Jill Talbot

What’s Real and What’s Not: Gish Jen on Writing Between the Factual Lines In his poem, “Epilogue,” Robert Lowell rues the difficulty of making “something imagined/not recalled.” Famously autobiographical, he laments that sometimes everything I write with the threadbare a…

"I, likewise, have invented scenes that occurred long before my birth. I have filled in gaps in the record, 'remembered' things I could not remember, and here and there written what I liked for the sheer fun of writing it." — Gish Jen @lithub.com.web.brid.gy lithub.com/whats-real-a...

Promo image including author photo and text: introduction to the art of nonfiction, Starts Saturday, November 1, 2025, 11:00 AM-1:00 CST

Side of building with windows and doors and text: We'll read and discuss (and you'll experiment writing): the personal essay, the memoir, the portrait essay, the speculative essay, the ekphrastic essay

#writers: Interested in learning about different kinds of essays? Beginning November 1, join me each Saturday for 6 weeks. Information and registration here: writingworkshops.com/collections/... #essayists #cnf #amwriting 💻 🖊️ 📖

"Sometimes, we learn the meaning of words and it has nothing to do with dictionaries; the kinds of meanings we learn because we must live them."

"[H]e has become a shoebox of letters in the closet, on a shelf too high for me reach." — Allison Albino The Missouri Review

missourireview.com/albino/

Fay Sachpatzidis: Root Lady Fay Sachpatzidis is a writer and poet based in New York City. Her writing has appeared in Prairie Schooner, The Normal School, and Bodega Magazine, among other places.

"As we drove on, the miles slipping away beneath us, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there were things that lived in the spaces between what my mother told me and what she kept hidden." —Fay Sachpatzidis @baltimorereview.bsky.social
A fascinating essay baltimorereview.org/summer_2025/...

Katie Kitamura's Object of Desire A flea-market find unlocks something unexpected for the novelist.

"As it turns out, I prefer the doorknobs as useless objects, tucked into the back corner of a closet. I suppose at some point they’ll no longer speak to me, and I’ll set them out on the stoop for someone else to take." — Katie Kitamura @yalereview.bsky.social yalereview.org/article/kati...

So wonderful to read your writing again! I have missed it (well, new writing—I always return to your essays.)

The Art of the Impersonal Essay, by Zadie Smith In my experience, every kind of writing requires some kind of self-soothing Jedi mind trick, and, when it comes to essay composition, the rectangle is mine.

“I just want to think out loud about the things that matter most to me.” @zadiesmith.bsky.social @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

"In elementary school art class, we studied the color wheel and contour lines and Vincent van Gogh, which is perhaps where I got the idea that mental illness is a prerequisite of being a successful artist." New @gabemontesanti.bsky.social Essay Alert! @anmlymag.bsky.social anmly.org/ap40/gabe-mo...

Nonfiction Writing Course: 6-Week Workshop with Award-Winner Talbot Master creative nonfiction with acclaimed author Jill Talbot. 6-week online workshop covers memoir, essays & craft. Join award-winning writer's proven method.

November: I'm teaching an online survey course: the personal essay, the memoir/narrative essay, the portrait essay, the speculative essay, and the ekphrastic essay. Let's go! writingworkshops.com/collections/...

Copy of Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader on a table

Back cover with blurbs by Paul Lisicky, Sonja Livingston, and Jill Christman with Silverman author photo

Sue William Silverman's latest essay collection: Amazing. I knew it would be when I saw glowing blurbs by other amazing essayists: @paullisicky.bsky.social @jillchristman.bsky.social & Sonja Livingston. @univnebpress.bsky.social

Greyhound: A Memoir A Memoir

bookshop.org/p/books/grey...

Copy of Greyhound: A Memoir with vintage motel sign on cover

“Away from anything and everything familiar, I was where I wanted to be.” — Joanna Pocock gives us an immersive road narrative in conversation with other writers of the road, views from her past & present self, environmental geography & a celebration of the roadside motel. #ontheroad

Cover of So Heavy a Weight: Creative Writers on Women’s Reproductive Health featuring flowers in bloom or not

Moved & proud to be a part of this anthology with a collaborative essay with Marcia Aldrich along with an impressive list of contributors. With thanks to an extraordinary editor, Stephanie Vessely. Pre-order here: www.fulcrumbooks.com/product-page...

