Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: The Ongoing “More than Memoir” Campaign
“But as much as I love memoir—in fact, we’re currently working on a memoir issue, due out next spring—I am sometimes frustrated that creative nonfiction and memoir have, in some ways, to some audiences, apparently become synonymous. As I see it, creative nonfiction is an umbrella term, and memoir is only one of the forms included under its shadow.”
These lines from Lee Gutkind’s “From the Editor” column in the latest issue of Creative Nonfiction, which I’ve been reading this week, resonated. Strongly. That shouldn’t be a big surprise to any longtime readers of this blog. But if it is, please return to this post from last summer, which I’ve been thinking about all over again thanks to Gutkind’s column.
Is there a memoir issue I can submit to?
Ben
Hi, Ben:
My guess is that the deadline may have passed for that issue, because I don’t see anything specific about it on the submissions page now, but you might want to take a look at that page yourself: http://www.creativenonfiction.org/submissions.
Best,
Erika
Thanks Erika
Ben
The column turns out to be one of the better delineations of the scope of Creative Non-Fiction I’ve seen.
I’d venture that the reader-on-the-street has rarely, if ever, heard the term C. N-F. except as related to memoirs.
Which is very troubling!
When did the term come into use?
I have no memory of it in high school or in my required college English/Lit classes. (Meaning pre-1970.)
Good question. I don’t remember. I know that I took a college workshop in fall ’89 that was labeled “creative nonfiction.”
I’ve been reading this issue of CNF as well. I admit, there have been plenty of times the definitions of CNF and/or memoir are skewed in my understanding, so I needed Lee Gutkind’s column this month and loved your response paper post you link to here. Both great reading (& re-reading).
Thanks, Christi!