Articles

This is a portrait of elderly nuns and the work of David Snowdon, a professor of neurology who has enrolled the nuns in a study on aging. Through several nuns,…

We include this piece in part because of its strong authorial presence. Sedensky guides readers through his portrait of Fred Phelps with a firm hand. Here’s an example: “They’re not…

Xan Rice had recently met Martin Adler when Adler was shot and killed at a rally in Somalia. Four days later Rice offered this account. We liked the vivid photo-like…

This piece won an American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Distinguished Writing Award for Deadline Reporting. We admire the friendly, human voice, the determination to find a fresh way to describe…

We found this story difficult to read, for good reason; we squirmed with sympathy for Elias Fishburne, a man who is swept into the criminal justice system in a case…

DeGregory spent four months reporting this story about a 14-year-old girl, Lillie, her newborn son, Thomas, and the woman who takes her in, Amy. DeGregory’s structure is lucid, the scenes…

This piece starts with a news-feature sort of lead, a focusing-in on one boy that is well-wrought and moving. Then comes a long, sweeping history, then a section of first-person…

This fascinating piece is part historical narrative, part contemporary profile. From a craft point of view, we were interested in the challenge of portraying Margarete Barthel, the former SS guard,…

Getting stuck next to a compulsive talker is one of the worst things that can happen at a dinner party or on a long bus ride. Even worse: the self-centered…

We admired the balance in this piece of detachment and emotion, of distance and closeness. We appreciated the close attention to telling detail, action, gesture and also the willingness to…