What's Your Genre?
During the Covid-19 years, when everything took place online, I participated in a fiction writing workshop sponsored by the Chattanooga Writers Guild and instructed by the award-winning Appalachian novelist Robert Gipe. An excerpt of one of his works appears in the anthology Writing Appalachia.
The event’s host introduced Mr. Gipe and asked us to introduce ourselves by stating our name and genre. When I said “freelance journalism,” the host interrupted and stated that I probably meant “literary journalism.” This host is a friend, and I suppose he felt that the word literary made me more credible. Out of sheer cussedness, I said, “No, it’s just journalism.”
I have wrestled with the word literary over the years. On any given day, my response to the word might be a defiant, “Not me and proud of the fact.” That was when I saw the comment as an elitist term. Now I am not sure what to make of it, except to say that I prefer the label literary nonfiction to creative nonfiction, primarily because I feel that the latter is ambiguous and may imply a lack of truth.
So far as literary journalism is concerned, I can’t bring a definition to mind, but an exemplary author stands out, and he is one of my favorites. John McPhee may not use the term literary journalism. In his book, Draft # 4, he says he writes long nonfiction. Viewing his encyclopedic feature articles in The New Yorker and his multitude of books, I have to agree. He is a master of the craft. I particularly liked an early work titled “The Pine Barrens.”
All of that is a long rabbit hole away from the fiction workshop. When the time to write arrived, I began a memoir piece. With embellishment, it became a short story titled “Family.” I don’t write much fiction, but “Family” appeared in the 2022 edition of The Mildred Haun Review, published online as a PDF by Walters State Community College. They have accepted a few of my poems for the 2023 edition.
I have two other short stories out to potential publishers, which, with the story “Family,” amounts to about a third of my output of fictional works. Fiction can be quite revealing of an author’s personality. When I read “Family” at the end of our workshop, another participant said something like, “That explains a lot.”
That may be why I have written so few fictional works and only a few that I would call literary nonfiction. Most of my writing is journalism, including book reviews, author profiles, and feature articles. I believe that all of those involve creativity, as does my poetry. My poetry has appeared in print, with only a smattering online. In future editions of Cranes Eye View, you will see more poetry and pieces written in a journalistic style. I have decided to emphasize what I do best.
Below is a link to the published version of “Family” and links to a few other published works. I will save links to stories published in the Hellbender Press and the Chattanooga Pulse for another time due to the volume of work.
My short story “Family” appeared in the 2022 edition of the Mildred Haun Review https://ws.edu/special-events/mildred-haun/review/#gsc.tab=0.
My essay, “How I Became a Poet,” appeared in the online literary magazine Waxing and Waning from April Gloaming Publishing. https://www.waxingandwaning.org/issue-11/how-i-became-a-poet-by-ray-zimmerman-_cnf_/.
I told the story of the Audubon Acres nature sanctuary in The Tennessee Conservationist: https://digital.tnconservationist.org/publication/?m=58294&i=725674&p=22&ver=html5.
My article about freshwater snorkeling in Appalachia appeared in Appalachian Voice. https://appvoices.org/2022/08/25/snorkelers-explore-appalachia/. An earlier version appears here: https://appvoices.org/2020/09/09/snorkel-appalachia-freshwater/.
My article about hawk migration also appeared in Appalachian Voice: https://appvoices.org/tag/hawk-count/.
My short story “Life After Writing” won an award from the Chattanooga Writers Guild and appears on their website https://chattanoogawritersguild.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/10-2020-ray-zimmerman-life-after-writing.pdf.
My poem “Hellbender” was recognized by Tennessee Magazine and appeared on their website: https://www.tnmagazine.org/poets-playground-nov-2020-winners/. It is the last poem since they put children’s poetry first and senior citizens last, following a series of other categories. You have to scroll down to see it.