A Catalogue of Wings
Abstract
What does form do for the way creative nonfiction is read, and what effect does it have on our ability to express narrative truth? Many definitions of creative nonfiction have understood the genre as dedicated to communicating truth. However, contemporary writers of creative nonfiction often create narratives that bend the rules of genre. If nonfiction must express truth, then its very form must contribute to its believability. As some experiences or emotions may be true, but also fall outside of language, the way in which we write and understand truth cannot be so absolute, and the forms of creative nonfiction cannot be limited to one method. By researching and creating hybrid essays that experiment with form, this project explores what makes narrative truth, and whether formal decisions change the way something is true. This work builds upon previous work on the idea of hybrid genre and lyric essays. I approach the ideas of transformation and potentiality through experimental essay to see how form affects the understanding and expression of the truths of these ideas.
Subject
Aggie Creative CollectiveACC
Creative Writing
creative writing
hybridity
nonfiction
essay
brevity
catalogue
lyric essay
hybrid form
Citation
Seguin, Anna (2020). A Catalogue of Wings. Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /188434.