Articles

"Why’s this so good?" No. 49: Wendy Brenner and the snake master

When the Winter 2005 issue of The Oxford American arrived, I flipped through the pages, glimpsed the reptilian close-ups accompanying Wendy Brenner’s profile of Dean Ripa, creator and caretaker of…
Michael Mooney on trauma detail, his reading partner, the internal critic and his "I ♥ (Vince Young)" notebook

Michael Mooney on trauma detail, his reading partner, the internal critic and his "I ♥ (Vince Young)" notebook

We’ll be talking to Michael Mooney again soon about a small body of his recent long-form journalism, but today we give our attention to “When Lois Pearson Started Fighting Back,”…

Michael Mooney and the woman who forgave her torturer

Every crime narrative is essentially a human-spirit story: a spirit uplifted or in free fall. Michael Mooney managed to capture both the dark and the light in his D magazine…
Nora Ephron on writing: 7 tips

Nora Ephron on writing: 7 tips

Before she wrote Silkwood, before she fictionalized her divorce from Carl Bernstein in the novel Heartburn, before she felt bad about her neck or put Sally with Harry or gifted…
Video narrative, #longreads and more

Video narrative, #longreads and more

Keeping you up to date on all things Storyboard, we’d like to point out a few new features and opportunities you might have missed.*We’ve collected some of our most popular chats…

"Why’s this so good?" No. 48: Burkhard Bilger noodles a catfish

The story I want to tell you about, “In the Monster's Maw,” was published in 1997, and that's important. Because in 1997, when Burkhard Bilger went out to Oklahoma for…
Jaimee Rose on a personal mystery, guiding forces, the importance of fripperies and the meaning of life

Jaimee Rose on a personal mystery, guiding forces, the importance of fripperies and the meaning of life

In “Question of a Lifetime,” our latest Notable Narrative, Arizona Republic features writer Jaimee Rose tells a moving story about her grandfather’s search for answers regarding a top-secret mission he…

Jaimee Rose and love, truth and war

We love a great war story and we love a great love story, and good Lord did Jaimee Rose of the Arizona Republic deliver both with “Question of a Lifetime,” our…

"Why’s this so good?" No. 47: Calvin Trillin and classic Edna Buchanan

Where is Edna Buchanan when we need her? Admittedly, the lede on this recent Associated Press story wasn’t half bad:MIAMI — A witness says a naked man chewing on the face of…
Justin Heckert, CRMA Writer of the Year: inside his winning stories

Justin Heckert, CRMA Writer of the Year: inside his winning stories

Every spring, the City and Regional Magazine Association names a Writer of the Year, and twice the organization has handed Justin Heckert that honor. Heckert won recently for Atlanta magazine…