Notable Narratives

A doc film that gently unspools surprises

Filmmaker Eloisa Diez follows a trans man's journey to create a family of his own ~ and confronts her own storytelling stereotypes

By Line Vaaben • March 17, 2023

Alex Reyes de Anda with his partner, Fernanda, after giving birth to his daughter, Victoria

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Story Craft

The making of a (born) journalist

Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame may have been hard-wired to be a reporter but he also worked hard at his craft

By Don Nelson • March 17, 2023

From the Editor

Writing without words

A watercolor workshop offers wisdom about the art and lifetime practice of storytelling in any form

By Jacqui Banaszynski • March 14, 2023

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Why's This So Good?

Challenging the stereotype of Uvalde’s plucky child survivor

By Mallary Tenore Tarpley
January 27, 2023

John Woodrow Cox invests time, attention and empathy to profile a girl who became the public voice of the town's messy recovery from trauma

Why's This So Good?

Personal stories on what Afghan women want the rest of us to know

By Jacqui Banaszynski
October 11, 2022

A young journalist who escaped Afghanistan returns a year later, by remote, to report the reality for the women left behind

Why's This So Good?

Dan Barry, baseball and the love of the (writing) game

By Jacqui Banaszynski
July 27, 2022

An exploration of mud becomes a meditation on America's pastime through the sharp, romantic view of The New York Times master storyteller

Why's This So Good?

“I’m-not-a-journalist” newspaper columnist writes about community, parenting and letting go

By Jacqui Banaszynski
June 17, 2022

In nine taut paragraphs, a community newspaper columnist captures a specific place and the universal reality of parenthood

Why's This So Good?

A documentary film breaks rules and wins an Oscar

By Kristen Chin
May 27, 2022

A young filmmaker analyzes why Ben Proudfoots short doc, "The Queen of Basketball," makes her cry, and why that makes it a successful film

Why's This So Good?

What happens when fandom backfires in a culture of censorship

By Kristen Chin
March 29, 2022

"Dream Boy and the Poison Fans," from the NPR podcast "Rough Translation," finds universal themes in a do-you-believe-this story from China

Why's This So Good?

What personal pain reminded two writers about the gift listening

By Jacqui Banaszynski
February 18, 2022

Essays by Chuck Haga in the Grand Forks Herald and Frank Bruni in The New York Times peel through layers of inattention

Why's This So Good?

Comedian Chris Gethard on the power of listening

By Trevor Pyle
February 11, 2022

The author and podcaster took tools from improv comedy to his unexpected radio call-in show and podcast

Why's This So Good?

Triple muses: a lake, a children’s book and a long shower

By Jacqui Banaszynski and Meghan Craft Dennison
December 21, 2021

The marketing director of an arts school draws on the rhythms of a children's book, the spirit of a lake and the mood of a season

Why's This So Good?

Nerding out on big weather, a big lake and and a little Gordon Lightfoot

By Jacqui Banaszynski
November 19, 2021

An editor's questions led data reporter Greta Kaul of MinnPost to explore new territory in a much-covered event

Why's This So Good?

Plain-spoken words about the “7 stages of severe COVID death” go viral

By Traci Angel
September 28, 2021

A respiratory therapist pours her experience, frustration and grief into a journal entry that becomes a cautionary tale

Why's This So Good?

Pulitzer winner Ellen Barry solved a mystery, then questioned the mysteries of truth

By Rashi Shrivastava
March 2, 2021

"Reader, I should confess that I wanted to write the story."

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