Tag Archives: creative nonfiction

Meet the 2015 A&L Prizes Nonfiction Judge

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Laura Newbern

It is a privilege to have Barbara Hurd as the judge for the Arts & Letters Journal nonfiction prize this year.

Barbara is the recipient of a 2002 NEA Fellowship for Creative Nonfiction, winner of the Sierra Club’s National Nature Writing Award and Pushcart Prizes in 2004 and 2007. She teaches creative writing in the Stonecoast MFA program at the University of Southern Maine.

Ms. Hurd has published several award-winning books, including: Walking the Wrack Line: On Tidal Shifts and What Remains, Entering the Stone: On Caves and Feeling Through the Dark, a Library Journal Best Natural History Book of the Year, Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination, a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001, and The Singer’s Temple, winner of the Bright Hill Press Poetry Award.

We are honored to have an author as esteemed as Ms. Hurd serve as this year’s nonfiction judge. Read more about Barbara and her work on her website.

We Want The Best American Essays

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Laura Newbern
Best American EssaysBest American Essays

We’re very excited to announce that we’re now nominating for The Best American Essays! Arts & Letters wants to contribute to the pioneering work of this anthology in the ever-innovating genre of Creative Nonfiction. By submitting to Arts & Letters, you open yourself up to the possibility of nomination after publication!

If the American short story really came into its recognizable form around a hundred years ago, then the American essay has just started taking form the last 30 years. The Best American Essays has been at the helm of this development since the beginning (1986). The contemporary essay is carefully crafted, illuminating, and often uses natural language that appeals to a general audience.

The Best American Essays prefers fully-developed works which use form flexibly and intuitively—to the extent the content demands. Since today’s essay, as a genre, is still in its infancy, we see a high variety of form and voice and perspective. It’s an exciting time to be writing essays and The Best American Essays is consistently promoting a definition and creating a standard for what the essay is, what it accomplishes, and how it looks.