Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies
@assayjournal.bsky.social
Assay publishes the best critical, pedagogical, and craft-conversational work exploring everything #nonfiction
Posts by Jay Kibble and @karenbabine
Posts by Jay Kibble and @karenbabine
For Throwback Thursday we're spotlighting Ashley Espinoza's "A Las Mujeres: Hybrid Identities in Latina Memoir" from Assay 9.1. Espinoza examines Latina identity and how to hold & work with hybrid identity within memoir.
Read the full article here: buff.ly/LnEfzkW
#AssayJournal #ThrowbackThursday
Read the full article here: buff.ly/LnEfzkW
#AssayJournal #ThrowbackThursday
January 29, 2026 at 4:00 PM
For Throwback Thursday we're spotlighting Ashley Espinoza's "A Las Mujeres: Hybrid Identities in Latina Memoir" from Assay 9.1. Espinoza examines Latina identity and how to hold & work with hybrid identity within memoir.
Read the full article here: buff.ly/LnEfzkW
#AssayJournal #ThrowbackThursday
Read the full article here: buff.ly/LnEfzkW
#AssayJournal #ThrowbackThursday
Today, we're focusing on children and their often underestimated power. In Assay issue 9.2, Jeannine Ouellette explores why child narrators are uniquely effective in adult creative nonfiction.
Read Ouellette's article here: buff.ly/tUlStDu
#AssayJournal #ArticleSpotlights #Nonfiction
Read Ouellette's article here: buff.ly/tUlStDu
#AssayJournal #ArticleSpotlights #Nonfiction
January 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Today, we're focusing on children and their often underestimated power. In Assay issue 9.2, Jeannine Ouellette explores why child narrators are uniquely effective in adult creative nonfiction.
Read Ouellette's article here: buff.ly/tUlStDu
#AssayJournal #ArticleSpotlights #Nonfiction
Read Ouellette's article here: buff.ly/tUlStDu
#AssayJournal #ArticleSpotlights #Nonfiction
Today we're spotlighting Vivian Wagner's "Crafting Digression" from Assay 5.1. Wagner argues that gamification can lead to modes of digression that are novel and new for creatives. 🎮
Read the full interview here: buff.ly/Jd2pHUV
#AssayJournal #AssayInterviewProject #Interview #Gamification
Read the full interview here: buff.ly/Jd2pHUV
#AssayJournal #AssayInterviewProject #Interview #Gamification
January 27, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Today we're spotlighting Vivian Wagner's "Crafting Digression" from Assay 5.1. Wagner argues that gamification can lead to modes of digression that are novel and new for creatives. 🎮
Read the full interview here: buff.ly/Jd2pHUV
#AssayJournal #AssayInterviewProject #Interview #Gamification
Read the full interview here: buff.ly/Jd2pHUV
#AssayJournal #AssayInterviewProject #Interview #Gamification
Celebrate pedagogy this Monday with us by diving into D. Shane Combs's "Go Craft Yourself:
Conflict, Meaning, and Immediacies Through J. Cole’s 'Let Nas Down,'" where Cole's lyrics teach the difference between first impulses and crafted responses.
Read here: buff.ly/PbCkesv
#pedagogy #nonfiction
Conflict, Meaning, and Immediacies Through J. Cole’s 'Let Nas Down,'" where Cole's lyrics teach the difference between first impulses and crafted responses.
Read here: buff.ly/PbCkesv
#pedagogy #nonfiction
January 26, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Celebrate pedagogy this Monday with us by diving into D. Shane Combs's "Go Craft Yourself:
Conflict, Meaning, and Immediacies Through J. Cole’s 'Let Nas Down,'" where Cole's lyrics teach the difference between first impulses and crafted responses.
Read here: buff.ly/PbCkesv
#pedagogy #nonfiction
Conflict, Meaning, and Immediacies Through J. Cole’s 'Let Nas Down,'" where Cole's lyrics teach the difference between first impulses and crafted responses.
Read here: buff.ly/PbCkesv
#pedagogy #nonfiction
What compels people to make courageous decisions or take actions that are countercultural? Answer this question and more this Syllabi Sunday.
Read the full syllabus here: buff.ly/f4pWjIH
Photo by Mykhailo Amirdzhanian on Unsplash
#AssayJournal #Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #CNF
Read the full syllabus here: buff.ly/f4pWjIH
Photo by Mykhailo Amirdzhanian on Unsplash
#AssayJournal #Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #CNF
January 25, 2026 at 4:01 PM
What compels people to make courageous decisions or take actions that are countercultural? Answer this question and more this Syllabi Sunday.
Read the full syllabus here: buff.ly/f4pWjIH
Photo by Mykhailo Amirdzhanian on Unsplash
#AssayJournal #Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #CNF
Read the full syllabus here: buff.ly/f4pWjIH
Photo by Mykhailo Amirdzhanian on Unsplash
#AssayJournal #Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #CNF
The cold is biting but we are staying warm! Help Assay grow by submitting your work, and together we’ll nurture the voices that help others burn brighter.
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/gKWktDt
Photo by Martin Grazer on Unsplash
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/gKWktDt
Photo by Martin Grazer on Unsplash
Submit
Assay publishes the best peer-reviewed critical scholarship of creative nonfiction to provide a space for work that elevates the genre in an academic setting. While there is no shortage of craft...
buff.ly
January 24, 2026 at 10:38 PM
The cold is biting but we are staying warm! Help Assay grow by submitting your work, and together we’ll nurture the voices that help others burn brighter.
