15 Most Read in 2015

The most popular essays & articles on our site this year.

Who doesn’t love a good year-end list? As 2015 winds down, we thought we’d look back and see what captured our (online) readers’ interest this year.

As it happens, we noticed something interesting, though not exactly surprising: Though the majority of our most popular pieces appeared in an issue of Creative Nonfiction within the last five years, a handful are from the early 00’s and a couple from the mid-90’s. Creative Nonfiction‘s content has staying power! 

Anyway, in case you missed them the first time around, here they are—our top 15 from 2015. Happy reading!


  1. Picturing the Personal Essay
    A visual guide // TIM BASCOM 
     
  2. How to Write Like a Mother#^@%*&
    A conversation with Cheryl Strayed // ELISSA BASSIST 
     
  3. The Line Between Fact & Fiction
    On borrowing the tools of novelists // ROY PETER CLARK 
     
  4. A Genre by Any Other Name
    The story behind “creative nonfiction” // DINTY W. MOORE
     
  5. Write What You Don’t Know
    How can you write nonfiction when you don’t have the facts? // JESSICA HANDLER 
     
  6. The Price of Writing
    Why would anyone work for free? It’s complicated // JENNIFER NIESSLEIN 
     
  7. Shunned
    Sixteen and pregnant, a young woman finds herself ostracized from her community // MEREDITH HALL
     
  8. The Same Story
    Two young women, pregnant at the same time by the same man // SUZANNE ROBERTS 
     
  9. Writing Memoir & Writing for Therapy
    An inquiry on the functions of reflection // TARA DaPRA 
     
  10. The “Five ‘R’s” of Creative Nonfiction
    Breaking down the essentials of the form // LEE GUTKIND 
     
  11. The Butterfly Effect
    Finding sanctuary in Butterfly Town, USA // JENNIFER LUNDEN 
     
  12. The Rope Test
    The writing life requires discipline // LEE GUTKIND 
     
  13. Erik Larson
    An interview with the journalist turned narrative historian // DONNA SEAMAN 
     
  14. Poetry & Science
    A view from the divide // ALISON HAWTHORNE DEMING 
     
  15. What You Learn in College
    How to play strip spin-the-bottle // KAREN DONLEY-HAYES 
     

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One thought on “15 Most Read in 2015

  1. I don’t mean to be unpleasant
    I don’t mean to be unpleasant but why is CNF so white? There are nonwhite readers and writers of creative nonfiction.

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