Copy of The Way We Weren’t: A Memoir (red balloon on cover)

Published 10 years ago today! softskull.com/books/the-wa... #memoir #books #singlemother #memoirinessays #motherdaughter #roadnarrative #home

The results of our 2025 contest are in--congratulations to our sonorous winners and finalists. We are so grateful to everyone who participated in our noisy contest. Across the din and babble, your sounds ring true. Thank you thank you <3

Mogan's The world is your oyster house

My friend, Liane Malinowski, has a wonderful guest essay in Jack Christian’s charming #Substack, Day Dates. I recommend both. open.substack.com/pub/daydates...

Copy of the memoir on a table. Cover includes a photo of the author and a photo of a landscape.

"I wish I could take my self off like a coat. Just for an hour. Just for an afternoon. I'll come back, I want to promise."

Longing. Even that word, the croon of it, the bay window of its soft o.

"I'd spent so much time. On the wrong things.:

I have so much admiration for (& experiential connections with) this memoir by Hala Alyan. A powerful memoir, but also a series of well-crafted, form-forward essays. And so much more. If you've ever waited & guarded your wanting. @simonandschuster.bsky.social www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ill-Te...

Today! The Lyric Essay | 4:00 EST Free registration: www.thepoetscorner.org/events/the-l...

Addiction Is a Story of Wanting Gone Awry - Electric Literature An excerpt from “I’ll Tell You When I’m Home” by Hala Alyan

Holy shit this is amazing writing. Hala Alyan @electricliterature.com electricliterature.com/an-excerpt-f...

In Defense of Despair The feeling is most commonly framed as an end point, a level of despondency that cannot be overcome. But it doesn’t have to be so.

"[W]e are all carrying a unique ache, or a unique memory, or a unique desire." — Hanif Abdurraqib @newyorker.com
www.newyorker.com/culture/essa...

Postcard from the chapbook

Postcard from the chapbook

Postcard from the chapbook

Cover of journal issue: "Hometown Heroes" by Nicholas Erker

So cool! A postcard chapbook in @newlettersmagazine.bsky.social by Courtney Kersten. Also available online: www.newletters.org/address-unkn...

The Last Year Check out The Last Year - <p>"The moments that change us, the ghosts that follow us, the memories that slow us down or keep us afloat - Jill Talbot has found the language for all of that. Talbot, a lo...

For Mothers—in every moment, in every phase, in every season. @wapress.bsky.social
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Experimental section of the essay with names of motels the way they appear on their respective signs

"I . . . write down the names of motels I pass, partly because they’ve devolved from Technicolor postcard destinations with mod geometric signs, to roadside slumps of peeling paint and mediocre marquee promises." @emdashphillips.bsky.social blackbird-archive.vcu.edu/v14n1/nonfic...

Driving Around Central Ohio in my Dad’s ’07 Chevy Listening to the CDs of my Youth; or, Put the Past Away; or, August and Everything After - The Kenyon Review Already have an account? Log in Join KR for even more to read. Sign up for a free account and read any five pieces a month. Sign Up and Read […]

"We’re all still here, with the windows down, suspended somewhere between then and now." — Melissa Faliveno @kenyonreview.bsky.social kenyonreview.org/piece/drivin...

Thank you! Always happy to join virtually in the future. Or to answer student questions via email. To longing!

Selfie with a filter

Having fun with #Prequel #retro #blueberry #photo #app

The Lyric Essay: Shapeshifters of Language — The Poets Corner “The lyric essay reminds me of lily pads slathered across the surface of a pond. . . . imagine my surprise when I learned lily pads were not merely floating atop the water but were actually tethered t...

Looking forward to discussing the lyric essay on Sunday, June 8. Registration open (it's free).

www.thepoetscorner.org/events/the-l...

The End of Roadside Attractions - The Paris Review “Is there a connection between dinosaurs and Jesus? When it comes to roadside attractions, the answer is yes!”

"Few people travel the back roads anymore, and highways are speckled with fast food and chain motels. Postcards and souvenirs are things of the past—no one wants a decorative spoon from every state." —Jane Stern @theparisreivew.bsky.social www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/04...

How to Write a Novel While Driving on the Sam Houston Tollway My first car was a used convertible, its ten-year-old soft top already pulling away from the frame, already not a good idea for rain. Where we lived, there was a driving curfew, the time of night m…

"I drove as far as I could west. I had a big cold drink in the cup holder and I felt like I was running after the sun, hoping to give myself a little longer in the light." Love this essay @literaryhub.bsky.social lithub.com/how-to-write...

Official USPS mailbox

I mailed postcards from the airport.