Literary Journalism Studies Te Journal of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 2015 ––––––––––––––––– Information for Contributors 4 Note from the Editor 5 ––––––––––––––––– Women and Literary Journalism: A Special Issue 6 On Recognition of Quality Writing by Leonora Flis 7 From Fiction to Fact: Zora Neale Hurston and the Ruby McCollum Trial Roberta S. Maguire 17 Te Life Story of Mrs. Ruby J. McCollum! By Zora Neale Hurston 37 Meridel Le Sueur, Dorothy Day, and the Literary Journalism of Advocacy During the Great Depression by Nancy L. Roberts 45 Te Works of Edna Staebler: Using Literary Journalism to Celebrate the Lives of Ordinary Canadians by Bruce Gillespie 59 Rebels with a Cause: Women Reporting the Spanish Civil War by Isabelle Meuret 79 Preferring “Dirty” to “Literary” Journalism: In Australia, Margaret Simons Challenges the Jargon While Producing the Texts by Sue Joseph 101 Leila Guerriero and the Uncertain Narrator by Pablo Calvi 119 Alexandra Fuller of Southern Africa: A White Woman Writer Goes West by Anthea Garman and Gillian Rennie 133 Scholar-Practitioner Q+A William Dow and Leonora Flis interview Barbara Ehrenreich 147 Book Reviews 159 ––––––––––––––––– Mission Statement 178 International Association for Literary Journalism Studies 179 2 Literary Journalism Studies Copyright © 2015 International Association for Literary Journalism Studies All rights reserved Website: www.literaryjournalismstudies.org Literary Journalism Studies is the journal of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies and is published twice yearly. For information on subscribing or membership, go to www.ialjs.org. Member of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals Published twice a year, Spring and Fall issues. Subscriptions, $50/year (individuals), $75/year (libraries). ISSN 1944-897X (paper) ISSN 1944-8988 (online) 3 Literary Journalism Studies Editor Advisory Board Bill Reynolds Robert Alexander, John S. Bak, Ryerson University Jo Bech-Karlsen, R. Tomas Berner, Canada Myriam Boucharenc, Robert S. Boynton, Associate Editors Tomas B. Connery, Juan Domingues, David Eason, Tobias Eberwein, Lynn Cunningham Ryerson University Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Leonora Flis, Canada Kathy Roberts Forde, Brian Gabrial, Ellen Garvey, Susan Greenberg, William Dow Vera Hanna, Roberto Herrscher, American University of Paris France Tim Holmes, Beate Josephi, Richard Lance Keeble, Willa McDonald, Miles Maguire Jenny McKay, Isabelle Meuret, University of Wisconsin John J. Pauly, Guillaume Pinson, Oshkosh, United States Joshua M. Roiland, Barry Siegel, Roberta S. Maguire Norman Sims, Isabel Soares, University of Wisconsin Marie-Eve Térenty, Alice Donat Trindade, Oshkosh, United States Andie Tucher, Doug Underwood, Jan Whitt, Christopher P. Wilson, Book Review Editor Mateusz Zimnoch, Sonja Merljak Zvodc Nancy L. Roberts University at Albany, SUNY United States Web Administrator Nicholas Jackson Publisher David Abrahamson Founding Editor Northwestern University United States John C. Hartsock Editorial Ofces Literary Journalism Studies School of Journalism Ryerson University 350 Victoria Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5B 2K3 Email: [email protected] Published at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University 1845 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, United States 4 SUBMISSION INFORMATION ITERARY JOURNALISM STUDIES invites submissions of original scholarly L articles on literary journalism, which is also known as narrative journalism, liter- ary reportage, reportage literature, New Journalism, and the nonfction novel, as well as literary and narrative nonfction that emphasizes cultural revelation. Te journal has an international focus and seeks submissions on the theory, history, and pedagogy of literary journalism throughout the world. All disciplinary approaches are welcome. Submissions should be informed with an awareness of the existing scholarship and should be between 3,000 and 8,000 words in length, including notes. To encourage international dialogue, the journal is open to publishing on occasion short examples or excerpts of previously published literary journalism accompanied by a scholarly gloss about or an interview with the writer who is not widely known outside his or her country. Te example or excerpt must be translated into English. Te scholarly gloss or interview should generally be between 1,500 and 2,500 words long and in- dicate why the example is important in the context of its national culture. Together, both the text and the gloss generally should not exceed 8,000 words in length. Te contributor is responsible for obtaining all copyright permissions, including from the publisher, author and translator as necessary. Te journal is also willing to consider publication of exclusive excerpts of narrative literary journalism accepted for publica- tion by major publishers. Email submission (as a Microsoft Word attachment) is mandatory. A cover page in- dicating the title of the paper, the author’s name, institutional afliation, and contact information, along with an abstract (50–100 words), should accompany all