Issue 55 / Spring 2015
55 / The Memoir Issue
Real, personal stories
“The Memoir Issue” is big news: a special double issue with twice as many stories as usual, from places as far-ranging as Japan, Australia, the Marshall Islands, the Appalachian Trail, and Vermont.
This issue is also big in scope, illustrating thorny issues such as the power (and fallibility) of memory; the challenges of telling other people’s stories accurately; and the art of self-analysis and reflection.
Plus, CNF #55 features columns on how social media might be changing human memory; readers’ duty to wield belief responsibly; accepting the narcissist within; tiny truths; and more.
The end result is a hulk of an issue that showcases and celebrates the rich possibilities of the form. You don’t want to miss this one.
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Read this issue nowTable of Contents
What’s the Story #55
Memoirs are far more than lurid, navel-gazing tell-allsThe Meek Shall Inherit the Memoir
Think writing makes you a pathological narcissist? Think againOf Memoir & Memory
We need better critical tools for discussing the genreThe Coronation of Bobby
When facts contradict what we think we know once happenedDo No Harm
Sometimes the most idle moments carry the greatest meaning—if only we can see itBlack Is the Body
Black? Brown? African American? When your children inhabit a world you could never have imaginedSteps
Newly sober, a hiker loses his elderly dog and, nearly, the respect of his young son on the Appalachian TrailA Strand of Pearls and a Fountain Pen
A woman quietly searches for the father she never metMy Father’s Secrets
Stationed on a remote pacific atoll, a father and son discover that picking up signals from space can be easier than communicating with the people closest to usCast a Net
A woman's relentless search for a flamenco dancer is hampered by her father's progressive memory lossTerritorial Imperative in Planaria
A high school honors student takes responsibility for a series of deliberate deathsTangle of Lines
Finding beauty in impermanence during an interrupted spring trip to JapanGirl on Fire
A boyfriend's brain injury tests a relationship's future...and its pastThe Grief Scale
Weighing heartache while traveling home from caring for a friendBelieve It
Is it just coincidence that we began to worry about truth in memoir just as long-silenced classes began to tell their stories?The Perils of Perfect Memory
The new past, according to social mediaAge, Formative
Found textsSomething Missing, Something Hidden
"There’s a huge gap between the experiences we feel compelled to record and the experiences that stay with us regardless of documentation"Writing Down the Hard Stuff
The winner of Creative Nonfiction’s $1,000 "Memoir" contest talks about her essay, "Do No Harm"