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"Why’s this so good?" No. 47: Calvin Trillin and classic Edna Buchanan

Where is Edna Buchanan when we need her? Admittedly, the lede on this recent Associated Press story wasn’t half bad:MIAMI — A witness says a naked man chewing on the face of…
Justin Heckert, CRMA Writer of the Year: inside his winning stories

Justin Heckert, CRMA Writer of the Year: inside his winning stories

Every spring, the City and Regional Magazine Association names a Writer of the Year, and twice the organization has handed Justin Heckert that honor. Heckert won recently for Atlanta magazine…
The best of Storyboard: finding ideas

The best of Storyboard: finding ideas

Great story ideas come by luck but also with the hard work of searching, pre-reporting and thinking. From our archives, here are a few timeless pro tips for idea-mining. Follow…

"Why’s this so good?" No. 46: David Gonzalez and faith

When I decided to become a journalist, I believed that I had to choose between writing and my love for visual imagery and sound. David Gonzalez’s “House Afire,” a three-part…
David Grann on the making of "The Yankee Comandante"

David Grann on the making of "The Yankee Comandante"

From the moment David Grann’s “The Yankee Comandante” appeared in the New Yorker last week, readers have been talking about it, hailing the tale of political intrigue, passion and heartbreak…

David Grann and the Yankee comandante

Our new Notable Narrative, “The Yankee Comandante,” by New Yorker staff writer David Grann, is part love story, part political drama, part spy thriller. Published last week, it’s the saga…

“Why’s this so good?” No. 45: Adam Sternbergh on … walking

Let’s start with the headline. Sometimes, when I am trying to headline a piece and my heds are getting more and more punny and convoluted, I gather myself and remember…
Kiera Feldman on investigative narrative, trauma reporting, true believers and tricky description

Kiera Feldman on investigative narrative, trauma reporting, true believers and tricky description

In “Grace in Broken Arrow,” our newest Notable Narrative, Brooklyn-based freelancer Kiera Feldman unfurls an investigative story about child sex abuse and institutional accountability at a private evangelical Christian school…

Kiera Feldman and disgrace in Broken Arrow

Our latest Notable Narrative is “Grace in Broken Arrow,” by Brooklyn-based freelancer Kiera Feldman. The long-form investigative narrative, about a child-sex-abuse scandal at Grace Fellowship Christian School outside Tulsa, Oklahoma, ran…

“Why’s this so good?” No. 44: Robert Kurson and the blind man

My love affair with narrative nonfiction was in its early stages when I first read Robert Kurson’s “Into the Light,” in the June 2005 edition of Esquire. I was mostly…