Saturday, May 19, 2012

River Teeth and Robert Atwan -- Nonfiction Rules

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On the road to Ohio
Dateline: Ashland University, in Ashland, OH

Event:  Celebration of the art and craft of nonfiction

Hosts: River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative

Best Lines Heard So Far:  At the end of Robert Atwan’s keynote address, after he finished talking about how he began the Best American Essays series in the 1980’s (he wondered if there were enough good essays out there for even one edition) he threw off two lines in reference to the recent spate of memoirs that turn out not to be completely true or accurate.
“The rise of the memoir came at the same time as the invention of the keyboard and PC.”
and
“You can do anything you want in nonfiction, but if something is not true, make sure it’s not verifiable.”

Long day tomorrow so the post is short.  However, I want to direct your attention to the website SecondAct.  As part of this WordCount blogathon Michelle Rafter challenged those of us over 40 to write a post about reinventing ourselves in this part of our lives.  I’m proud to say that my post got a mention along with half a dozen others who have compelling stories to tell.  For your weekly dose of inspiration, head over to SecondAct.com and read some of them.

How have you reinvented yourself?  Share your story in the comments box.
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1 comment:

Sharon Clare said...

Interesting you should mention Second Act. The day after I joined their group here near Toronto, they disbanded.

When I was in my late 30's I went back to school to do a science degree. Surprisingly I fell in love with writing and did a 180 turn to focus on fiction. I just sold my first book 10 years later!

I've been reinventing my whole life I think.

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