Articles

Gary Smith on intimacy and connecting with subjects: "Any uneasiness you bring is going to cost you dearly"

Gary Smith on intimacy and connecting with subjects: "Any uneasiness you bring is going to cost you dearly"

On the last day of the Mayborn Conference, Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith read from and discussed “Shadow of a Nation,” his 1991 story about a Crow basketball player named Jonathan…
Mark Bowden on discovering narrative and the value of beginner's mind: "only if you are truly ignorant can you ask the truly ignorant question"

Mark Bowden on discovering narrative and the value of beginner’s mind: "only if you are truly ignorant can you ask the truly ignorant question"

Next up in our series of highlights from last weekend's Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference is Mark Bowden. Author of "Black Hawk Down" and a former reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer,…
Mary Karr on truth: "the least of my problems as a memoirist, as a writer, is getting my facts right"

Mary Karr on truth: "the least of my problems as a memoirist, as a writer, is getting my facts right"

Author Mary Karr showed up Friday in Grapevine, Texas, in the middle of a thunderstorm to talk about telling the truth. The first keynote speaker at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction…

Narrative tips for nonfiction writers: more from the 2010 Mayborn Conference

I recently led a writing workshop at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, and talked to students about finding the meaning in their stories and going deep – while at the same…
Meanwhile back at the ranch: The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference and a trip to Larry McMurtry’s private library

Meanwhile back at the ranch: The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference and a trip to Larry McMurtry’s private library

Heading northwest out of Dallas before morning rush hour, glass and concrete slip away to nothing but shrubs, scattered trees and long, low rises that are not so much hills…
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Flow

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Flow

Nothing prepares you for your first time. You’re out with someone, maybe a date, maybe just friends, everything’s fine, and then he whips it out, right in front of you…
Joe Donnelly on Slake, long-form journalism and launching a vision: "it’s about finding the right rhythm and the right way of presenting it"

Joe Donnelly on Slake, long-form journalism and launching a vision: "it’s about finding the right rhythm and the right way of presenting it"

Last month, we heard rumors from the West Coast of a new magazine devoted to long-form storytelling – a magazine that existed in print only and had no digital presence.…
Audience storytelling from "Star Wars" to "Top Secret America": interactivity across the spectrum

Audience storytelling from "Star Wars" to "Top Secret America": interactivity across the spectrum

Chewbacca and Washington Post reporters may have more in common than you think: both might get an assist from the general public on in-depth projects that are in the news…
Rebecca Skloot on narrating history: "looking for that one family, that one person, that one moment that will help hold everything together"

Rebecca Skloot on narrating history: "looking for that one family, that one person, that one moment that will help hold everything together"

We spoke this week with Rebecca Skloot, author of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” A longtime science writer with a commitment to narrative, Skloot has written for The New…

What we’re reading, third edition: In which we find the mystery in game shows, timeless art and the Dalai Lama’s Patek Philippe watch

Today we offer the latest fare from two long-form masters, as well as an oddball assortment of not-quite-narratives that still get to the heart of a story.CLASSIC NARRATIVES See how…