Literary Nonfiction

What is literary nonfiction? Literary nonfiction, also known as creative nonfiction, uses the literary techniques associated with fiction and poetry to give an account of actual events, people or places. These elements of literary technique include scene, narrative and dialogue. However, the "creative" element does not mean that facts are made up or adjusted for the purpose of story-telling.

Some might argue that the style of the writing is as important as the information being conveyed. Naturally, this literary approach lends itself better to some nonfiction sub-genres, such as travel writing and memoirs for example, but there are also excellent literary nonfiction books that cover science, sports, health and much more.

Are you new to nonfiction? This category of books could be a new and fun way for fiction lovers to delve into nonfiction topics.