Articles

The Growing Season

Born to an unwed mother, Frank Beazley was given up to an orphanage as a newborn. His difficult life rolled out from there. We appreciated the historical detail the series…

A Life in the Balance

We have to admit that the topic of this story, its high drama, made us a bit wary. Still, the series is well worth reading because it is an engrossing…

What’s Left Behind

This piece is a good example of how to write about emotional topics without mawkishness or sentimentality. A woman has lost her husband; she must now face the challenges of…

Homestead to Homes

By clicking the link below, you’ll find four selections from Shaw’s intermittent series about the transformation of a Minnesota farm into a high-end subdivision. Shaw follows the project from the…

Slow Death

This is a effective example of how narrative can flesh out, give dignity to, people who feel they are, as a central character says in this story, “just a number…

The Bread of Life

This is a lyrical short memoir that manages to be touching without being overly sentimental. We found the mix of direct scene and reflection effective.We offer one suggestion. Imagine what…

I Saw It All. Then I Saw Nothing.

We admired the plainness of this story’s language. It is as if the horror of the event stripped Henninger’s voice of all pretense. He gives a blow-by-blow account, with summation…

Free Wheelin’

This short piece entertains while providing an appropriately complex portrayal of a man who has suffered but whose spirit, or will anyway, seems irrepressible. We particularly liked the opening line…

Steve Miller Ate a Scone, Sheila Moody Did Paperwork, Edmund Glazer Boarded a Plane

We first read this reconstruction during the year following the 9/11 attacks. We found it difficult to read for its level of detail, its emotional content. Rereading it, we admire…

Looking Out for Roberta

We liked the topic of this narrative, and we appreciated Laughlin’s clarity in laying out its themes. Through a narrative approach, she reveals the cultural and legal ramifications of Sophia…