''Creative Nonfiction'' is a

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The journal was founded by Lee Gutkind in 1993, making it the first literary magazine to publish, exclusively and on a regular basis, high quality

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

prose. In Spring 2010, ''Creative Nonfiction'' evolved from journal to magazine format with the addition of new sections such as writer profiles and essays on the craft of writing, as well as updates on developments in the literary non-fiction scene. Work originally printed in ''Creative Nonfiction'' has been reprinted in '' The Best American Essays'', '' The Best American Travel Writing'' in 2013, ''The Best Women's Travel Writing'' in 2013, and '' The Best American Nonrequired Reading''. In 2014, ''Creative Nonfiction'' ranked 23 on the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

list of nonfiction literary magazines. ''Creative Nonfiction'' was a finalist for the 2014 AWP Small Press Publisher Award and a finalist in the "Best Writing" category for the Utne Independent Press Award in 2011. __TOC__

Past issues

Past contributors

* Diane Ackerman *

Jane Alison Jane Alison (born 1961) is an Australian author. Early life and education Born in Canberra in 1961, Alison spent two years in Australia as a small child, growing up mainly in the United States as a child of diplomatic parents. She attended p ...

* Roger Angell * Jane Bernstein * Frank Deford *

Annie Dillard Annie Dillard (born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 19 ...

Andre Dubus Andre Jules Dubus II (August 11, 1936 – February 24, 1999) was an American short story writer and essayist. Biography Early life and education Andre Jules Dubus II was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the youngest child of Katherine (Burk ...

Stefan Fatsis Stefan Fatsis (; born April 1, 1963) is an author and journalist. He regularly appears as a guest on National Public Radio's ''All Things Considered'' daily radio news program and as a panelist on Slate's sports podcast '' Hang Up and Listen''. ...

Beth Ann Fennelly Beth Ann Fennelly (born May 22, 1971) is an American poet and prose writer and was the Poet Laureate of Mississippi. __TOC__ Biography She was born in New Jersey and raised in Lake Forest, Illinois. She attended Woodlands Academy of the Sacred ...

* Carolyn Forché * Ellen Gilchrist * Meredith Hall *Sonya Huber * Heidi Julavits *Shawna Kenney * Lawrence Krauss *

Erik Larson (author) Erik Larson (born January 3, 1954) is an American journalist and author of mostly nonfiction books. He has written a number of bestsellers, including ''The Devil in the White City'' (2003), about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago ...

* Gordon Lish * Phillip Lopate * Bret Lott *

Hilary Masters Hilary Masters (February 3, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri – June 14, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was an American novelist, the son of poet Edgar Lee Masters, and Ellen Frances Coyne Masters. He attended Davidson College from 1944–1946, t ...

* Todd May *

Bill McKibben William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...

* John McPhee * Philip Metres *

Dinty W. Moore Dinty W. Moore (born August 11, 1955) is an American essayist and writer of both fiction and non-fiction books. He received the Grub Street National Book Prize for Non-Fiction for his memoir, ''Between Panic and Desire'', in 2008 and is also autho ...

* Daniel Nester *

Stewart O'Nan Stewart O'Nan (born February 4, 1961) is an American novelist. Life and work Background Born on February 4, 1961, to John Lee O'Nan II and Mary Ann O'Nan (''née'' Smith), he and his brother John were raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where t ...

Chris Offutt Christopher John Offutt (born August 24, 1958) is an American writer. He is most widely known for his short stories and novels, but he has also published three memoirs and multiple nonfiction articles. In 2005, he had a story included in a comic ...

Linda Peeno Linda Peeno is an American physician, ethicist, and lecturer known for being a whistleblower against the American managed healthcare industry. Whistleblowing Following employment as a medical reviewer for Humana and medical director at Blue Cros ...

* George Plimpton * Francine Prose * Adrienne Rich *

Ruthann Robson Ruthann Robson is a professor of law and University Distinguished Professor. As well as her writings in legal scholarship and theory, she has also published fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Her novel ''Eye of a Hurricane'' was a finalist ...

