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Re: Reviewing Nonfiction
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From: bookmarch_at_aol.com
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:57:38 -0500
Megan -- please advise -- I personally enjoy discussing this and have more to say but do not want to horn in on a different discussion.
The problem with Creative Nonfiction is that, as Annette suggests, it has two meanings in adult
in a broad sense it is NF that places an emphasis on writing, on literary quality and enaging the reader. Take for example the first sentence of Na thaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea: "Like a giant bird of prey, the whaleship moved lazily up the western coas t of South America, zigging and zaggin across a living sea of oil." Any writer can tell how carefully he labored to get that exactly right -- where to place the first clause for maximum impact, how to begin with a metaphor, focus on the ship, and drive you to the punch in the stomiach at the end. While we would all love to write and read sentences like that in book for young readers -- take a look at most of the ones we actually publish: you get 4 out of the journalistic 5: who, what, where, when (why to follow). But Creative Nonfiction can, as Annette says, also imply NF in which a wri ter who, say, knows that two people had a private meeting, and knows a lot about them, and knows generally what happened, can actually describe the meeting for w hich there is no actual evidence -- in service of literary creativity they are allowed license with historical certainty. While a case can be made for doing similar things in books for young reade rs -- so long as it is absolutely clear what you can and cannot prove -- we are all aware of our responsibility to model an approach to evidence for young people. So any name that hints we are moving away from that rol e would be unfortunate.
Narrative NF is generally used in adult for that first meaning -- NF where pleasure for the reader is a prime requirment.
As one final word, I do wish we spoke more often about the pleasures of NF -- to entirely remove it from that cod-liver sense of obligation.
Marc
Message-----
From: Annette Goldsmith To: 'Maia Cheli-Colando' ; sully_at_sully-writer.co m Cc: ccbc-net@ccbc.education.wisc.edu Sent: Fri, Jan 29, 2010 4:44 pm Subject: RE:
Reviewing Nonfiction
Maia, I agree with you on the increasing difficulty of categorizing at all with o much genre-blending these days. My problem with "creative nonfiction" (a s 've heard it used in the adult nonfiction world, anyway) is that it can im ply he addition of a fictional element, for example, an imagined incident base d on act. I have no problem with the author being present -- I prefer it -- but I do ant to know if something really happened. How about "narrative nonfiction" to describe the current very exciting cro p of ooks? As in narrative poetry. It would describe a certain type of the genr e ather than relabeling the genre altogether. Annette
nnette Goldsmith, PhD uest Faculty niversity of Washington Information School eattle, WA hair, 2010 Mildred L. Batchelder Award Committee ember, USBBY Outstanding International Books Committee
*** Please delete my Comcast account (ayg_at_comcast.net) from your address
book nd use my new email: agoldsmith.fsu_at_gmail.com ***
Message-----
rom: Maia Cheli-Colando
ent: Friday, January 29, 2010 3:50 PM o: sully_at_sully-writer.com c: ccbc-net@ccbc.education.wisc.edu ubject: Re:
Reviewing Nonfiction Ed, We use "creative nonfiction" in the natural history world, and I think it fits ell there - think of a photograph as a the visual parallel: a creative nterpretation of a literal moment. Personally, I tend to shy away from "true books" as a moniker for nonficti on; or me, "true books" have more to do with a deep integrity. onfiction is an attempt at relaying an event that is not "all made up"... but t is still often not true. I think there is some danger in teaching kids that onfiction is "true" rather than "might be true." :) Creative nonfiction usually wears its banners of personal interpretation learly: as a reader you can tell that this is my experience, my philosophy ; I he writer am present and available. But more literal nonfiction tends to mask ts author beneath the seeming "reality" of the event. As you might guess from hat I just wrote, I do prefer when writers willingly inhabit their nonfict ion; t lends so well to critical thinking on the part of the reader if the auth or elf-presents as a person, not an omniscient voice! But to terms in general... I'm finding it harder and harder to categorize books nto genres as times goes on. Thus the Caldecott award seems less complica ted o me -- in terms of definition, not in terms of merit or value -- than the
ibert or the Printz. All the best, aia
- aia Cheli-Colando rcata, Humboldt Bay, California - blogging at http://www.littlefolktales.org/wordpress -- - or drop in on Facebook! --
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:57:38 -0500
Megan -- please advise -- I personally enjoy discussing this and have more to say but do not want to horn in on a different discussion.
