Exploring Genres The Personal Essay

Exploring Genres The Personal Essay Maybe its just me, but the personal essay seems to be having a moment. Leslie Jamisons The Empathy Exams is showing up on the New York Times Bestseller list, something few personal essay collections do. Or maybe Im just paying attention more. The personal essay is a form whose  definition is constantly shifting. My assumptions about what constitutes a personal essay in the past have always been very narrow, falling somewhere near the old college application essay tree. But Im starting to realize that the personal essay can encompass a whole lot more. Are feature articles  on Slate part of the genre? Can  a book-length memoir be part of the personal essay format? What about narrative nonfiction; is that synonymous with the personal essay? What about cultural critiques, like Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs? Those essays have a personal element to them. And is The Best American Essays series actually the best?  Can  the Personal Essay genre actually  be all of these things? The internet gods were  unhelpful when I tried to Google personal essay. I mostly got recommendations for college applicants. There are classes for learning how to write the personal essay and then how to sell said essay to a publication or two. But for someone like me who just wants to know more, the biggest question is this: Where do I start? I asked this question of my fellow Rioters and other bookterneters and received a few helpful suggestions: The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith I Just Lately Started Buying Wings: Missives from the Other Side of Silence  by Kim Dana Kupperman Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion These are great, but I want more. Ive always loved memoirs and I am always drawn to pieces I think are personal essays in magazines like The Atlantic. But if I ask for a definition, am I just limiting myself to the breadth of whats out there? So I ask again, Where do I start? Sign up for True Story to receive nonfiction news, new releases, and must-read forthcoming titles. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.