The Creative Essay

About Creative Nonfiction:

Alternatively known as "literary journalism" or the "literature of fact," creative nonfiction is that branch of writing which employs literary techniques and artistic vision usually associated with fiction or poetry to report on actual persons and events. Though only recently identified and taught as a distinct and separate literary genre, the roots of creative nonfiction run deeply into literary tradition and history. The genre, as currently defined, is broad enough to include nature and travel writing, the personal memoir and essay, as well as "new journalism," "gonzo journalism," and the "nonfiction novel."  (Bruce Hoffman, Univ. of Pittsburgh English Department Alumus)

*Writing Creative Nonfiction: The Literature of Reality, Gay Talese, with introduction by Barbara Lounsberry

*Contemporary creative nonfiction: the art of truth, Bill Roorbach

*The Next American Essay, Ed. John D’Agata


Also see pdf on Writing Creative Nonfiction on EMU Online and Essay Packets