Gay Talese Meets the Ginger Man

The great actor, Peter O’Toole, died last Saturday (December 14th). Fifty years ago, he spent the better part of a month in the company of Gay Talese, considered among the greatest narrative nonfiction writers, for an Esquire profile published in August 1963 [see link below]. The piece opens on a plane from London to Ireland, […]

Adrian Nicole Leblanc on opening Random Family

I remember reading Adrian Nicole Leblanc’s stunning debut as a nonfiction author: “Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx,” published in 2003 after she’d spent 1o years researching it. Being the 10th anniversary of the book, The New Yorker interviewed her about it earlier this year. Most writers will say that […]

Listening to Susan Orlean

The great narrative nonfiction writer, Susan Orlean, talks about writing, ideas, storytelling, etc. The author of The Orchid Thief and Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend, she’s also written countless memorable articles, including the much-anthologized “The American Man At Age Ten” (in Esquire) and “Life’s Swell,” her Outside magazine feature on a group of young surfer […]

Vintage Typewriter Advertising

I love the art that went into vintage typewriter ads. Here are some nice examples:

“Creative Journalism” – An 8-week Introduction to the Genre

Beginning on October 8, 2013, I will be teaching a night course called “Creative Journalism” which is part of the Creative Writing Program in the Continuing Education division at the University of Toronto. It’s an 8-week introduction to the genre of creative nonfiction/literary journalism that is meant to answer a basic question: “how does creative journalism differ from the […]

“Next Wave: America’s New Generation of Great Literary Journalists”

“The ocean at night is a terrible dream. There is nothing beyond the water except the profound discouragement of the sky, every black wave another singular misfortune. Walt Marino has been floating on his back for hours, the ocean on his skin, his mouth, soaking the curls of his graying hair…” Whew. Those are the […]

Advanced Feature Writing for Fall 2013

My Advanced Feature Writing night course is scheduled to run this fall, beginning Thursday, Sept. 12. The focus is on “literary journalism,” which translates into long-form nonfiction using techniques borrowed from novelists to tell the story. I also emphasize developing ideas that have a high potential of being sold. Often half or more of  the […]

Creative Nonfiction MFA Program

At the beginning of August, I’ll be going to Halifax to help launch the University of King’s College School of Journalism’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction. It’s offered jointly by Dalhousie’s Faculty of Graduate Studies and is the only Creative Nonfiction MFA degree offered in Canada. It’s a limited residency program so over […]

Miniature Typewriter Monkey Business I

I sometimes create scenes with items from my miniature typewriter collection and, in this case, my dollhouse desk & office chair. What has happened here? In a scene from a noir thriller, a pulp fiction writer, working late, was surprised by an intruder. A scuffle ensued. This is what police officers found: an overturned typewriter […]

Gay Talese, Fame and Obscurity

Every young writer finds a master to emulate, in the same way that  aspiring young guitarists obsessively study Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder or The Edge. What you recognize is a style that feels compatible with what you think you can achieve. While at journalism school in the late ’70s, I liked Tom Wolfe and Hunter […]