This weekend, The Wichita Eagle started an interesting storytelling experiment. Well, actually the experiment started a few weeks ago, when they posted a trailer for an upcoming narrative project on Kansas.com. Book trailers (like this one, … Read more
One side of 24 year-old Ana Rodarte’s face balloons and sags with disfiguring neurofibromatosis. Can surgery help? Los Angeles Times reporter Thomas Curwen takes on a classic medical drama and covers all the bases, following Ana, her family, and her doctors … Read more
From a March 2009 email interview with Thomas Curwen: Q: How did you first meet Edwin Shneidman, and what made him interesting to you? A: I met Edwin Shneidman in 1999 when I was working on a story about … Read more
“Waiting for Death, Alone and Unafraid,” paints a portrait of Dr. Edwin Shneidman, a 90-year-old suicide prevention expert who longs to die. A single day provides an elegant frame for this Los Angeles Times story, in which so little action … Read more
The life and death of an American Catholic in Africa provides the subject for this month’s Notable Narrative, “The Collar and the Gun.” The three-part serial draws out narrative details that make Kaiser’s missionary lifestyle come alive, from the brown … Read more
An anti-profile, Jeffrey Fleishman’s “Viewing Life from the Roof,” is a series of snapshots from the life of Alia Qotb, who lives on an anonymous rooftop in Cairo. In language that floats between poetry and prose, Fleishman recounts vignettes from … Read more
In “Climbing a Ladder Made of Lipstick,” Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske looks at the day-to-day life of immigrant entrepreneurs who are transforming that quintessential American business, Mary Kay cosmetics. She follows Altagracia Valdez as the 60 year-old abuela … Read more
The scene-writing is compelling in this tick-tock reconstruction of the experiences of the Virginia Tech class that lost the greatest number of people in the shooting. We found keeping track of all the characters a bit challenging—but the characters are … Read more
This story reconstructs the experience of Johan Otter, who was attacked by a grizzly while hiking in Glacier National Park with his daughter. The first section tells the story of the attack and of Otter’s rescue. The second installment chronicles … Read more
This is an effective and persuasive coming-of-age tale. It’s persuasive in part because it’s not entirely a story of triumph. Shawn McDonald struggles and rails against losses along with his team—but in the end he grows and learns and emerges … Read more