Know your bloggers: Jeremy and Susannah of BurnAway.org

Atlanta’s got a number of dedicated arts blogs. After Cinque Hick’s story this month on a changing critical media landscape, we decided to profile the men and women behind the curtain in a series called “Know your bloggers.” This week we talked to Jeremy Abernathy and Susannah Darrow of BurnAway.org.

How old are you?

Susannah Darrow: 24

Jeremy Abernathy: 26

How long have you lived in Atlanta?

SD: I’m an Atlanta native. The only time I left has been for school.

JA: Almost eight years, minus about 10 months in Japan.

What are your day jobs?

SD: I work at the Spruill Gallery in Dunwoody. I help with all of the logistics that go into the exhibitions and day-to-day stuff.

JA: I’m a copy editor at the state Capitol downtown. We review all the legislation that goes through the House and Senate. It’s a busy, busy time of year.

Do you have backgrounds in art?

SD: I have a BA in Art History from the University of Georgia. While I was in school, though, I also took extensive course work in Printmaking.

JA: My degree is also in Art History, but I double majored in International Relations. I also was a custom framer for two years, loved the work, but eventually moved on.

Why did you start BurnAway and how long has it been around?

SD: We started working on BurnAway in August of 2008. Jeremy, Ben Grad, and I all had personal blogs where we covered Atlanta arts, and we decided it made sense to combine our efforts. At the outset, it was mostly just us being interested in getting our opinions about the local arts scene out there.

JA: That was a great summer. We were a community of people doing arts writing online: Cinque Hicks, Jonathan Bouknight, Mike Germon, Ben, Susannah. It was fertile ground. But I really have to credit Jerry Cullum, though, for the original call to action to combine our separate efforts. We needed to “bridge the gap.”