Narrative News

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

Richard Just on long-form journalism and online cover stories at The New Republic

Last week, The New Republic began posting "online cover stories" on its website. Announcing the move, the magazine's new editor, Richard Just, wrote about his belief  that "beautifully crafted, methodically…
January 25, 2011
Andrea Pitzer

The Justice League of narrative? Even better: it's the roster of our new Editors' Roundtable

Earlier this week, we announced a new offering on Storyboard – an Editors’ Roundtable, in which a stellar group of editors will collectively analyze a piece of narrative journalism. We invited…
January 21, 2011
Andrea Pitzer
Kathleen Gallagher and Mark Johnson on medical reporting, the future of genetics, and how to keep your story going in the event you get hit by a beer truck

Kathleen Gallagher and Mark Johnson on medical reporting, the future of genetics, and how to keep your story going in the event you get hit by a beer truck

We talked this week with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Kathleen Gallagher and Mark Johnson about their recent project “One in a Billion,” our latest Notable Narrative. The three-day serial tells…
January 7, 2011
Andrea Pitzer

Roy Wenzl on abuse narratives and victims' voices: "With a story like this, you just need to say what happened"

We talked last week with Roy Wenzl, who wrote “Promise Not To Tell,” our last Notable Narrative for 2010. A reporter with The Wichita Eagle, Wenzl has a few other…
December 22, 2010
Andrea Pitzer
Andrew Rice on narrative and Niagara Falls: "It’s hard to believe that next to this natural wonder, there’s this amazing poverty"

Andrew Rice on narrative and Niagara Falls: "It’s hard to believe that next to this natural wonder, there’s this amazing poverty"

We talked this week with Andrew Rice, whose “The Fall of Niagara Falls” is our latest Notable Narrative. Rice’s career has included stints at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New…
December 10, 2010
Andrea Pitzer

Statistics vs. storytelling: the grudge match?

Narrative journalism has been dogged for years by the idea that it is too subjective or somehow less capable of conveying hard numbers to the public than a traditional news…
November 19, 2010
Andrea Pitzer
Jay Caspian Kang on the heart of gambling narratives: "All you remember, really, is losing"

Jay Caspian Kang on the heart of gambling narratives: "All you remember, really, is losing"

We talked by phone this week with Jay Caspian Kang, author of The Morning News essay "The High Is Always the Pain, and the Pain Is Always the High," our…
November 12, 2010
Andrea Pitzer
Tech thoughts on storytelling: Amy Webb at ONA 2010

Tech thoughts on storytelling: Amy Webb at ONA 2010

Digital innovation is providing new tools with intriguing possibilities for storytelling. At the 2010 Online News Association Conference last weekend, Webbmedia’s Amy Webb presented tech trends she thinks might find…
November 4, 2010
Andrea Pitzer