Bibliography
– Creative NonFiction
Books:
There are many
excellent books about creative nonfiction and others aimed at teaching
particular nonfiction forms such as journalism, essays, articles, memoirs,
biographies and so forth. Similarly, all good books about the techniques of
writing in general can be excellent sources of insight and information. Books
particularly directed toward writing fiction can help you hone your craft in
fictional techniques like characterization, dialogue, description, etc. that can
be applied to the writing of creative nonfiction. we urge you to read the books
listed in the Jones/Brehony Fiction Bibliography. In particular, we recommend
Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction.
Look into
creative nonfiction workshops in your area. Many universities and community
colleges now offer credit and non-credit classes in creative nonfiction. For
those of you in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, we strongly recommend Dr.
Michael Pearson's workshop in creative nonfiction at Old Dominion
University.
Here
are some books that we have found to be particularly good and useful:
Gutkind, Lee,
The Art of Creative Nonfiction. New York: John Wiley & Sons,
1997.
This author
also publishes a journal called Creative Nonfiction. For more
information: http://www.goucher.edu/cnf/journal
The Creative
Nonfiction Foundation
5501 Walnut St., #202
Pittsburgh, PA
15232
412-688-0304; 412-683-9173 Fax
A one-year
subscription to the journal is $22.50 and includes three issues including a
double-issue.
Gutkind, Lee
(Ed.), The Essayist at Work: Profiles of Creative Nonfiction Writers.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann, 1998.
Franklin, Jon,
Writing for Story. New York: Plume, 1986.
Gerard,
Philip, Creative Nonfiction. Cincinnati, Ohio: Story Press,
1996.
Stewart, James
B. Follow the Story. New York: Touchstone (Simon and Schuster),
1998.
Shaw, Eva,
Writing the Nonfiction Book. Loveland, Colorado: Rodger & Nelson,
1999.
Kubis, Pat and
Howland, Bob, The Complete Guide to Writing Fiction and Nonfiction.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Noble,
William, Writing Dramatic Nonfiction. Forest Dale, VT: Paul S.
Eriksson, Publisher, 1999.
Zinsser,
William, On Writing Well. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.
Evans, Glen
(Ed.), The Complete Guide to Writing Nonfiction. New York: Harper &
Row, 1988.
Stein, Sol,
On Writing. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
An excellent
book about the techniques of fiction that can be applied to creative nonfiction
is:
Burroway,
Janet, Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft (5th
Edition). New York: Longman (Addison Wesley Longman), 2000.
Read, read,
read, read, read. Reading excellent creative nonfiction writers will sharpen
your own skills.
Some of our
favorite creative nonfiction writers are (in no particular order):
John
McPhee
Tim O'Brien
Terry Tempest Williams
Annie Dillard
Joan
Didion
Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes but not so much
'Tis)
Thoreau
Diane Ackerman
Bill Bryson
Isabela Allende
(Paula)
Mark Twain
Anne Frank
Dorothy Allison
Michael Pearson
(Dreaming of Columbus: A Boyhood in the Bronx)
Maya Angelou
Zora
Neale Hurston
Mary Karr (The Liar's Club)
Maxine Hong
Kingston
Charles Kuralt
Norman Mailer
Mary McCarthy
John Krakauer
(Into Thin Air)
Kathleen Norris
Robert Pirsig (Zen and the Art
of Motorcycle Maintenance)
Tom Wolfe (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,
The Right Stuff)
Eudora Welty
Virginia Woolf
William
James
Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm)
Carl Jung (especially
Memories, Dreams, Reflections)
Isak Dinesen (Out of
Africa)
Joseph Campbell
Thomas Moore (Care of the
Soul)
Helen Keller
Anne Lamott
And, of course, everything by
Kathleen Brehony and Karen Jones!
We also think
the writers of Time and Newsweek offer weekly lessons in excellent
creative nonfiction.
Internet:
Research-It!
Your one-stop reference desk: http://www.itools.com/research-it/
Inkspot:
Writing resources, newsletter for writers: http://www.inkspot.com/
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