Issue 64 / Summer 2017
64 / Adaptation
Keeping up with a rapidly changing world
In Creative Nonfiction #64: “Adaptation,” writers search for new normals. From the eroding shores of Georgia’s barrier islands to the national parks of Alaska to the suburbs sprawling into the Arizona desert, we try to keep up—personally, politically, scientifically—with our rapidly changing world.
Plus, how other forms, including performance art and handiwork, are influencing creative nonfiction; Beth Ann Fennelly writes “micro-memoir”; Nicole Walker sees the braided essay as a form of political resistance; tiny truths; and more.
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What’s the Story #64
"It’s more important than ever for writers to remain clear-eyed and to grapple with the big questions"The Braided Essay as Social Justice Action
The braided essay may be the most effective form for our timesIf the Ferret Crosses the Road
Reintroducing North America's most endangered mammal to the wildPluripotent
Cells grow and multiply—into babies, into tumorsFirst Laugh
When you're left behind by a suicide, it doesn't take long before people try to send you to a support groupSomething Like Vertigo
An environmental writer sees parallels between her father's declining equilibrium and a world turned upside downShoulder Season
Embracing the in-betweens on a solo trek in AlaskaThe Animal in the Yard
A descructive visitor makes it hard to sell a father's houseThe Truth Is I Never Left You
A young girl's seat assignment on the plane ride to America changes everythingEbb-Tide Optimism on a Climate-Changed Island
Hoping for the best on a hike through the "ghost forests" on one of Georgia's barrier islandsBecoming a Parent’s Parent
Memoirs by daughter-caretakers tackle the messy realities of dementia and Alzheimer's diseaseThreaded Forms: Decentered Approaches to Nonfiction
Handicrafts and quilting bees inspire new models for writing memoirThreaded Forms
Making a Hummingbird of Words
“Micro-memoirs” are small but mightyTake Three: Nick Flynn’s Triptych
A father-son story, told three waysHonesty, Risk, and Presence
What creative nonfiction writers can learn from performance artSaturday Night
A young woman, lost on the wrong side of townThe Scene Is In Flux
An interview with the winner of CNF's "Adaptation" essay contest