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Dear Friends,

The poet Mary Oliver reminds us to “Pay attention. / Be astonished. / Tell about it.”

This season, there have been many voices coming at us from many directions, all clamoring for our attention. Deciding where to put our attention is an exercise in making space for what we care about.

Here at CNF, we're feeling the pull on our attention as well. So, this month, in an attempt to keep ourselves focused and provide what respite we can for others, to create some signal among the noise, we've put together the best programming we can. After you vote, we hope you'll join us to:

  • Tackle your memoir by enrolling in our November self-guided course, Write Your Memoir Month, which offers insightful lectures, readings, and inspired prompts to help you reach your daily word count.
     
  • Engage with Creative Nonfiction founder Lee Gutkind next Friday, November 13, as he speaks on The Risks & Rewards of Writing Memoir and takes your questions during a free webinar and AMA.
     
  • Learn and practice the art, craft, or business of creative nonfiction with our experienced instructors and professional writers in one of our convenient and affordable Wednesday Webinars.
     
  • Start the New Year writing in one of our eleven winter online courses. As always, in our courses, you'll find the unique opportunity to learn in a small virtual classroom environment, connect with a passionate group of writers, and explore a variety of skills and strategies. Classes start January 11, 2021.
     
  • Make 2021 the year you go from good to great in one of our yearlong writing tracks: Pathway to the Memoir and Pathway to the Personal Essay. These thoughtful progressions of courses will help you learn (or revisit) the fundamentals of the genre, develop your craft, enrich your knowledge, and sharpen your skills.

Finally, we’re pleased to announce that applications are open for Writing the Tough Stuff, an online workshop for Pittsburgh-area teens. 

Phew. Here’s to reclaiming our attention and making our voices heard at the polls and on the page!

Be well, 
Sharla Yates
-
Director of Education
yates@creativenonfiction.org

CREATIVE NONFICTION

True stories, well told.

Creative Nonfiction #74: "Moments of Clarity" is coming soon.

Our "Memoir" issue is totally sold out, so all new subscriptions will begin with Creative Nonfiction #74: "Moments of Clarity."

The issue includes stories of sudden realizations, things that can’t be unsaid, and shifts in power dynamics, featuring new work by Caitlin Horrocks, Liz Iversen, and Jane Ratcliffe. Subscribe today.


Looking for some online reading? Check out these essays from our archives:

Want more? Sign up for the ICYMI, a curated monthly email featuring four essays and two craft pieces handpicked by our editors from our 25+ years of publishing. Sign up for free.

Current calls for submissions

 

WRITE NOW @ CNF

Connect & learn

CNF's webinars and self-guided courses can help you get motivated, find a writing community, and more. Here's what's coming up:

SELF-GUIDED COURSE

  • Write Your Memoir Month

    Make November National Memoir Writing Month.

    Class opens Nov 2; enrollment is open until Nov 20. 

FREE WEBINAR & AMA

WEDNESDAY WEBINARS
Registration closes 24 hours before each event.

 

ONLINE CLASSES

Join CNF's growing online writing community

Since 2011, our online classes have helped thousands of writers tell their stories better. Our 5- and 10-week classes offer firm deadlines, a flexible schedule that fits your needs, and feedback to help you keep writing and improving your work.

This winter, we're offering 11 different classes, all designed to help you achieve your writing goals. Here's how we can help you:
 

FUNDAMENTALS—open to all levels.

INTERMEDIATE courses.

ADVANCED courses.

YEARLONG writing tracks.


TINY TRUTHS

Winners from CNF’s ongoing micro-essay contest

Our daily Twitter contest is a great way to get your work into Creative Nonfiction. To join, follow us @cnfonline and tag your submissions #cnftweet.

Here are a few of our recent favorites, from a special call for #hauntings:

@JennRHubbard: The ghosts of my friends don't reside in the house where they used to live, but in my mind, stirring whenever I walk past there. I even restore the flowers L. once planted, ripped out by newer owners.

11:50 AM · Oct 17, 2020

@FiiJ20: I always prayed that I wouldn't see them, and to be fair, I never did. I still heard the footsteps, but it's easy to ignore sounds, easy to pretend they might be something else. Even when the creaking passed right by my bed.

7:24 AM · Oct 16, 2020

@ConnieKuhns: My cat walks on the bed at night. Even as I sleep, I feel the soft pressure of her paws through my quilt. Sometimes she stretches out and rests across my legs. I buried her years ago under a rock in my front yard. Obviously, she hasn't figured that out, yet.

1:45 PM · Oct 17, 2020

@dorsalstream: "You go get it," my brother said. Each town has a house the kids whisper dares to each other about, and our soccer ball had rolled into the tall grass by the cellar door of ours.

11:02 AM · Oct 22, 2020

DISTRACTIONS

What we’re reading

+ Brevity: A Life in Progress: Writing My Last Eight-Thousand Days
+ Nieman Storyboard: The Struggle to Define Cinematic Writing
+ Lit Hub: The Case for Writing a Memoir in Essays

 

From the Sunday Short Reads flash essay email

+ "Seeing" by Mathina Calliope
+ "Sick & Well Time" by Ellen Samuels
+ "Airview" by Beth Boyle Machlan
+ "A Near Miss" by S. Isabel Choi

Classifieds

Develop your craft in part-time MA/MFA programs at Northwestern University. Specialize in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, popular fiction, dual-genre, or publishing and professional development. - Learn more. 

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The Creative Nonfiction Foundation inspires and supports writers of true stories by providing publishing venues and educational opportunities for a diverse range of creative nonfiction writing and writers; serves as a strong advocate for the genre, helping define the ethics and parameters of the field; and aims to broaden the genre's impact not only in the publishing world but also in the arts, humanities, and sciences.

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