Creative Non-Fiction
When Truman Capote published his 1959 groundbreaking ‘non-fiction novel’ In Cold Blood, he pointed to an obvious inconvenience that came with the new literary territory: ‘The reporter, unlike the fantasist, has to deal with actual people who have real names’.
The high stakes of creative non-fiction – the fact that real people are affected – are the genre’s allure as well as its fundamental problem. Could anyone get away with a book like In Cold Blood today?
For this discussion, hosted by creative non-fiction author, editor and teacher Lee Kofman, we’re bringing together some stars of Australia’s creative non-fiction scene. Our panellists will discuss their own research and writing practices, their rules to write by and their heroes in the genre.
What defines creative non-fiction? How are attitudes towards creative non-fiction changing among writers, publishers and the reading public in Australia today? And do great works of this genre derive their energy from their authors’ ethical predicaments?
Featuring
Featuring
‘I am a feminist therefore I commit feminist acts. I’m not going to undermine the political importance of what I do.’ La Trobe University historian Professor Clare Wright has worked as an author, academic, political speechwriter, historical consultant, and radio and TV broadcaster. Her latest... Read more
Ramona Koval is a writer who has worked as a journalist and broadcaster. Her most recent books are A Letter to Layla: Travels to our Deep Past and Near Future, Bloodhound: Searching For My Father, and By the Book: A Reader’s Guide to Life (all published by Text). She was the editor of two volumes ... Read more
Kate Holden is the author of the memoirs In My Skin: A memoir and The Romantic: Italian nights and days. She wrote a long-running column for the Age and has published features, reviews, essays and short stories in all the major Australian journals and newspapers. Kate is a frequent contributor ... Read more
Dr Lee Kofman is a Russian-born, Israeli-Australian novelist, short story writer, essayist, memoirist and former academic based in Melbourne. She is the author of three fiction books (published in Israel in Hebrew) and the memoir The Dangerous Bride (Melbourne University Press 2014). Lee is also t... Read more
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