometown of Augusta, Georgia.
→ “James Salter on Takeoff” (The Arkansas Times, 2015) — a brief tribute to the novelist after his death, noting his time in flight school in Arkansas.
→ “Capturing the Chaos” (OA, 2015) — a short piece about Jim Dickinson’s Beale Street Saturday Night.
→ “The Texas Playboys’ Taxonomy of Farts” (OA, 2015) — a short piece about what the title describes.
→ “A Buzz Displaced” (OA, 2013) — an essay about my grandfather and the Charlotte Hornets (then the Charlotte Bobcats).