Creative Nonfiction

10/24/2024

Preorder from Belt Publishing, between now and November 4, 2024, and receive a 30% discount, plus free shipping, on your order. Discount Code: CNF2024
https://beltpublishing.com/products/creative-nonfiction-the-final-issue

10/11/2024

In 1994, a new lit mag went out to just 173 subscribers. It focused on a relatively new genre—not fiction, not poetry, not journalism. Something in between.

At first, many thought it was a flash in the pan, and the genre an undefined form of navel gazing. Fast forward 30 years, and we live in an era of creative nonfiction bestsellers, MFA programs, and more.

"Despite the resistance and criticism, the idea of writing nonfiction that was personal, intimate, and cinematic, with writers opening up and exploring all possibilities, employing the tools of storytelling—first gradually and then rapidly—caught on," Lee Gutkind, founder of Creative Nonfiction, writes in the introduction.

This November, Belt is publishing Creative Nonfiction: The Final Issue. It gathers some of the best, most reflective examples of creative essays published in the lit mag throughout its existence. Find Charles Simic, the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet, examining his boyhood memory fragments of the bombing of Belgrade. Adrienne Rich writes about the life of a poet. Further contributions from Brian Broome, Diane Ackerman, Phillip Lopate, John McPhee, and many other talented and evocative writers are included as well.

For all lovers of original, inquisitive prose.

02/12/2024

All of us at Creative Nonfiction are thrilled to announce an exciting new partnership with award-winning storytelling platform . Their team and ours have been mutual admirers for quite some time, and we’re kicking things off with a special series of original stories we’re soliciting pitches for starting…right now! Learn all about why we’re so proud to team up with Narratively, what we’re looking to publish in our series “The Art of Narrative Storytelling,” and also access your exclusive Creative Nonfiction community discount on a Narratively subscription here, in our founder Lee Gutkind’s letter announcing the start of some very big plans.

Learn more about the unique friendship and partnership Creative Nonfiction has formed with the storytelling platform Narratively to help us build on our three decades of work and remarkable community.

12/02/2022

"Finding true ways to see, feel, empathize and hear from other people that are different from you – this is the time to do this. This is really, really pivotal work."

Radiolab's Latif Nasser on leading with the question, nuance in science journalism, and building trust:

Radiolab's Latif Nasser talks about how to cultivate relationships with new audiences at a time when science journalists face daunting challenges posed by misinformation and public distrust.

11/01/2022

Retrospection is a powerful form of meaning making: it allows us to consider what happened through the lens of subsequent experience, adding a layer of significance to memory and allowing the writer to recognize and reflect on what’s changed.

In our next webinar, Michael Copperman will examine how tense functions; consider the often-repeated advice that present tense is more vivid and immediate; and analyze how mastering tense allows seasoned writers to engage in retrospection and reflection.

Angle of Vision: Reflection and Retrospection, Tense and Time
Wednesday, November 2 at 2 pm Eastern
Join us: https://buff.ly/3U2eejW

10/27/2022

"That a writer can learn the craft of writing but not how to weigh and face possible negative implications to their work needs to be remedied.

Ethics are not ancillary to craft but, in fact, critical to the craft of writing. And when it comes to writing about social issues, I will go so far as to say that you cannot write about social issues responsibly unless your work is grounded in ethics. So many problematic essays that have been and continue to be published, sometimes to the regret of the writer and to the distress of many readers, could be avoided by foregrounding discussions of ethics and moral clarity in the work and in the editorial process."

Kavita Das considers what it means to "make an impact" with your writing:

Like so many other writers, I was shocked and saddened by the brutality of the recent attack on famed author Salman Rushdie. As someone who transitioned to becoming a full-time writer ten years ago…

10/26/2022

An awareness of historical context can help you enrich your story and reach a broader and more diverse audience.

In our next webinar, Patti Kameya will provide you with the tools for understanding how your story may connect to other stories. .

Exploring the “So What?” and “Why Now?” with Historical Context
Wednesday, October 26 at 2 pm Eastern
https://buff.ly/3Nfp0k3

Webinars with CNF are a convenient & affordable opportunity to learn & practice the art, craft, or business of creative nonfiction—every week. Join in real-time and take part in the conversation. Afterward, you'll receive the recording as a resource you can return to again and again.

