Taking Imaginative License in Creative Nonfiction

Creative nonfiction writers are not necessarily journalists. When facts elude them, they often take liberties in their work—building scenes from imagination, wondering about the motives and thoughts of others, and doing what essayist Lisa Knopp calls “perhapsing”:  speculating openly on the page. Of course, these techniques can be risky. When do such narrative leaps become irresponsible or unethical? How far can you push into the realm of possibility before you lose a reader’s trust? What’s the difference between exploring unknowns and lying? In this six-hour seminar, we’ll grapple with these issues, interrogating common wisdom about the genre and questioning what it means to tell “true” stories. We’ll do in-class exercises to press beyond what we know, and read and discuss excerpts by writers who blur the line (often controversially) between fiction and fact, such as Jo Ann Beard, John D’Agata, and Hilton Als.  You’ll leave with a sense of the genre’s flexibility and a new freedom in your work. 

Part of GrubStreet's Special Topics in the Nonfiction, a group of classes dedicated to exploring different craft elements of creative nonfiction. For more class offerings, click here.