4.08.2008

Brevity

This is the third week of spring term, and I'm teaching Beginning Nonfiction for the first time. Prepping for the course, I was fairly stressed out. New preps always require more work, of course, but there was something so daunting to me about teaching a class called "Beginning Nonfiction." The possibilities seemed practically endless, and I wanted to cover as many topics in our ten-week term as I could. Eventually, I narrowed what we would cover down and so far am happy with how things are going.

Last week, I used two different packets consisting of pieces of creative nonfiction and craft essays from the always fantastic Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction.

Included were the following excellent essays:

"Nine Days" by Suzanne LeFetra

&

"The Sloth"
by Jill Christman

as well as the following craft essays, which I also loved:

"On Miniatures" by Lia Purpura

&

"Nonfiction is Translation"
by Brian Goedde

3 comments:

Matt Bell said...

Brevity's a cool magazine. This is my favorite essay I've read there.

Chad Simpson said...

I just read it, and that's a great piece. Thanks for posting the link.

I'm a big fan of Greg Bottoms, who shows up there quite a bit. Have you read Angelhead? If not, you'd like it, I think. Sentimental, Heartbroken Rednecks is very very good, too, if you haven't ever checked it out, though I bet you have. His piece on Breece D'J Pancake is worth the price of the book.

At any rate...I don't think Brevity ever publishes anything "bad."

Matt Bell said...

I don't know Greg Bottoms at all, so he is now officially added to my wish list. Thanks for the tip!