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Start 2018 out right with some literary journalism conferences and workshops

Start 2018 out right with some literary journalism conferences and workshops

The Power of Narrative: Telling True Stories in Turbulent TimesMarch 23-25Boston UniversityBoston, MassachusettsIt looks like the longest-running narrative journalism conference is making a point of spotlighting great female journalists and…
January 4, 2018

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.”

This line comes from the last of Eliot’s “Four Quartets,” and it is a sometimes terrifying poem, full of fiery images like this striking one:The dove descending breaks the air…
January 3, 2018
Some legends of longform on the stories we need next

Some legends of longform on the stories we need next

As audience development editor at Longreads, it’s my job to encourage readers to find and share unforgettable stories. Stories that help us understand this world. Stories that imagine a better…
January 2, 2018
Want to read some of the best literary journalism of 2017? We've got you covered

Want to read some of the best literary journalism of 2017? We’ve got you covered

A weekly roundup of some favorite things, for your reading and listening pleasure
December 22, 2017
"Draft No. 4": the legendary John McPhee's "master class in the writer's craft"

“Draft No. 4”: the legendary John McPhee’s “master class in the writer’s craft”

John McPhee’s great subject has always been work. From his first book, “A Sense of Where You Are,” which came out in 1965 and portrays basketball star and Rhodes Scholar…
December 21, 2017

“We were taken to the ‘Oh, My God, Corner,’ a position near the escalator. People arriving see the long line and say “Oh, my God!” and it’s an elf’s job to calm them down and explain that it will take no longer than an hour to see Santa.”

It’s hard to cull just one sentence from Sedaris’ embedded reporting on being a helper at Santaland, a place he describes as “a real wonderland” with a path taking visitors…
December 20, 2017
A veteran freelancer on pitching The New York Times Magazine and more

A veteran freelancer on pitching The New York Times Magazine and more

Reporter (and editor) Paul Tullis has been on both sides of the pitching process; here, he annotates his "Into the Wildfires" proposal
December 19, 2017
"Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show." (Haunted by this.)

“Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show.” (Haunted by this.)

The final half of this week’s One Great Sentence has stayed with me: “Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show.” It’s about the winter landscape, but couldn’t it also apply…
December 15, 2017
Liana Aghajanian and the story of immigrants in America, one recipe at a time

Liana Aghajanian and the story of immigrants in America, one recipe at a time

Freelance journalist and essayist Liana Aghajanian has hopscotched around the globe, reporting on stories as far apart as the first record store in Mongolia, an Arizona man looking for “the…
December 14, 2017

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show.”

Why is it great? A few weeks ago I went to an exhibit of Andrew Wyeth’s paintings in Seattle (a strange experience for someone who lives half an hour from…
December 13, 2017