Articles

Katherine Boo's 15 rules for narrative nonfiction — now this is a "must-read"

Katherine Boo’s 15 rules for narrative nonfiction — now this is a “must-read”

At the Mayborn Conference for storytellers, the Pulitzer winner warns against falling in love with the craft too much, and says that “getting it right matters way more than whether…
July 25, 2017
Katia Savchuk
On identity: men who created it, women who lost it, a writer who escaped it

On identity: men who created it, women who lost it, a writer who escaped it

A weekly roundup of some favorite things, for your reading and listening pleasure
July 21, 2017
Kari Howard
In a South African cookbook-memory book, recapturing a life that was lost to apartheid

In a South African cookbook-memory book, recapturing a life that was lost to apartheid

"Huis Kombuis" offers an old-fashioned spin on multimedia storytelling: a collective memoir with lovingly hand-stitched recipes honoring a demolished neighborhood -- and a past that couldn't be destroyed
July 20, 2017
Heather Richie

“And one day he made an error, and then struck out, and it sounded like all of Fenway was booing, and he ran to the bench with his head down, the red rising in his face, the shame in his belly, and the rage. Ted thought: These are the ones who cheered, the fans I waved my cap to? Well, never again.”

Why is it great? Yes, it’s more than one sentence. But in this one short stanza, Cramer has captured all the rage and sorrow and loneliness and drive of the…
July 19, 2017
Kari Howard
5(ish) Questions: Steve Oney and "A Man's World" (both the song and his new book)

5(ish) Questions: Steve Oney and “A Man’s World” (both the song and his new book)

The writer talks about how ideas about masculinity have changed over his 40-year career, and how he eerily predicted the rise of Breitbart America
July 18, 2017
Kari Howard
5(ish) Questions: Mary Pols and the rural lyricism of "Death of a Dairyman"

5(ish) Questions: Mary Pols and the rural lyricism of “Death of a Dairyman”

The Portland Press Herald writer talks about her story on a man who connected a community, and chafing at the "Cabot Cove-ization" of Maine writing
July 13, 2017
Murray Carpenter

“Well I chased him through them county roads / Till a sign said Canadian border five miles from here / I pulled over to the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear.”

Why is it great? This is the first lyric to feature on “One Great Sentence,” and of course it had to be Springsteen. I chose this not because it’s my…
July 12, 2017
Kari Howard
Notable Narrative: Luke Mogelson and "The Desperate Battle to Destroy ISIS"

Notable Narrative: Luke Mogelson and “The Desperate Battle to Destroy ISIS”

The writer talks about his tour-de-force story for The New Yorker about an Iraqi SWAT team's fight to save their city -- and the price they paid to do it
July 10, 2017
Francesca Borri
Here's some of the best literary journalism about the scourge that is gun violence

Here’s some of the best literary journalism about the scourge that is gun violence

A weekly roundup of some favorite things, for your reading and listening pleasure
June 30, 2017
Kari Howard
5(ish) Questions: Mark Follman and "The True Cost of Gun Violence in America"

5(ish) Questions: Mark Follman and “The True Cost of Gun Violence in America”

The Mother Jones reporter talks about his landmark investigation into the staggering price of the firearms epidemic: an estimated $229 billion a year
June 29, 2017
Davis Harper