Articles

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 4: plot

[This last installment in a four-part series on writing historical narratives focuses on the importance of plot in nonfiction storytelling. The series is based on a lecture given by Adam Hochschild…
April 11, 2011
Adam Hochschild
Michael Paterniti on the legacy of Gitmo: “I didn’t want to turn it into some neat parable”

Michael Paterniti on the legacy of Gitmo: “I didn’t want to turn it into some neat parable”

We recently posted our latest Editors’ Roundtable, which dissected “The Boy from Gitmo” by Mike Paterniti. A National Magazine Award winner (and a seven-time finalist), Paterniti writes for GQ and…
April 7, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
April Editors' Roundtable: GQ dives into the personal consequences of war

April Editors’ Roundtable: GQ dives into the personal consequences of war

Stop shopping for your Easter bonnet, and put down those 1040s – it's time for a new Editors' Roundtable! This session, our editors are looking at Michael Paterniti's “The Boy from…
April 6, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 3: character

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 3: character

[This third installment in a four-part series on writing historical narratives focuses on the importance of characters. The series is based on a lecture given by Adam Hochschild at Vanderbilt University…
April 5, 2011
Adam Hochschild
Isabel Wilkerson on the Great Migration, structuring an epic narrative and the challenges of writing nonfiction

Isabel Wilkerson on the Great Migration, structuring an epic narrative and the challenges of writing nonfiction

Continuing the spring flurry of awards, Columbia University and the Nieman Foundation announced last week that the 2011 Mark Lynton History Prize will be awarded to Isabel Wilkerson for her…
April 4, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Mark Boal profiles "The Kill Team"

Mark Boal profiles "The Kill Team"

Our latest Notable Narrative, “The Kill Team,” recounts a series of killings in Afghanistan by American soldiers, one of whom recently pleaded guilty to three counts of murder.Rolling Stone has…
March 30, 2011
Andrea Pitzer

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 2: setting

[This second installment in a four-part series on writing historical narratives focuses on the importance of setting and scenes in nonfiction storytelling. The series is based on a lecture given by…
March 28, 2011
Adam Hochschild
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 1

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 1

[This four-part series on storytelling and historical narratives is based on a talk given at Vanderbilt University in February 2011.]Half a century ago, the novelist and physicist C.P. Snow wrote…
March 25, 2011
Adam Hochschild

What we're reading: underground art, sleepy shrinks and killings by a CIA contractor in Pakistan

This week's installment is a grab bag, offering both comedy (a courtroom debate over what exactly a copying machine is) and tragedy (the tsunami in Japan). These stories' styles also…
March 22, 2011
Andrea Pitzer

"Long-form is absolutely not dead": insights from ProPublica, "Frontline," The New Yorker and "This American Life"

The New School and ProPublica co-hosted a panel on long-form journalism last night at The New School’s Tishman Auditorium in New York City. David Remnick of the The New Yorker, Ira…
March 17, 2011
Andrea Pitzer