In this work of immersive journalism, Bosker leaves her day job behind in order to learn the mysterious ways of the sommelier.
In acting as the protagonist in this book, and in creating vivid scenes of her own experiences with some pretty questionable dining choices, she creates a work that is as engaging as it is informative. This particular piece of narrative journalism is a fascinating look at contemporary food culture and bizarre culinary trends. I’m a sucker for food writing because, well, I’m a sucker for food. Let’s take a break from depressing reads. It is relentless in its despair, but well worth the read if you can handle it. The sole survivor, she is still searching for healing at the end of her book, a tale that spans years upon years. Speaking of a gut punch, Wave is the nonfiction account of a woman who loses everyone she loves in a tsunami off the coast of Sri Lanka, including her two sons. But Ptacin’s writing is exquisite, and this story of loss is perfectly layered. Poor Your Soul by Mira PtacinĪfter grappling with infertility for several years, I wasn’t sure I could handle this grief memoir about a pregnancy the author was forced to terminate due to the revelation that the fetus was carrying a number of birth defects and would have no choice of surviving outside the womb. I especially appreciated her brazen honesty, and her generosity in sharing her innermost ugly thoughts. This memoir, on the other hand, is about the author reconciling the young woman she used to be with the woman she has become in midlife. Love and Trouble by Claire DedererĪlmost eight years ago, Dederer wrote a yoga memoir: Poser. Her book, about growing up as a woman in working-class Queens, is just as hilarious. The Clancys of Queens by Tara ClancyĪfter seeing Clancy speak on a panel at Book Riot Live-about using humor to tackle difficult topics-I had to buy her memoir. Nafisi writes of the secret book group she led, made up of her most committed female students, using the forbidden Western classics they read to give readers a nuanced look at what life was like in revolutionary Iran. This memoir in books is an old favorite of mine from the early 2000s. Together, they bring to life Hisham’s story of coming of age during the Syrian war. And if you end up enjoying this one, you’re in luck! Crabapple recently provided illustrations for Marwan Hisham’s Brothers of the Gun, which just released in May. As a bonus, Crabapple’s text is interspersed with her gorgeous, vivid illustrations. And while the lengths to which writers push the bounds of creativity can vary, it’s nonfiction only if the writer can stand behind the content 100 percent and attest to its veracity.īoth brilliant and beautiful, this memoir gives readers an inside look at the art world while also tackling issues of sexualization, political activism, and more. The simplest definition I’ve seen: creative nonfiction is a form of nonfiction that uses the elements of fiction-scene setting, dialogue, narrative arc, etc.-to tell a true story.
WRITING CREATIVE NONFICTION LICENSE
In the piece, Gutkind attempted to answer a number of the questions that continue to swirl around the genre: What does the “creative” in “creative nonfiction” (CNF) really mean? Does it give writers license to just make stuff up and peddle it as truth? What about the reconstruction of scene and dialogue? And how about the fallibility of memory? The first time I picked up an issue of Creative Nonfiction, it contained an explainer by founder and editor Lee Gutkind on the genre itself. You can learn more at and follow her on Insta/Threads at All posts by Steph Auteri When not working, she enjoys yoga, embroidery, singing, cat snuggling, and staring at the birds in her backyard feeder. She also writes bookish stuff here and at the Feminist Book Club, is the author of A Dirty Word, and is the founder of Guerrilla Sex Ed. Her essay, "The Fear That Lives Next to My Heart," published in Southwest Review, was listed as a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2021. Her more creative work has appeared in Creative Nonfiction, under the gum tree, Poets & Writers, and other publications, and she is the Essays Editor for Hippocampus Magazine. Steph Auteri is a journalist who has written for the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Pacific Standard, VICE, and elsewhere.
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