Prof. Stephanie Anderson Publishes "A Primer for Craft in Literary Journalism"

Congratulations to Prof. Stephanie Anderson on publication of a craft essay, "Gathering Speed and Complexity: A Primer for Craft in Literary Journalism" in true.

An excerpt:

Literary journalism is my go-to genre. It’s the genre of my two books, both about why regenerative rather than industrial agriculture is a better option for a changing climate. As most literary journalists do, I rely on interviews, usually conducted on the ground, as well as academic and other secondary research and my own analysis, in making my case.

I classify my work as literary journalism, and so I must consider the word “literary” in how I make that case. That begins with how nonfiction writers and journalists define literary journalism as a whole, and the literary part specifically. There is a long history–stretching back to Michel de Montaigne writing in the 1500s–of what we now call literary or narrative journalism, and also squabbles over the genre’s definition. Tom Wolfe, author of The Right Stuff and writer who in the 1970s infamously sparked the definition squabbles, said literary journalism is journalism that reads “like a novel,” mainly because it features four techniques used by novelists: scene-by-scene construction, dialogue, third-person point of view, and symbolic details . . .