Narrative News

Isabel Wilkerson on the Great Migration, structuring an epic narrative and the challenges of writing nonfiction

Isabel Wilkerson on the Great Migration, structuring an epic narrative and the challenges of writing nonfiction

Continuing the spring flurry of awards, Columbia University and the Nieman Foundation announced last week that the 2011 Mark Lynton History Prize will be awarded to Isabel Wilkerson for her…
April 4, 2011
Andrea Pitzer

The future of long-form journalism: Frontline's Aronson-Rath and ProPublica's Engelberg on multimedia collaboration

It’s always “The Future of Long-form Week” here at Nieman Storyboard, but we’re excited to note that this week, some key storytellers from different media are getting together in New York…
March 16, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
David Barstow on being fair, bearing witness and “doing something bigger with the story”

David Barstow on being fair, bearing witness and “doing something bigger with the story”

We spoke this week with The New York Times' David Barstow, who wrote and helped report our latest Notable Narrative, “Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hours.” The project, a fine-grained look at…
March 11, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Mac McClelland on scenes, narrative and sexual assault in post-quake Haiti

Mac McClelland on scenes, narrative and sexual assault in post-quake Haiti

Earlier today, we posted our second Editors’ Roundtable, in which our group of veterans examined a piece of narrative nonfiction. The story for the second outing is “Welcome to Haiti's Reconstruction…
March 3, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Boston University announces 2011 narrative conference roster

Boston University announces 2011 narrative conference roster

More conference news for long-form addicts: Boston University has announced the roster for “The Power of Narrative” conference taking place on campus April 29 & 30 of this year.The list of…
March 2, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Jeanne Marie Laskas on voice, point of view and accountability to her subjects: "this is the human story of a guy suffering"

Jeanne Marie Laskas on voice, point of view and accountability to her subjects: "this is the human story of a guy suffering"

In our latest Notable Narrative, “The People V. Football,” GQ correspondent Jeanne Marie Laskas looks at a former football player who has already lost much of his life and is…
February 25, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Awards season begins: narrative highlights from ASNE and Polk awards; announcement of CRMA finalists

Awards season begins: narrative highlights from ASNE and Polk awards; announcement of CRMA finalists

Looking for some quality narrative journalism you might not have noticed before? As awards season for newspapers and magazines gets underway, we wanted to share links to stories recognized for…
February 23, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Lawrence Wright on Scientology, legal pads and creating a "universe of possible sources"

Lawrence Wright on Scientology, legal pads and creating a "universe of possible sources"

The New Yorker put the “long” in long-form this week with “The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology,” a piece by Lawrence Wright that weighs in at around…
February 18, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Death, truth and memoir: the debate over Joyce Carol Oates' "A Widow's Story"

Death, truth and memoir: the debate over Joyce Carol Oates’ "A Widow’s Story"

What is it that we really want from memoir? The kerfuffle this week over “A Widow’s Story,” a narrative from Joyce Carol Oates about the loss of her husband and…
February 17, 2011
Andrea Pitzer

Evan Ratliff on The Atavist: narrative throwback or the future of nonfiction storytelling?

We talked by phone this week with Evan Ratliff, one of the founders of The Atavist, a just-minted publishing house that makes original narrative nonfiction available on digital mobile reading…
February 9, 2011
Andrea Pitzer