From: Hastings, Waller <hastingw>
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 08:39:20 -0600

As described in the inaugural issue of the scholarly journal,
"Critical Nonfiction," in 1993, the term seems to refer to something between traditional journalism and the personal essay - i.e., it is fiction that adopts fictional techniques, using dialogue, extensive description, and an internal point of view (as opposed to journalists' stance of "objectivity"). Adult authors mentioned as exemplars include Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, and John McPhee. I subscribed to that journal for about a year and don't know if it is still being published, but its existence suggests a relatively accepted use of this term. It derives from an umbrella term in application forms for a creative writing fellowship sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

waller hastings northern state university aberdeen, sd 57401 hastingw at northern.edu
"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken." - Oliver Cromwell, to his enemies


 Message----From: druthgo at sonic.net [mailto:druthgo at sonic.net] Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 7:11 PM To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: [CCBC-Net] Creative nonfiction


What is "CREATIVE' nonfiction? It seems like an oxymoron. Is it the fibs, based on truth, Attorney General Ashcrap tells? Is it twisted p.c. biography or history that somehow shoe horns in all that is p.c.? Is it Sandburg's Lincoln books?

Please--elucidate on this topic.

"You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty." Jessica Mitford (191796)



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Received on Tue 02 Apr 2002 08:39:20 AM CST