CREATIVE NONFICTION (CNF) RESOURCES
CNF Recommended Reading Lists Contemporary Creative Nonfiction Reading List (Sue William Silverman) http://www.suewilliamsilverman.com/click_here_to_see_sue_silverman_s_list_of_contempor ary_literary_nonfiction__71566.htm Memorist and teacher Silverman’s recommended reads in such categories as Illness, Accident, Grief, Addiction; Family, Relationships, Friendships, Identity; Place, Nature, Science, Travel; New Journalism, Immersion, History, Social Issues, War, Political Issues, Religion, Spirituality, Feminism; and Personal Essay, Journal, Anthologies. Longform Essays http://longform.org/lists/best-of-2014#essays According to the website, “Longform.org recommends new and classic non-fiction from around the web” – nonfiction, that is, which is longer than 2,000 words, and available for free reading online. Additional comment from an Evergreen grad: Longform provides a “podcast of interviews with nonfiction writers [http://longform.libsyn.com/rss] and recently launched an app [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/longform/id490437064?mt=8] that lets you follow particular writers and publications, see recently published pieces ranked by popularity or picked by staff, rate and review pieces, and more.” Nieman StoryBoard http://niemanstoryboard.org/ Articles and essays about nonfiction, especially journalistic and reported nonfiction writing. The Annotation Tuesday section presents background information on the creation of a single piece of nonfiction writing, in the form of a discussion between its author and a website contributor. The discussion is presented in part as comments written into the piece itself (the “annotation”); you may want to search online for an unannotated version of the piece before reading the annotated version. A different nonfiction article is discussed each week. Here’s a link specifically to the Annotation series: http://niemanstoryboard.org/search/Annotation+Tuesday Outstanding Narrative Nonfiction Books: A Reading List http://www.writersandeditors.com/narrative_nonfiction_57378.htm#bookmark4 A list of reads from writer-editor Pat McNees. Keep scrolling down after the highlighted section – there’s more!
Several Takes on Types or Subgenres of Creative Nonfiction -- “The Meandering River: An Overview of the Subgenres of Creative Nonfiction” (Sue William Silverman) http://www.suewilliamsilverman.com/_the_meandering_river__an_overview_of_the_subgen res_of_creative_nonfiction__12178.htm -- “Some Logics of the Essay” (Anthony Lioi) http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/comparative-media-studies-writing/21w-735-writing-and- reading-the-essay-fall-2004/study-materials/logicoftheessay.pdf -- Creative Non-Fiction (University of Vermont Writing Center) https://www.uvm.edu/wid/writingcenter/tutortips/nonfiction.html
Literary Magazines Online (There are many more than these three! See the list websites, below.) -- Brevity http://brevitymag.com/ Brief creative nonfiction (shorter than 800 words) and craft essays
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-- TriQuarterly https://www.triquarterly.org/ A pioneer in the online visual essay; publishes fiction, poetry, short drama, and nonfiction as well. -- Guernica https://www.guernicamag.com/ Diversity of writers, topics and genres including interviews and art; stated focus is “art and politics.” Lists of Literary Magazines -- Essay Daily http://essaydaily.blogspot.com/ Scroll down a bit for links in the right-hand column to journals that publish CNF, and additional resources. Bills itself as “an ongoing conversation about essays and magazines of interest”. -- NewPages Guide to Literary Magazines http://www.newpages.com/magazines/literary-magazines Easy-to-access compilation of information about literary magazines (and others) that can be searched for magazines that publish creative nonfiction. From the website: “NewPages is the Portal of Independents! News, information and guides to literary magazines, independent publishers, creative writing programs, independent bookstores, alternative periodicals, independent record labels, alternative newsweeklies and more.”
Classical Essays First Published Before 1923 -- Quotidiana http://essays.quotidiana.org/
CNF Craft Articles Online -- Brevity http://brevitymag.com/category/craft-essays/ Short how-to essays on various aspects of craft -- The New York Times “Draft” (writing craft blog) http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/draft/
Writer’s Craft Handbooks --Burroway, Janet. Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft. 3rd ed. New York: Penguin Academics, 2011. --LaPlante, Alice. “The Making of a Story”: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2007. NOTE: (There are many more! See the list, for example, “Books on the craft of narrative nonfiction” and the subsequent lists at http://www.writersandeditors.com/narrative_nonfiction_57378.htm#bookmark4
Writing Prompts and Exercises --“All-Time Favorite Writing Prompts” from Ploughshare Journal http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/all-time-favorite-writing-prompts/ --A weekly prompt from Poets and Writers http://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises --A craft essay about prompts: “Consider the Prompt” (Dinah Lenney) Brevity, September 16, 2014 http://brevitymag.com/craft-essays/consider-the-prompt/ -- A list: ”Stuck for Ideas? 20 Quotes Telling You What To Write About http://writetodone.com/stuck-for-ideas-20-quotes-what-to-write-about/ -- Ellis, Sherry. Now Write! Nonfiction: Memoir, Journalism and Creative Nonfiction Exercises from Today's Best Writers. Tarcher, 2009.
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