Creative Nonfiction

Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing that heavily makes use of figurative techniques to create narratives that are otherwise factually accurate. Creative nonfiction has also been known by other names, including but not limited to "belles lettres", "literature of fact", "literature of reality" and "verfabula". While both the flagship publication in the genre and the first MFA program in the genre used the name creative nonfiction, the origin of the name is unknown. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other non-fiction, such as academic, technical or journalistic writing, which are also rooted in accurate fact but not written to entertain based on prose style. Many writers view creative nonfiction as overlapping with the essay.