Creating Nonfiction

Twenty Essays and Interviews with the Writers

Jen Hirt, Erin Murphy, Jen Hirt, Erin Murphy

• Publisher: Excelsior Editions
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781438461168, 9781438461151
• eBook ISBN: 9781438461175
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Biografías de ciencias sociales

Gold Winner for Anthologies, 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards With a title that suggests both the genre and the process of composing it, Creating Nonfiction is a collection of essays and interviews that aims to open readers' and writers' eyes to the formal possibilities of creative nonfiction. Included are memoirs, personal essays, literary journalism, graphic essays, and lyric essays, and the content is equally diverse, with topics ranging from childbirth to child labor, from dandelions to domestic violence. Whereas most anthologies leave readers to speculate about the evolution of each contribution, Creating Nonfiction provides companion interviews that offer insight into the inspiration, drafting, and revision process that produced the essays. Cheryl Strayed talks about how working as a reporter for her hometown newspaper influenced her later writings. Dinty W. Moore reflects on the delicate balance between observation and judgment when writing about subjects whose values differ from your own. Kristen Radtke explains how she decides between textual and visual images when creating a graphic essay. Although they offer an eclectic mix of voices and styles, what these essays all have in common is that ultimately, as contributor Faith Adiele observes, "truth becomes art."

Index

By Author

Adiele, Faith “How to Make Sense of the Post-Colonial Nation-State”	203
Aldrich, Marcia “How to Give a Baby a Bath”	127
Borich, Barrie Jean “Apocalypse, Darling”	97
Brown, Fleda “My Wobbly Bicycle, 29”	169
Church, Steven “Seven Fathoms Down”	135
Conaway, Cameron “Of Ships and Men”	195
Groom, Kelle “How to Cure a Fright”	63
Hammond, Jeffrey “YouTube’s Winged Chariot”	213
Hirt, Jen “Students of the Route”	175
Jakiela, Lori “Free to a Good Home”	15
Martone, Michael “Footnotes and Endnotes”	51
Moore, Dinty W. “Tooth and Claw”	29
Morales, Angela “Gunslinging”	151
Murphy, Erin “Slow Burn”	147
Nezhukumatathil, Aimee “Birth Geographic”	119
Quade, Mary R. “The Collection”	39
Radtke, Kristen “The City of the Century”	75
Strayed, Cheryl “Kestrel Avenue”	1
St. Germain, Sheryl “The Third Step”	159
Thompson, Toby “Terremoto”	181

By Title

“Apocalypse, Darling,” Barrie Jean Borich	97
“Birth Geographic,” Aimee Nezhukumatathil	119
“Footnotes and Endnotes,” Michael Martone	51
“Free to a Good Home,” Lori Jakiela	15
“Gunslinging,” Angela Morales	151
“How to Cure a Fright,” Kelle Groom	63
“How to Give a Baby a Bath,” Marcia Aldrich	127
“How to Make Sense of the Post-Colonial Nation-State,” Faith Adiele	203
“Kestrel Avenue,” Cheryl Strayed	1
“My Wobbly Bicycle, 29,” Fleda Brown	169
“Of Ships and Men,” Cameron Conaway	195
“Seven Fathoms Down,” Steven Church	135
“Slow Burn,” Erin Murphy	147
“Students of the Route,” Jen Hirt	175
“Terremoto,” Toby Thompson	181
“The City of the Century,” Kristen Radtke	75
“The Collection,” Mary R. Quade	39
“The Third Step,” Sheryl St. Germain	159
“Tooth and Claw,” Dinty W. Moore	29
“YouTube’s Winged Chariot,” Jeffrey Hammond	213

By Interview

Faith Adiele, “How to Make Sense of the Post-Colonial Nation-State”	209
Marcia Aldrich, “How to Give a Baby a Bath”	133
Barrie Jean Borich, “Apocalypse, Darling”	114
Brown, “My Wobbly Bicycle, 29”	171
Steven Church, “Seven Fathoms Down”	144
Cameron Conaway, “Of Ships and...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• One “Kestrel Avenue” by Cheryl Strayed
• Two “Free to Good Home” by Lori Jakiela
• Three “Tooth and Claw” by Dinty W. Moore
• Four “The Collection” by Mary Quade
• Five “Footnotes & Endnotes” by Michael Martone
• Six “How to Cure a Fright” by Kelle Groom
• Seven “The City of the Century” by Kristen Radtke
• Eight “Apocalypse, Darling” by Barrie Jean Borich
• Nine “Birth Geographic” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
• Ten “How to Give a Baby a Bath” by Marcia Aldrich
• Eleven “Seven Fathoms Down” by Steven Church
• Twelve “Slow Burn” by Erin Murphy
• Thirteen “Gunslinging” by Angela Morales
• Fourteen “The Third Step” by Sheryl St. Germain
• Fifteen “My Wobbly Bicycle, 29” by Fleda Brown
• Sixteen “Students of the Route” by Jen Hirt
• Seventeen “Terremoto” by Toby Thompson
• Eighteen “Of Ships and Men” by Cameron Conaway
• Nineteen “How to Make Sense of the Postcolonial Nation-State: A Definition Essay Using Material Lifted Almost Entirely from the Internet as Annotated by the Author, Herself a Nigerian American” by Faith Adiele
• Twenty “YouTube’s Winged Chariot: On Time, Memory, and Internet Video” by Jeffrey Hammond
• Acknowledgments
• Contributors
• Index
• Back Cover