submis- sions. Te cover page should be sent as a separate attachment from the abstract and submission to facilitate distribution to readers. No identifcation should appear linking the author to the submission or abstract. All submissions must be in English Microsoft Word and follow the Chicago Manual of Style (Humanities endnote style) <http://www. chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html>. All submissions will be blind re- viewed. Send submissions to the editor at <[email protected]>. Copyright reverts to the contributor after publication with the provision that if re- published reference is made to initial publication in Literary Journalism Studies. OOK REVIEWS are invited. Tey should be 1,000–2,000 words and focus on Bthe scholarship of literary journalism and recent original works of literary jour- nalism that deserve greater recognition among scholars. Book reviews are not blind reviewed but selected by the book review editor based on merit. Reviewers may sug- gest book review prospects or write the book review editor for suggestions. Usually reviewers will be responsible for obtaining their respective books. Book reviews and/ or related queries should be sent to Nancy L. Roberts at <[email protected]> 5 Note from the Editor… reetings and welcome to this special issue of Literary Jour- Gnalism Studies, which focuses on the work of female liter- ary journalists. For this occasion I have the pleasure of handing over the editorial reins to Leonora Flis of the University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Te genesis of this project dates back two years, to the eighth annual conference of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies, which was held at the University of Tampere, Finland, May 16–18, 2013. I was president of IALJS at the time, and as such was charged with the honorable task of christening one among several worthy sessions the “President’s Panel.” As it turned out, the panel I settled on had been organized and was being moderated by Flis and was entitled, “Women’s Reportage and Public Memory: From the late Nineteenth Century to the 1940s.” Te panel featured presentations from fve female scholars from Belgium, Slovenia, and the U.S.A. (including Flis). As I understand it, after the day’s proceedings ended, Flis and Rob Alexander of Brock University, Canada, chair of the IALJS Program Committee, were walking back to the Scandic, our conference hotel. Tey struck up a conversation about how well the “Women’s Reportage” panel had gone. Flis wondered aloud if something more could not be done to follow up—something more ambitious, something for the journal perhaps. Alexander suggested the possibility of putting together an issue’s worth of articles dedicated to the subject of female literary journalism. From that point onward, Flis and I toiled, on and of, to organize a special issue proposal. Eventually it was presented to then-editor John C. Hartsock as well as as- sociate editors of the journal for feedback. Te proposal was well received, and Flis proceeded from there. In these pages the reader will fnd the work of female liter- ary journalists from countries such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, South Africa, and the United States analyzed, critiqued and, yes, applauded. I will leave it to Flis herself, in her guest editor’s introduction, to say more about the issue and to introduce the individual articles. I would like to thank all of the contributors, and attentive readers, for their dili- gence and hard work to make this issue a success. I hope LJS readers will appreciate and enjoy the breadth and variety on ofer here. Finally, I reserve my singular praise for last. I want to salute Lea Flis, who now has made so real her dream of an issue dedicated entirely to literary journalism from a female perspective. Bill Reynolds Literary Journalism Studies Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 2015 6 Women and Literary Journalism: A Special Issue Leonora Flis, guest editor University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia Leonora Flis is an assistant professor at the Uni- versity of Nova Gorica, Slovenia. She teaches courses in literature, flm, and intercultural stud- ies. She also works as a book and flm critic and a translator. Flis is the author of Factual Fic- tion: Narrative Truth and the Contemporary American Documentary Novel (2010). Her forthcoming book is a collection of short stories, Time Bend E 357 (2015). 7 On Recognition of Quality Writing by Leonora Flis s Bill Reynolds has already mentioned, about two years ago a casual A conversation after one of the panels during the IALJS conference in Tampere, Finland, touched upon the issue of women writers, female journal- ists, and more precisely, upon the question of how noticeable and laudable they are, or rather, are able to be. We never expressed doubts about the im- pact and quality of their work. Te concern we raised was clearly a gender concern, a quota concern, even. He asked me if I thought the IALJS made enough room for women as writers and women talking about women writers. I paused for a second and could not give a straight answer right away.