My name is Morgan Harper Nichols, and I am an artist, author, and PhD student in Communication Studies at the University of Georgia.

My work explores interactive storytelling, worldbuilding, and game-inspired narrative structures as methods for fostering environments for meaning-making. I earned my MFA in Interdisciplinary Media Arts from Lindenwood University, where my thesis focused on developing frameworks create and share branching narratives using the open-source platform Twine. Right now, my goal is for this work to continue to expand through my doctoral studies.

For me, the process of assembling narratives and creative work is a continuous process of layering and discovery itself, like a collage that is always shifting and open to new connections that inform deeper meaning. I experienced this “assemblage” personally, at age 30, I learned I was autistic. I began to see a specialist and at 31, I was diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and sensory processing disorder. Long before I had language for these experiences, I was making art, music, and poetry that reflected them, fragmented, yet and also meaningful through patterns that emerged over time. My work continues to explore breathing room, adaptation, and the evolving ways stories take shape.

This has led me to explore both creative methods and research on branching narratives, hypertext, and evolving structures of storytelling, and also, continue to evolve my creative practice: In 2017, I began creating art and poetry in response to messages from others, using visual and written forms to reflect experiences, tell stories, and create space for shared meaning. Over time, this practice expanded into a collage-based approach that draws from worldbuilding, assemblage, and remixing.

Right now, I work across a range of media, including digital art, graphic design, collage, writing, and interactive storytelling. I am also continuing to work on my app Storyteller and I have an online shop where you can find my work: Garden24. My books include the Bestseller All Along You Were Blooming, and I currently serve as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the mental health organization TWLOHA.

Thanks for stopping by!

Here’s my blog