Special Program / The 2015 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference (Archived Landing Page)

2015 Conference Presenters

The Creative Nonfiction Writers' Conference presenters are journalists, best-selling authors, agents, and editors—leaders in the field of creative nonfiction. But they're also professional teachers of the craft. 

Best of all, they are down-to-earth, friendly, and approachable; they'll tell you what they really think. The Creative Nonfiction Writers' Conference features more than just classroom learning; this three-day event also provides plenty of opportunities for informal interactions and Q&A sessions.

To learn from and work with all of the conference presenters, register for all three days of the conference. 


Or view daily registration options here »


Presenters

Lee Gutkind

Recognized by Vanity Fair as “the Godfather behind creative nonfiction,” Lee Gutkind is the author and editor of more than 25 books and founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction. He is Distinguished Writer-in-Residence in the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University and a professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication there.  

Listen to an interview with Lee »

Stephanie Bane

Stephanie Bane is a brand strategist at Smith Brothers Agency, whose clients have included Nestlé, Heinz, and Red Bull. She recently received her MFA from the Pacific University low-residency program, where she completed her memoir, Thirst. Excerpts from the memoir have appeared in Brevity and Ascent, and her writing has appeared in Creative NonfictionTwitter »

Read our interview with Stephanie »

Jason Bittel

Jason Bittel writes the Species Watch column for Earthwire. He also contributes to National Geographic, The Week, and Slate, and serves up science for picky eaters on his website, Bittel Me This. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and two tiny wolves. (Note: Wolves may be Pomeranians.) Website »

Read our interview with Jason »

Torie Bosch

As the editor of Future Tense, a joint collaboration between Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University, Torie Bosch covers emerging technology and its impact on society. Her writing on politics, entertainment, technology, and other topics has appeared in Slate, AOL News, Seventeen, the Detroit News, and other publications. Website »

Read our interview with Torie »

Rachel Ekstrom

Before becoming an agent at the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, Rachel Ekstrom worked in the publicity departments of various imprints at St. Martin’s Press and Penguin for over a decade, building the careers of debut authors and #1 New York Times bestsellers.

Read our interview with Rachel »

Hattie Fletcher

Hattie Fletcher has been the managing editor of Creative Nonfiction since 2004 and is the co-editor, with Lee Gutkind, of True Stories, Well Told: from the First 20 Years of Creative Nonfiction Magazine.

Read our interview with Hattie »

Maggie Jones

Maggie Jones is contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine and a 2012 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. She writes about social issues including immigration, crime, poverty, race, gender, education, and families. She has also written essays, articles and book reviews for the New York Times Sunday Book Review, the Washington Post, Slate, Salon, Elle, Mother Jones and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Website »

Read our interview with Maggie »

Saeed Jones

Saeed Jones is the editor of BuzzFeed LGBT and a Pushcart Prize-winning poet. His debut poetry collection Prelude To Bruise was described by Publishers Weekly as "a dark night of the soul presented as the finest of evening gowns." NPR says his work is both "beautiful and unsparing." His work has appeared in publications like Guernica, The Rumpus, Hayden's Ferry Review, and Blackbird among others. Saeed is the recipient of fellowships from Cave Canem and Queer / Art / Mentors.

Read our interview with Saeed »

Jill Kandel

Jill Kandel was the winner of the 2014 Autumn House Nonfiction prize for her book, So Many Africas: Six Years in a Zambian Village. Her essays have been published in The Missouri Review, Gettysburg Review, River Teeth, Pinch, Image, Brevity, Best Spiritual Writing 2012, and Becoming: What Makes a Woman. Kandel lives with her husband and children in Minnesota where she teaches creative writing and essay. Every Friday she goes to a county jail where she teaches journal writing to female inmates. Website »

Read our interview with Jill »

Adam Kushner

Last year, Adam Kushner launched PostEverything, a Washington Post digital magazine for personal essays and arguments on a wide range of topics. This year, PostEverything merged with the Post’s Sunday Outlook section, where Adam currently serves as editor. Before joining the Washington Post, Adam was executive editor at the National Journal, and prior to that, he worked as a senior editor at Newsweek, leading foreign coverage and writing on ideas and trends. He has also been a managing editor at The New Republic.

Read our interview with Adam »

Marissa Landrigan

Marissa Landrigan’s creative nonfiction has appeared in numerous journals, including Creative Nonfiction, Guernica, Orion, Gulf Coast, The Rumpus, Diagram, South Loop Review, and others. She runs a food-themed reading series and written about food for the Atlantic. Marissa is an assistant professor of English Writing at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, where she teaches creative, digital, and professional writing. 

Read our interview with Marissa »

Emily Loose

Emily Loose is an independent book agent, editor and publishing consultant. She has worked as a senior acquisitions editor at three of the big five general trade publishing houses, Crown Publishers of Random House, The Penguin Press of Penguin Books, and Free Press of Simon & Schuster, signing and publishing seventeen New York Times bestsellers in that time, as well as for John Wiley & Sons and the Cambridge University Press. She has specialized in science, history current affairs, popular social science, narrative nonfiction and business, and has worked with many academics on award-winning and ground-breaking books, including works by two Nobel Prize-winning economists, Douglass North and Elinor Ostrom. Website »

Read our interview with Emily »

Dinty W. Moore

Dinty W. Moore is the editor of Brevity magazine and author of numerous books, including The Mindful Writer: Noble Truths of the Writing Life, Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction, and the memoir Between Panic & Desire, winner of the Grub Street Nonfiction Book Prize. He is also the director of the creative writing programs at Ohio UniversityWebsite »

Read our interview with Dinty »

Alan Olifson

Alan Olifson, a Los Angeles native, has made Pittsburgh his new home and still revels in the freedom to put fries on his salad. Alan is an award-winning humor columnist, public radio commentator, comedian, and regular host of Pittsburgh's monthly Moth StorySLAMs. He has also brought the acclaimed storytelling series he produced in Los Angeles, WordPlay – True Stories with a Live Soundtrack, to Pittsburgh. Website »

Read our interview with Alan »

Leslie Rubinkowski

Leslie Rubinkowski directs the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program at Goucher College. She has also taught at the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University, and has lectured at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. The author of Impersonating Elvis, her essays have appeared in Harper's, River Teeth, and Chautauqua. Website »

Read our interview with Leslie »

Anjali Sachdeva

Anjali Sachdeva teaches creative writing and English at Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and the Summer Writing Festival at the University of Iowa, and earned her MFA at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her work has appeared in the Yale Review, Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011, and Gulf CoastWebsite »

Read our interview with Anjali »


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