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How to tell a story: The Moth

When students pitch their stories I first make them tell me the story out loud. They resist. They want to write it up, polish and perfect it, but I prefer…
August 9, 2012
“Why’s this so good?” No. 53: Phyllis Fletcher on Ina Ray Hutton’s secret

“Why’s this so good?” No. 53: Phyllis Fletcher on Ina Ray Hutton’s secret

Phyllis Fletcher opens this wonderful piece of rescued history and solved mystery with a simple declaration: “Ina Ray Hutton was a stone cold fox.” The correct response to this kind…
August 7, 2012
"I wanted people who were beautifully imperfect" -- Isabel Wilkerson on finding characters (Mayborn 2012, vol. 3)

"I wanted people who were beautifully imperfect" — Isabel Wilkerson on finding characters (Mayborn 2012, vol. 3)

Isabel Wilkerson closed out the Mayborn by describing the 15 years she spent reporting and writing her book, The Warmth of Other Suns. The book chronicles the migration of 6…
August 3, 2012
"You will always have work, and it will be the best kind of work" -- Richard Rhodes on writing (Mayborn 2012, vol. 2)

"You will always have work, and it will be the best kind of work" — Richard Rhodes on writing (Mayborn 2012, vol. 2)

Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, and of 23 other books, delivered one of the keynotes at this year’s Mayborn Conference for Literary Journalism.…
August 2, 2012
“Why’s this so good?” No. 52: Joshua Davis and the diamond heist

“Why’s this so good?” No. 52: Joshua Davis and the diamond heist

You could argue that a writer has no business critiquing the work of one of his closest friends. Knowing the person behind the words influences the reading experience, making it…
July 31, 2012
Jeanne Marie Laskas and Thomas Lake on sportswriting, voice, source love and more (Mayborn 2012, vol. 1)

Jeanne Marie Laskas and Thomas Lake on sportswriting, voice, source love and more (Mayborn 2012, vol. 1)

If you were following the activities out of Grapevine, Texas, last weekend you might’ve seen tweets like this one:And this one:And these:Peter Simek of D magazine recapped this year’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction…
July 26, 2012

"Why’s this so good?" No. 51: Gary Smith and Coach O’Leary’s lies

We may as well begin the way Gary Smith begins – with a question, and near the end. Why is it that when you finish reading “Lying in Wait,” Smith’s…
July 24, 2012
The AP's Kristen Gelineau, Ravi Nessman and Mary Rajkumar on the Saroo Brierley saga

The AP’s Kristen Gelineau, Ravi Nessman and Mary Rajkumar on the Saroo Brierley saga

Two AP reporters and an editor on three continents produced the story that we’ve chosen as our latest Notable Narrative. Kristen Gelineau (Sydney), Ravi Nessman (Delhi), and Mary Rajkumar (Miami; she’s the AP’s international…
July 20, 2012

Saroo Brierley Goes Home

A 5-year-old boy and his older brother, who live in a slum of India, board a train to go beg in a nearby city. The boy wakes up and his brother…
July 19, 2012

"Why’s this so good?" No. 50: Jennifer Gonnerman and real lives

I often tell students, both undergraduate and graduate, that beautiful stories are everywhere. You can head off to Iraq and Afghanistan and pen a riveting war epic, but you can…
July 17, 2012