Narrative News

Altered states of storytelling at the L.A. Times Festival of Books

Altered states of storytelling at the L.A. Times Festival of Books

The L.A. Times Book Festival, held over the weekend of April 21-22, is an annual celebration of reading and literary culture in a town often stereotyped as not exactly bookish.…
May 1, 2018
Joanna Scutts
"London is a very dangerous subject for a writer, because it will always betray you"

“London is a very dangerous subject for a writer, because it will always betray you”

This week we pay tribute to London, a city that seems like it’s being pulled in two directions: toward its tremendous past and its wildly creative yet uncertain future. As…
April 13, 2018
Kari Howard
Point of view: a powerful narrative tool

Point of view: a powerful narrative tool

Point of view is a powerful narrative tool. Take, for example, the Newest Americans project that we spotlighted this week. For some politicians and hate-mongerers, immigrants are a scourge. But…
April 6, 2018
Kari Howard
Ida B. Wells and Roxane Gay -- fierce women of color born a century apart, writing of difficult truths

Ida B. Wells and Roxane Gay — fierce women of color born a century apart, writing of difficult truths

Looking back at this week’s posts, I was struck by the similarities between two of the writers we spotlighted. Ida B. Wells was a brave, pioneering investigative journalist who fought…
March 30, 2018
Kari Howard
The Power of Narrative conference captures the #MeToo zeitgeist

The Power of Narrative conference captures the #MeToo zeitgeist

This year’s Power of Narrative conference seemed to capture the #MeToo zeitgeist, with speakers like author Roxane Gay and the Boston Globe’s Sacha Pfeiffer talking about the uncomfortable truths of…
March 29, 2018
Julia Shipley
As spring begins, a last look at winter and its juxtaposition of beauty and hardship

As spring begins, a last look at winter and its juxtaposition of beauty and hardship

This week we celebrated the vernal equinox, this moment of rebirth and hope as we ease out of winter. (Of course, New England got hit with another snowstorm, as if…
March 23, 2018
Kari Howard
Polar opposites: Exploring some very cool writing, the he said/she said version

Polar opposites: Exploring some very cool writing, the he said/she said version

As a near-spring Nor’easter hit New England this week, we showcased two recent stories about polar exploration. What intrigued me were the very different perspectives of the writers and subjects.…
March 16, 2018
Kari Howard
We're as mad as hell and we're going to go on Twitter and say so

We’re as mad as hell and we’re going to go on Twitter and say so

I watched the movie “Network” again the other day and was unnerved by how accurately screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky predicted today’s media and political environment. The line between news and scripted…
March 9, 2018
Kari Howard
Is literary journalism the peacock of the news world? So much useful beauty

Is literary journalism the peacock of the news world? So much useful beauty

It was John Steinbeck’s birthday this week, and I came across this quote by him: “Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and…
March 2, 2018
Kari Howard
“An ordinary life examined closely reveals itself to be exquisite"

“An ordinary life examined closely reveals itself to be exquisite”

This week’s One Great Sentence by Susan Orlean, referenced in the headline above, could be my journalism mantra. Yes, we must know about the great events and people of our…
February 23, 2018
Kari Howard