Excelsior Editions/State University of New York Press
Creating Nonfiction: Twenty Essays and Interviews with the Writers
Key Metrics
- Jen Hirt
- Excelsior Editions/State University of New York Press
- Hardcover
- 9781438461151
- 9.1 X 5.9 X 0.7 inches
- 1.06 pounds
- Language Arts & Disciplines > Writing - General
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
With a title that suggests both the genre and the process of composing it, Creating Nonfiction is a collection of essays and interviews that aims to open readers' and writers' eyes to the formal possibilities of creative nonfiction. Included are memoirs, personal essays, literary journalism, graphic essays, and lyric essays, and the content is equally diverse, with topics ranging from childbirth to child labor, from dandelions to domestic violence.
Whereas most anthologies leave readers to speculate about the evolution of each contribution, Creating Nonfiction provides companion interviews that offer insight into the inspiration, drafting, and revision process that produced the essays. Cheryl Strayed talks about how working as a reporter for her hometown newspaper influenced her later writings. Dinty W. Moore reflects on the delicate balance between observation and judgment when writing about subjects whose values differ from your own. Kristen Radtke explains how she decides between textual and visual images when creating a graphic essay. Although they offer an eclectic mix of voices and styles, what these essays all have in common is that ultimately, as contributor Faith Adiele observes, truth becomes art.
Author Bio
Jen Hirt is a creative writer who specializes in creative nonfiction essays and book-length memoirs, as well as experimental nonfiction and prose poetry. Her first book, the memoir Under Glass: The Girl with a Thousand Christmas Trees, was published in 2010 and won an emerging writer prize.
She regularly teaches introductory creative writing courses, as well as advanced courses in nonfiction, poetry, expository writing, and social science writing. She is the faculty advisor to From the Fallout Shelter, the campus literary arts magazine, and she is active in the honors program and the graduate communications program. Hirt’s research is focused on the natural world, especially odd encounters with animals, unusual trees, and greenhouses.
Research Interests
- The art of the essay
- 20th century and 21st century creative nonfiction writers
- Trends in award-winning essays
Source: The Pennsylvania State University System
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