The Science of Story: The Brain Behind Creative Nonfiction [Hardcover]

Bringing together a diverse range of writers,The Science of Storyis the first book to ask the question: what can contemporary brain science teach us about the art and craft of creative nonfiction writing? Drawing on the latest developments in cognitive neuroscience the book sheds new light on some of the most important elements of the writer's craft, from perspective and truth to emotion and metaphor.

The Science of Storyexplores such questions as:

? Why do humans tell stories?
? How do we remember and misremember our lives - and what does this mean for storytelling?
? What is the value of writing about trauma?
? How do stories make us laugh, or cry, make us angry or triumphant?

Contributors: Nancer Ballard, Mike Branch, Frank Bures, J.T. Bushnell, Katharine Coles, Christopher Cokinos, Alison Hawthorne Deming, David Lazar, Lawrence Lenhart, Alan Lightman, Dave Madden, Jessica Hendry Nelson, Richard Powers, Sean Prentiss, Julie Wittes Schlack, Valerie Sweeney Prince, Ira Sukrungruang, Nicole Walker, Wendy S. Walters, Marco Wilkinson, Amy Wright.

Sean Prentissis Associate Professor of English at Norwich University, USA. He is author ofFinding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave(2015), which won the National Outdoor Book Award for Biography/History. He is also co-editor ofThe Far Edges of the Fourth Genre(2014) and co-author (with Joe Wilkins) ofEnvironmental and Nature Writing: A Writer's Guide and Anthology(Bloomsbury, 2017).

Nicole Walkeris the author of the collectionsThe After-Normal: Brief, Alphabetical Essays on a Changing Planetfrom Rose Metal Press andSustainability: A Love Storyfrom Mad Creek Books. Her previous books includeWhere the Tiny Things Are, Egg,Micrograms, Quench Your Thirst with Salt,andThis Noisy Egg.She edited for Bloomsbury the essay collectionsSciencelӷ