In my adventures in writing and literary publishing, I have found that creative nonfiction tends to be the lesser-known of the three genres, with fiction and poetry taking center stage in flashy colors and well-known author names. But at Emerson College, the professors teaching nonfiction are truly among the best and the brightest—and as a result, many MA and MFA students alike find themselves loving the creative nonfiction courses they take. For several of my fiction, poetry and publishing friends, nonfiction workshops have added a new dimension of knowledge to their field, and still others have been so enamored with this hybrid literary genre that they converted to writing solely nonfiction! Here is a sneak peak of three nonfiction heavy hitters at Emerson:

Douglas Whynott
(Forms of Nonfiction Workshop, Nonfiction Book Workshop, Travel Writing)
If you’ve never written nonfiction before, Doug’s forms workshop is what I like to call the “gateway drug” of nonfiction workshops.

Read the Rest…

Hypnotized by your first high, it may quickly lead you down an addictive road, searching out the next great rush. In it, I made my first acquaintance with the personal essay—a genre I had loved to read without ever knowing the mythical secrets of structure, voice, and use of research that Doug opened up for us. In it, Doug also introduces literary journalism, travel writing, and memoir—and gives wonderful, personalized feedback that helps you get to the emotional core of the writing.

Doug’s Nonfiction Book Workshop and Travel Writing Workshops then elaborate on more specific forms of writing—offering insights into the world of being a professional, and possibly (gasp!) getting paid for one’s work, looking for agents, and querying magazines. As a fascinating writer (and person) with wide-ranging interests and fabulous stories about his misadventures as a bee inspector, dolphin trainer, and blues pianist, Doug will inspire even the most timid writer to harbor fantasies of following that dream of the ideal essay, article or book topic (bicycling with buffalo, anyone?). And his classes may even help you take the first steps towards getting that essay published or that agent to respond to your queries. Also, check out his books for a taste of the thoughtful literary journalism that he has crafted into an art (and a science of views on structure): Following the Bloom, Giant Bluefin, A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time, and most recently, A Country Practice.

Richard Hoffman
(Memoir Workshop and Nonfiction Seminar)
If you talk to anyone who’s taken Richard’s memoir class, they will almost undoubtably grab you by the arm, look at you with wide eyes and whisper, “You HAVE to take that class!” If Doug inspires a Buddhist-like sect of Whynottism, fascinated by structure and precision, then Richard inspires an emotionally fueled cult of Hoffmania, which privileges process over product.

His memoir, Half the House, is the success story of this kind of process-oriented craft– a memoir that emerges from over a decade of self-realization and writing, and most importantly, REVISION, to critical and popular acclaim. In his lectures on memoir as well as in workshops, Richard offers some truly revelatory ideas about the role of memoir in American culture and the current literary landscape. It’s a great class for starting a project, continuing a project, or revisiting a project you feel stuck on. Generally, if you think you’re finished with something, then you’ve really just begun. Whenever I get down about my current project, and worry that I may be etching my pen tirelessly across the page for nothing, I think of Richard’s advice: “It takes time. It will take you time to mine these experiences. Be patient.”

Megan Marshall
(Sources of Inspiration, Nonfiction Book Workshop)
To Fiction and Poetry writers: Even if you don’t fancy yourself an essayist or a memoirist, Megan’s “Sources of Inspiration” course will be genuinely useful to you— particularly if you ever need to do research on any historical subject. Or if you get writer’s block ever again. Any takers?

In “Sources of Inspiration,” Megan offers an archival research course for writers of any genre who want to try their hand at looking through archives for old documents, objects, and generally cool stuff. Several people in my class in the spring found real sources of long-term projects, as well as developing practical and useful skills in research that will help all of us for years to come.

As a professor, Megan makes a good first impression, but her true impact on you develops over time—her generosity of spirit warms your insides like a hot cup of coffee after a long all-nighter. She gives great feedback, and genuinely cares about her students’ work; two traits that would make her a wonderful teacher even without her tons of firsthand research experience and National Book Award Finalist status under her belt. If you want to get a sense of the depth of Megan’s meticulous research, read The Peabody Sisters—I never knew nineteenth-century Boston could be so entertaining.

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