Hanging out at orgies with people who smuggle lizards in their pants. Befriending a convict with an Anne Frank tattoo. Doing drugs with a source. You never know what you’ll hear about – or which writers will surprise you – when you go to Texas for the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference.
Immersion journalism was the theme of this [...]
Tag Archives: Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference
Robert Caro, Stacy Schiff, Diane Ackerman and more: narrative conferences and workshops in 2011
January 20, 2011 – 11:53 am
Was one of your resolutions in 2011 to become a better storyteller? If so, here are a few conferences and workshops slated for the coming months that can probably teach you a thing or two. These sessions range from one-day conferences to week-long writing intensives, and none of them are free (they range from less [...]
Vanity Fair’s Bryan Burrough on writing narrative: “people are dying to put down your article”
August 6, 2010 – 12:45 am
In what might be the only performance of Texas stand-up comedy about narrative writing, Vanity Fair writer Bryan Burrough recently offered practical tips for long-form storytelling to a Mayborn Conference audience. Prior to his magazine career, Burrough spent several years reporting for The Wall Street Journal; he has also written five books, including “Public Enemies” [...]
Gary Smith on intimacy and connecting with subjects: “Any uneasiness you bring is going to cost you dearly”
August 2, 2010 – 4:29 pm
On the last day of the Mayborn Conference, Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith read from and discussed “Shadow of a Nation,” his 1991 story about a Crow basketball player named Jonathan Takes Enemy. Smith has been at Sports Illustrated for nearly two decades, winning more National Magazine Awards than any other writer. He’s known for his [...]
Mark Bowden on discovering narrative and the value of beginner’s mind: “only if you are truly ignorant can you ask the truly ignorant question”
July 30, 2010 – 12:28 pm
Next up in our series of highlights from last weekend’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference is Mark Bowden. Author of “Black Hawk Down” and a former reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bowden has been a nonfiction writer in one form or another for 35 years. In these excerpts from his keynote address, he talks about the [...]
Mary Karr on truth: “the least of my problems as a memoirist, as a writer, is getting my facts right”
July 28, 2010 – 3:23 pm
Author Mary Karr showed up Friday in Grapevine, Texas, in the middle of a thunderstorm to talk about telling the truth. The first keynote speaker at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, Karr addressed an after-dinner crowd of hundreds. Best known for “The Liars’ Club,” “Cherry” and “Lit,” she is also a Pushcart Prize-winning poet and [...]
Narrative tips for nonfiction writers: more from the 2010 Mayborn Conference
July 28, 2010 – 11:18 am
I recently led a writing workshop at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, and talked to students about finding the meaning in their stories and going deep – while at the same time writing in a simple and clear way. Here are some tips.
FINDING THE STORY
Every story has its surface-level meaning. Let’s say the surface story [...]
Meanwhile back at the ranch: The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference and a trip to Larry McMurtry’s private library
July 26, 2010 – 3:59 pm
Heading northwest out of Dallas before morning rush hour, glass and concrete slip away to nothing but shrubs, scattered trees and long, low rises that are not so much hills as the memory of hills. After nearly three hours and an impressive number of cows, the landscape resolves into a crossroads called Archer City, where [...]
Narrative nonfiction events and conferences–is there something here for you?
February 22, 2010 – 1:54 pm
While tracking digital narrative experiments, we at Storyboard also aim to keep readers informed about the world of traditional print narratives. Today we’ve compiled a list of upcoming events for fans who want to hear from classic storytellers or learn elements of craft. Here are just a few of the opportunities available, in chronological order:
The Society of [...]