10/18/2022

Keeping a writer's notebook can transform your daily grind into meaningful artistic output.

In our next webinar, Lindsey DeLoach Jones will teach you how a notebook practice can help revitalize your writing practice and infuse your creative life with new energy and techniques.

The Writer’s Notebook: How and Why It Works
Wednesday, October 19 at 2 pm Eastern
https://buff.ly/3eD4Y6m

Webinars with CNF are a convenient & affordable opportunity to learn & practice the art, craft, or business of creative nonfiction—every week. Join in real-time and take part in the conversation. Afterward, you'll receive the recording as a resource you can return to again and again.

09/14/2022

Any morning with a new issue of Brevity in it is a good morning!

08/27/2022

How is gardening like writing? "[A] superficial pass often doesn’t get you much, either in the worlds of blackberry hacking or journalism, if what you’re after is a top, berry-producing plant or the most thorough, compelling story you can write. In fact, nipping just serves to reveal how much more pruning (editing) is needed if you want to get to the good stuff."

An author and freelancer contemplates story craft as she tames and harvests the blackberry brambles on her land

08/22/2022

In tomorrow's webinar, learn how to write beautiful beginnings that hook the reader and brilliant endings to keep them thinking about your work long after closing the book or clicking away.

Beautiful Beginnings, Brilliant Endings on Wednesday, 8/24 at 2 pm Eastern with Allison K Williams. As always, registration closes an hour prior, and all registrants will receive a recording following the program.

https://creativenonfiction.org/product/beautiful-beginnings-brilliant-endings/

08/08/2022

Revising a memoir can feel overwhelming. But it’s a crucial process that helps memoirists take their story to the next level, making it compelling to readers and irresistible to agents. In this Wednesday's webinar, gain a toolbox of revision strategies and a roadmap for honing your memoir draft.

Roadmap to Revision with Katie Bannon, Wednesday 8/10 at 2 pm Eastern. Registration closes an hour prior, and all registrants will receive a recording following the program.

https://creativenonfiction.org/product/roadmap-to-revision-make-your-memoir-agent-ready/

07/26/2022

In tomorrow's webinar, learn how the guiding questions of journalism apply to memoir, too. These guidelines will help you explore the foundational issues in creating a true narrative that rewards writer & reader.

Wednesday, 7/27 at 2 pm Eastern with Jessica Handler. As always, registration closes an hour prior, and all registrants will receive a recording following the program.

https://buff.ly/3OBmmEl

07/18/2022

Next up in our webinar series, learn to write confidently and artfully about sociopolitical topics to engage and challenge readers without alienating them.

Wednesday, July 20 @ 2 pm Eastern with Jaswinder Bolina. As always, registration closes an hour prior, and all registrants will receive a recording following the program.

https://buff.ly/3IKDUfU

07/12/2022

As you connect and synthesize your ideas, you’ll see how a strong voice and structure emerge in your work—elements that, ultimately, make readers want to turn pages.

In our NEW self-guided online class, you will learn how to recognize natural patterns and connections in your writing, and practice synthesizing them for top emotional impact.

Zen of Process | July 25 - August 19

As you connect and synthesize your ideas, you’ll see how a strong voice and structure emerge in your work—elements that, ultimately, make readers want to turn pages.

07/07/2022

We're excited to announce another new Sunday Short Reads partner: beginning this Sunday, you'll see short essays from the Fourth Genre archives!

Join the list and catch up on past issues here:

Every Sunday morning we email out a flash essay of no more than 1,000 words right to your inbox, with no ads and no need to click through to a website. The pieces featured in the Sunday Short Read are hand-selected from the archives of Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, Diagram, Hippocampus Magazine, R...

06/27/2022

What is flash nonfiction, and what are its possibilities and limitations? Our next webinar is a FREE presentation with a panel of three literary nonfiction editors who will discuss this exciting and sometimes confounding form.

Wednesday, July 6 @ 2 pm Eastern with Jenn Scheck-Kahn, Dinty W. Moore & Rae Pagliarulo. As always, registration closes an hour prior, and all registrants will receive a recording following the program.

https://creativenonfiction.org/product/long-story-short-the-art-of-flash-nonfiction/