*Elizabeth Rush * Richard Rodriguez *Heather Sellers * David Shields * Charles Simic *

Floyd Skloot Floyd Skloot (born July 6, 1947) is an American poet, novelist, and memoirist. Some of his work concerns his experience with neurological damage caused by a virus contracted in 1988. His book ''In the Shadow of Memory'' gained favorable critica ...

Rebecca Skloot Rebecca L. Skloot (born September 19, 1972) is an American science writer who specializes in science and medicine.Jessica Teisch, "Floyd Skloot & Rebecca Skloot", in '' Bookmarks'', May/June 2010. Her first book, '' The Immortal Life of Henriet ...

Lauren Slater Lauren Slater (born March 21, 1963) is an American psychotherapist and writer. She is the author of nine books, including ''Welcome To My Country'' (1996), ''Prozac Diary'' (1998), and ''Lying: A Metaphorical Memoir'' (2000). Her 2004 book '' Ope ...

* Gay Talese * John Edgar Wideman * C.K. Williams * Terry Tempest Williams

''CNF'' books

The Creative Nonfiction Foundation

The Creative Nonfiction Foundation pursues educational and

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

initiatives in the genre of literary nonfiction. Its objectives are to provide a venue, the journal ''Creative Nonfiction'', for high quality nonfiction prose ( memoir, literary journalism, personal essay); to serve as the singular strongest voice of the genre, defining the ethics and parameters of the field; and to broaden the genre's impact in the literary arena by providing an array of educational services and publishing activities. The Creative Nonfiction Foundation was incorporated in 1994 and is a private

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

organization supported by public and private funds contributed by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation, the Vira I. Heinz Endowment, and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, as well as by individual donors.

Educational programs

The Creative Nonfiction Foundation offers a number of educational programs for teachers,

students A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...

, and emerging writers.

Mentoring programs

Creative Nonfiction's mentoring program pairs new writers with seasoned professionals such as

and

. The mentoring program's goal is to help new writers: 1) develop their technique and approach to creative nonfiction composition; 2) revise, edit and shape their manuscript; and 3) place their finished manuscript with a publisher.

Online courses

''Creative Nonfiction'' provides online courses on basic techniques for research, interviewing, immersion, and reporting as well as instruction on writing personal essays.

Writers' conferences

''CNF'' hosted the Mid-South Conference in Oxford, Mississippi, in February 2008, and 412: The Pittsburgh Creative Nonfiction Literary Festival in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008. In the spring of 2013, Creative Nonfiction hosted The Best of Creative Nonfiction Conference at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Arts Education Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Creative Nonfiction also hosts an annual Creative Nonfiction Writers' Conference, dedicated to the art, craft, and power of true stories, each May.

Writing institutes

Creative Nonfiction holds institutes throughout the year in a variety of locations and offers programs for writers at all levels of experience. Instructors include Lee Gutkind and other well-known writers, teachers, and editors. The institutes often cover a range of themes, from the basics of the creative nonfiction genre to writing memoir to travel narrative. Courses also attempt to emphasize the ethics and guidelines of the genre.

Editorial advisory board

A number of prominent authors, educators and media figures are members of the Foundation's Editorial Advisory Board, whose task is to help the Editorial Board sustain and guide the editorial mission of the magazine. * Diane Ackerman *

Buzz Bissinger Harry Gerard Bissinger III, also known as Buzz Bissinger and H. G. Bissinger (born November 1, 1954) is an American journalist and author, best known for his 1990 non-fiction book '' Friday Night Lights''. He is a longtime contributing editor at ...

Edwidge Danticat Edwidge Danticat (; born January 19, 1969) is a Haitian-American novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, '' Breath, Eyes, Memory'', was published in 1994 and went on to become an Oprah's Book Club selection. Danticat has since written ...

* Dave Eggers * Jonathan Franzen * Tracy Kidder * Rick Moody * Susan Orlean * Francine Prose * Ruth Reichl * Richard Rodriguez *

* Gay Talese

External links

The ''Creative Nonfiction'' website

Lee Gutkind's Website

''Brevity'': A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction

''Creative Nonfiction'' on LitList
{{Pittsburgh 1993 establishments in Pennsylvania Literary magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Magazines published in Pittsburgh Magazines established in 1993