A complete list of my publications, from magazine features to peer-reviewed studies, is available at this link.

I’m an award-winning author, regular contributor to local, national, and international publications (see Mucrack profile here), a scholar, and a creative ecosystems and writing coach.

See the sections below for more details on the kind of writing I do.
If you want to commission me, or have questions about my work, email me at julia@root-kitchens.com

I regularly write long-form and short-form pieces on food, history, sustainability, home, outdoors, travel, and related areas.

In addition to my writing, I’m regularly interviewed and featured in media outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, Insider, Mother Earth News, and others.

I am a curious, multidisciplinary writer who loves to use my broad range of life experiences—from my PhD in Library and Information Science, life on two continents, and former career as a city bus driver—to craft compelling, well-researched work.

I write books, as well as longform features on food and history, reflective essays on nature, recipes, and commerce round-ups. I bring an accessible writing style, a passion for my subject matter, and a critical eye to my work, whatever and whoever I write for. I love variety and find so much joy sitting down each day to learn and share ideas through my work.

To see a complete list of all my publications and experience, please visit my CV page.

Books

My books focus on food, history, and libraries (not always all at the same time): See below for a full list, or head to this link.

My two most recent books, Our Fermented Lives and The Fermentation Oracle, are both (surprise!) about fermentation, and include deep dives into the history and magic of this practice, as well as recipes.

Both are multi-award winners, including the Nautilus Book Awards, finalist for the International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards, and finalist for Georgia Author of the Year.

I’ve also written books about the history of afternoon tea, English food history, and a massive food preserving handbook called Essential Food Preserving (which comes out in May 2026).

Articles and copywriting

My articles include features,  reported pieces, and historical pieces (like this one on salt rising bread).

My favorite features to write blend deep research with interviews and/or personal anecdotes (where those make sense), often with some history thrown in. This series for Mold Magazine on wayfinding through the history of the cookbook is a good example.

I love a good personal narrative (like this, on how synesthesia impacts my life as a food writer), and my many, many commerce round ups and guides (like these, or this one on gifts for curious cooks).

I write about food waste and environmental topics, food history (including the fishy history of ketchup), and fermentation (like this piece on women in brewing), though my writing expands beyond these (such as this piece on food crafts to help with lockdown-induced boredom).

Outside of my commissioned pieces, I regularly develop and test recipes for my food newsletter, where I’ve made everything from candied violets to mead to salami-spiced pickled beets. I also write a newsletter on the craft and practice of living a creative life.

I’ve also crafted exhibit materials for museums and libraries (including in my former life as a curator), done all the copywriting for my businesses (The Culinary Curiosity School, Root and Roots and Branches), and write reflective or experimental personal essays like this one on sound waves and dinner plates.

I’ve been profiled and interviewed in many major national and international outlets including the New York Times, Saveur, Insider, Eater, Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Vox, Savor (formerlyFoodStuff),WFAEats, Eat Sip Trip, and others.

I am represented by my fantastic literary agency, The Ekus Group.

Outside of food, I write about travel, sustainability, climate, history, and libraries. It’s an eclectic mix, but speaks to my ever-expanding curiosity and my desire to explore the connections between the food writing and academic worlds I’m established in, and the many other areas of our lives that influence those subjects.

I have a PhD in Library & Information Science and my academic studies on libraries, food, and history have been cited over 300 times by other scholars.

I am always happy to take on private research and writing work connected to my areas of expertise (or to other, related projects you think I would be a good fit for). I also take on copywriting clients on an ongoing or single-project basis.

I’m very interested in continuing to build my portfolio in these and related areas, so please get in touch if you’d like to work together!

Learn more about my books:

• Essential Food Preserving (out May 2026)
• The Fermentation Oracle (2024)
  • Gold Medal winner: Nautilus Book Awards
  • Georgia Author of the Year Finalist
• Our Fermented Lives (Storey, 2022, foreword by Sandor Katz): covers the global history of fermentation and explores the many ways fermented food and drinks shaped the lives of our ancestors and our lives today. 
  • Winner of 2023 silver Nautilus Book Award
  • International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards finalist
  • Finalist for Georgia Author of the Year
  • Andre Simon Food and Drink Awards longlist
• The Hidden Cosmos: A Fermentation Oracle + Recipe Deck (self-published and self-promoted, this book sold out in under 2 years, with only 50 copies remaining that I held back for giveaways and personal use).
• Underserved Patrons in University Libraries (ABC-CLIO, 2021): Co-edited with Dr. Melissa Gross, featuring chapters on providing services to marginalized and often overlooked communities in the library.
•  Afternoon Tea: A History (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), which covers the history and development of the meal and its global spread alongside English colonial practices.
• My first book was Modernizing Markham (CandleLight Press, 2012), a small volume covering an interdisciplinary food and art project based on a 1615 cookery manual.

For all my books and articles, plus all the other fun stuff I do, check out my CV!

Academic writing

I have published over a dozen single authored scholarly articles, primarily in the fields of Library & Information Studies, Food Studies, and Psychology. However, much of my work is interdisciplinary in nature and touches upon focal areas across the Social Sciences and Humanities.

My academic work has been cited in over 300 other scholarly pieces, and my articles continue to be referenced and cited well after they have been released.

My dissertation, an interdisciplinary historical study of the 135th St Branch of the New York Public Library, engaged in theory building and testing as well as historical analysis, and received an honorable mention in the Phyllis Dain Dissertation Award competition.

Some of my writing rides the line between work for general audiences and for specialized academic ones, including my tenure at the Hack Library School blog from its founding through my time as Senior Editor. During this period we successfully recruited and mentored many brilliant writers, and won the Salem Press Newcomer Award.

Etc.

Sometimes my writing practice expands beyond its usual ports of call, including a personal essay on race, class, and public transit for the award-winning Interstate Love Song exhibition, and have also appeared in published interviews related to my artistic practice, my scientific work, and how I celebrate my reproductive choices.

Some of my articles are not available online. If you would like a copy, please get in touch, and (provided I’m able to do so) I’m happy to send you a copy.

Theory

My dissertation work included the 3 Js and a G group’s collaboration on applying Information Worlds (and the interdisciplinary codebook we created) to dissertation data (in my case, historical records). It also involved the creation and testing of the Change in Historic Institutions framework, which I built to understand how institutions conceptualize and articulate changes both functionally (e.g. what parts of a new change are most highlighted) and practically (was this done to try something new, or as a response to external pressures?)

Editing and Indexing (currently waitlisted, please contact me for more information!)

For all inquiries, please contact me through this link!

Indexing

I have a PhD in Library and Information Science, and know how important it is to create an index that connects the reader to the information they need.

I find organizing an index to be a joyful and meditative experience: I have written many of my own book indexes, and enjoy writing indexes for a range of other projects, including books, reports and grants, etc.

Because I have a diverse professional background, I can knowledgeably index books across many subjects across social sciences and humanities, food writing, and beyond, with indexes to assist academic and popular readers.

I put the same care into indexing your writing as I do for my own. Please reach out for a quote!

Editorial

I have served in an editorial capacity for several publications that sit at the intersection of academic and popular writing.

These include serving as a founding writer and later senior editor for the Hack Library School blog, which won a Salem Press newcomer blog award during my time there. I also was a founding Editor for B Sides Journal, and most recently served as the editor of Parenthesis.

Since 2008, I have offered private editorial services for authors from a range of disciplines, and have gained experience working with everything from museum exhibit labels to dissertations to popular articles.