Portfolio

Published work.

Features, profiles, and opinion writing, plus podcast and video work. Earlier pieces were published under the byline Avery Chenault.

The Culture Cottage·2026

A Love for the Land

Dolly Parton & Wendell Berry’s Common Inspiration

Read at The Culture Cottage (opens in a new tab)

The Culture Cottage·2026

In Defense of Hobbies

Why being bad at something is actually really good

Read at The Culture Cottage (opens in a new tab)

The Culture Cottage·2026

We're All Just Hungry People

Recently, I had the opportunity to join in on a cooking class hosted at a home that houses women seeking asylum in the United States.

Read at The Culture Cottage (opens in a new tab)

The Culture Cottage·2026

Beauty Isn't About What Looks Pretty

As I am bringing you this Substack, I am writing from inside a historical library in my town — marble floors, stained glass windows, hundreds of old books. It's a writer's paradise.

Read at The Culture Cottage (opens in a new tab)

Passages·2026

Discover Your Roots, Season 4

A podcast series tracing the roots of the biblical world. I hosted and organized the season, wrote the copy, and interviewed world-renowned experts.

Linked episode: “Jesus’ Final Week: From the Mount of Olives to Golgotha” (Season 4, Episode 12)

Listen on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

The Culture Cottage·2025

A Season For Survival

The temperature has begun to linger below freezing in my corner of the United States. The trees have been stripped of their leaves and cold bites at my fingertips.

Read at The Culture Cottage (opens in a new tab)

The Culture Cottage·2025

I want a landline.

At a weekly women's Bible study I attend we opened the meeting with a fun icebreaker question like usual. Some shared they would host a ball, issue a royal decree, or simply enjoy the elite fashion that comes with being a monarch.

Read at The Culture Cottage (opens in a new tab)

The Culture Cottage·2025

Globalization or Monetization?

If you search the word Hygge on Amazon you will see pages of Hygge candles, Hygge themed coloring books, Hygge crafts, Hygge mugs, and even Hygge stickers for your water bottle.

Read at The Culture Cottage (opens in a new tab)

The Jerusalem Post's featured image for this opinion piece on violence against women on October 7.

The Jerusalem Post·2025

We must give voice to the women who were victims of Hamas' violence

In Re'im, a Gaza border community and the site of the Supernova music festival, the words “if only trees could speak” are carved into the trunk of a thin tree.

Read at The Jerusalem Post (opens in a new tab)

Passages·2025

Israel Explained

An educational video series unpacking the history and politics of Israel in short, accessible episodes. I researched and wrote the scripts.

Linked episode: “Israel Explained: What is UNWRA?”

Watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Mona Lisa Lanier at her dance school in Jackson, Tennessee.

Our Jackson Home·2023

Mona Lisa Lanier: Loving Where You Live Through Dance

“I just need a space to dance,” Mona Lisa Lanier said to me as she flicked on the lights of a former elementary school turned community recreation center.

Read at Our Jackson Home (opens in a new tab)

Cardinal & Cream·2023

Bikes By The Bomb Shelter

Award · Grand Prize for Exceptional Achievement and first place in Feature Writing, Baptist Communicators Association Student Awards Competition

“I know on the other side of that wall there is a woman who is just like me,” an Israeli woman said, standing on her front porch in Kfar Aza, Israel, a mere few miles from the Gaza border. “We just want for our children to live in peace.”

Photographed by Avery Chenault and Rebekah Marcotte

Read the Cardinal & Cream feature (PDF) (PDF, opens in a new tab)

Cardinal & Cream·2022

Cardinal & Cream: Fall 2022 Bicentennial Edition

Award · Magazine of the South — South Eastern Journalism Conference

The magazine marking Union University's 200th year, produced during Avery's tenure as Features & Multimedia Editor.

Features & Multimedia Editor

Read at Cardinal & Cream (opens in a new tab)

Cardinal & Cream's featured photograph for this feature on living a quiet life.

Cardinal & Cream·2022

The Art Of Living Quietly: How Ordinary Moments Impact Others

It's a sunny Thursday afternoon and I'm sitting on the floor of Kalee Stedman's living room, sipping a cup of tea as light pours in from the window.

Read at Cardinal & Cream (opens in a new tab)