Meet David Hall | Educator, Writer, and Publisher

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Hall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
BreakBread Literacy Project was created out of two elements. I had been working summers as the director of the Kenyon Young Writers Program, a two-week, on campus creative writing workshop for teens, sponsored by Kenyon College in Gambier, OH. It was a program I dearly loved, but after more than 20 summers and a move to California in that time, it was time to retire. I wanted to continue to do something with teens outside of my teaching high school. That was the first element. The second element was, believe it or don’t, the COVID pandemic. No one will be surprised to know that, suddenly, I had some time on my hands from the lock down. We all seemed to. But during that time, for me, the idea of the creative writing workshops for teens was still brewing. So, the What If? kicked in. What if there was a program that did a similar kind of thing that the Kenyon summer program did, but we did it online? And we brought it young creatives all over the US? And we published the work of these young creatives in a magazine that they controlled? And, we brought in published writers to do talks? And we did it all for free? It would be a big leap of faith, for I had very little money and no experience running a non-profit or a lit mag. But we launched anyway.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In some ways, I have always lived under the adage “if you build it, they will come.” My time at Kenyon started with a relatively small group of students (about 60) and a single two-week session. When I became director, there had been talk about expansion–more kids, another two-week session–but no one was willing to direct. Until I said “Yes.” It was hard work, don’t get me wrong, and I would end many summers completely exhausted, but it was worth it in the end. When I retired, the program had reached its full potential: two, two-week sessions with more than 130 students each, plus a week-long online workshop. We built it, and they came.

I transfer that adage to my work on BreakBread. On paper and in the real world, really, it was ludicrous to start literary non-profit with little money, a staff stretched across the US, and no real skill in what I was doing. But we built it anyway. I Googled lit mag publishers and researched their starts. I bought a how to start a non-profit in California book (which proved to be the best $50 I have ever spent on the project). I asked friends for help with things like sitting on the board of directors and setting up Submittable and Google Business accounts. And then, ready or not, we launched our first call for submissions. They came flooding in from all over the world! Here we were, locked out of the regular world of writing and publishing, and somehow we managed to make a real connection with young creatives. These young people were being trained to help run the show, and some showed real diligence. Some missed classes and even woke up at 3 am for our Pacific Standard Time Zoom calls. Our first issue came out online right after the murder of George Floyd, and I think young creatives were hungry for outlets for their views on the state of the world at that time. Our second and fourth issues were published in print (which was one of my dreams–no offense to online publishing) due to generous grants from one of our board members and the Poetry Foundation, both of which saw the beauty in what we were creating. Like I said, “If you build it, they will come.”

Of course, there were hiccups along the way. Some staff left on good terms; some staff didn’t. The more the world opened up, the less time we all had for this project. Even now, we are at a crossroads deciding what the next iteration of BreakBread looks like. All of this has taught me that all creative things ebb and flow, and you just have to ride it out.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When I am in the city, I like to go to The Last Bookstore. For true inspiration, my wife takes me to the Fabric District for the best street tortas you can imagine. I also like to walk through Santee Alley.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
BreakBread would not exist if not for the love and care of Deanna Hall, my wonderfully supportive wife. From the first time I told her about the project, she has been beside me. This dream was borne on the barest of shoestring budgets, which meant we would be financing everything, from the Submittable account to the web hosting to the unlimited Zoom account. And once she saw the numbers, she agreed. She has also provided spiritual support as well. We have a nightly ritual of talking for at least 3o minutes before we go to bed. Often, those talks were about BreakBread, the ups, the downs, all of it. Like I said, without her, this would have fallen apart before it really took off. I will forever be grateful.

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