In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal

An exciting new anthology by the editors of the popular In Short, about which Publishers Weekly said: "Even readers skeptical of short-attention-span publishing will find these shorts addictive."

In their previous collection Judith Kitchen and Mary Paumier Jones coined the term "short" for those creative nonfiction pieces ― literary rather than informational, and characteristically short ― that are attracting our finest writers. Now, with a more introspective focus, this new collection emphasizes the personal as "a way of seeing the world, of expressing an interior life. It is intimate without being maudlin, it is private without being secret." From Harriet Doerr's recollection of a halcyon time to Josephine Jacobsen's reverie on memory, In Brief offers vivid glimpses into the ways experience can be shaped in language that is fresh and inventive. The seventy-two authors here include the known ― John McPhee, Cythia Ozick, James Salter ― as well as remarkable new writers. Essays (all under 2000 words) range from Frank McCourt's search for his father in the pubs of Limerick to William Maxwell's thoughts about growing old; from Charles Baxter's early experience of reading to Brady Udall's confession as a liar. Patricia Hampl recalls meals at her grandmother's house, while Jane Brox contemplates the meaning of bread. In each piece, imagination becomes a way to explore reality. The real world we are fortunate enough to live in is revealed as endlessly rich and deep.

• In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction
• Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction
• The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction: Advice and Essential Exercises from Respected Writers, Editors, and Teachers
• Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: Work from 1970 to the Present
• The Lifespan of a Fact
• Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction
• Take Ten: New 10-Minute Plays
• Art of Styling Sentences
• Tell It Slant, Second Edition
• Moyra Davey: Les Goddesses/Hemlock Forest