The problem with Creative Nonfiction is that, as Annette suggests, it has two meanings in adult
in a broad sense it is NF that places an emphasis on writing, on literary quality and enaging the reader. Take for example the first sentence of Na thaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea: "Like a giant bird of prey, the whaleship moved lazily up the western coas t of South America, zigging and zaggin across a living sea of oil." Any writer can tell how carefully he labored to get that exactly right -- where to place the first clause for maximum impact, how to begin with a metaphor, focus on the ship, and drive you to the punch in the stomiach at the end. While we would all love to write and read sentences like that in book for young readers -- take a look at most of the ones we actually publish: you get 4 out of the journalistic 5: who, what, where, when (why to follow). But Creative Nonfiction can, as Annette says, also imply NF in which a wri ter who, say, knows that two people had a private meeting, and knows a lot about them, and knows generally what happened, can actually describe the meeting for w hich there is no actual evidence -- in service of literary creativity they are allowed license with historical certainty. While a case can be made for doing similar things in books for young reade rs -- so long as it is absolutely clear what you can and cannot prove -- we are all aware of our responsibility to model an approach to evidence for young people. So any name that hints we are moving away from that rol e would be unfortunate.
Narrative NF is generally used in adult for that first meaning -- NF where pleasure for the reader is a prime requirment.
As one final word, I do wish we spoke more often about the pleasures of NF -- to entirely remove it from that cod-liver sense of obligation.
Marc
Message-----
From: Annette Goldsmith To: 'Maia Cheli-Colando' ; sully_at_sully-writer.co m Cc: ccbc-net@ccbc.education.wisc.edu Sent: Fri, Jan 29, 2010 4:44 pm Subject: RE:
Reviewing Nonfiction
Maia, I agree with you on the increasing difficulty of categorizing at all with o much genre-blending these days. My problem with "creative nonfiction" (a s 've heard it used in the adult nonfiction world, anyway) is that it can im ply he addition of a fictional element, for example, an imagined incident base d on act. I have no problem with the author being present -- I prefer it -- but I do ant to know if something really happened. How about "narrative nonfiction" to describe the current very exciting cro p of ooks? As in narrative poetry. It would describe a certain type of the genr e ather than relabeling the genre altogether. Annette
nnette Goldsmith, PhD uest Faculty niversity of Washington Information School eattle, WA hair, 2010 Mildred L. Batchelder Award Committee ember, USBBY Outstanding International Books Committee
*** Please delete my Comcast account (ayg_at_comcast.net) from your address
book nd use my new email: agoldsmith.fsu_at_gmail.com ***
Message-----
rom: Maia Cheli-Colando
ent: Friday, January 29, 2010 3:50 PM o: sully_at_sully-writer.com c: ccbc-net@ccbc.education.wisc.edu ubject: Re:
Reviewing Nonfiction Ed, We use "creative nonfiction" in the natural history world, and I think it fits ell there - think of a photograph as a the visual parallel: a creative nterpretation of a literal moment. Personally, I tend to shy away from "true books" as a moniker for nonficti on; or me, "true books" have more to do with a deep integrity. onfiction is an attempt at relaying an event that is not "all made up"... but t is still often not true. I think there is some danger in teaching kids that onfiction is "true" rather than "might be true." :) Creative nonfiction usually wears its banners of personal interpretation learly: as a reader you can tell that this is my experience, my philosophy ; I he writer am present and available. But more literal nonfiction tends to mask ts author beneath the seeming "reality" of the event. As you might guess from hat I just wrote, I do prefer when writers willingly inhabit their nonfict ion; t lends so well to critical thinking on the part of the reader if the auth or elf-presents as a person, not an omniscient voice! But to terms in general... I'm finding it harder and harder to categorize books nto genres as times goes on. Thus the Caldecott award seems less complica ted o me -- in terms of definition, not in terms of merit or value -- than the
ibert or the Printz. All the best, aia
- aia Cheli-Colando rcata, Humboldt Bay, California - blogging at http://www.littlefolktales.org/wordpress -- - or drop in on Facebook! --
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