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/gKWktDt
Photo by Martin Grazer on Unsplash
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/gKWktDt
Photo by Martin Grazer on Unsplash
In solidarity with MN's Day of Truth and Freedom general strike scheduled for Friday, Jan 23, Assay's offices are closed. Normal hours resume Saturday. Our contributors are wonderfully diverse, & Assay would not thrive without their scholarship. We will always amplify your voices. #ICEOutMN
January 23, 2026 at 5:52 PM
In solidarity with MN's Day of Truth and Freedom general strike scheduled for Friday, Jan 23, Assay's offices are closed. Normal hours resume Saturday. Our contributors are wonderfully diverse, & Assay would not thrive without their scholarship. We will always amplify your voices. #ICEOutMN
We’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Anand Prahlad. Prahlad’s work When We Cease to Understand the World, explores his use of music, science, memoir, and cultural criticism to rethink how narrative and knowledge intersect.
Listen here:
buff.ly/DUW015Y
Listen here:
buff.ly/DUW015Y
December 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
We’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Anand Prahlad. Prahlad’s work When We Cease to Understand the World, explores his use of music, science, memoir, and cultural criticism to rethink how narrative and knowledge intersect.
Listen here:
buff.ly/DUW015Y
Listen here:
buff.ly/DUW015Y
We’re highlighting Kim Hensley Owens’s essay “Writing Health and Disability: Two Problem-Based Composition Assignments." Owens offers approaches for teaching writing about health and disability that center on lived experience, critical thinking, and ethical engagement.
Read here:
buff.ly/voPwaI6
Read here:
buff.ly/voPwaI6
December 15, 2025 at 4:02 PM
We’re highlighting Kim Hensley Owens’s essay “Writing Health and Disability: Two Problem-Based Composition Assignments." Owens offers approaches for teaching writing about health and disability that center on lived experience, critical thinking, and ethical engagement.
Read here:
buff.ly/voPwaI6
Read here:
buff.ly/voPwaI6
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a nonfiction as literature course from the Assay syllabi bank. Magazine Culture and the Modern American Essay by Professor Ned Stuckey-French.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/y44sd0g
#Syllabus#TeacherResources#FreeTeachingResources#Teaching#Pedagogy
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/y44sd0g
#Syllabus#TeacherResources#FreeTeachingResources#Teaching#Pedagogy
December 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a nonfiction as literature course from the Assay syllabi bank. Magazine Culture and the Modern American Essay by Professor Ned Stuckey-French.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/y44sd0g
#Syllabus#TeacherResources#FreeTeachingResources#Teaching#Pedagogy
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/y44sd0g
#Syllabus#TeacherResources#FreeTeachingResources#Teaching#Pedagogy
Tis the season to submit! 🎁❄️ Share your strongest nonfiction scholarship with Assay this winter. We can’t wait to read what you’ve been working on.
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/SKO12UV
#SubmissionsOpen #Pedagogy #Nonfiction #Interviews #TeachingResources
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/SKO12UV
#SubmissionsOpen #Pedagogy #Nonfiction #Interviews #TeachingResources
December 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Tis the season to submit! 🎁❄️ Share your strongest nonfiction scholarship with Assay this winter. We can’t wait to read what you’ve been working on.
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/SKO12UV
#SubmissionsOpen #Pedagogy #Nonfiction #Interviews #TeachingResources
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/SKO12UV
#SubmissionsOpen #Pedagogy #Nonfiction #Interviews #TeachingResources
Is your story written in the stars? If so, it might be the perfect fit for Sunspot Literary Journal’s Geminga writing contest. $100 prize for contest winners. Submissions close January 31st.
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/QjZAFuH
#SubmissionsOpen
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/QjZAFuH
#SubmissionsOpen
December 12, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Is your story written in the stars? If so, it might be the perfect fit for Sunspot Literary Journal’s Geminga writing contest. $100 prize for contest winners. Submissions close January 31st.
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/QjZAFuH
#SubmissionsOpen
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/QjZAFuH
#SubmissionsOpen
We’re revisiting George Estreich’s essay “Ross Gay’s Logics of Delight." Estreich reflects on how Gay’s practice of writing short “delight-essays” reveals joy as a radical gesture, showing that delight can be as urgent, complex, and political as sorrow.
Read the article here:
buff.ly/LfTb5Lg
#TBT
Read the article here:
buff.ly/LfTb5Lg
#TBT
December 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
We’re revisiting George Estreich’s essay “Ross Gay’s Logics of Delight." Estreich reflects on how Gay’s practice of writing short “delight-essays” reveals joy as a radical gesture, showing that delight can be as urgent, complex, and political as sorrow.
Read the article here:
buff.ly/LfTb5Lg
#TBT
Read the article here:
buff.ly/LfTb5Lg
#TBT
We’re shining a spotlight on Sarah Pape’s essay “Artistically Seeing: Visual Art & the Gestures of Creative Nonfiction." Pape explores how visual art and creative nonfiction intersect, showing how visual practices can reshape how we write and read nonfiction.
Read it here:
buff.ly/jGWRlyf
#Essay
Read it here:
buff.ly/jGWRlyf
#Essay
December 10, 2025 at 4:01 PM
We’re shining a spotlight on Sarah Pape’s essay “Artistically Seeing: Visual Art & the Gestures of Creative Nonfiction." Pape explores how visual art and creative nonfiction intersect, showing how visual practices can reshape how we write and read nonfiction.
Read it here:
buff.ly/jGWRlyf
#Essay
Read it here:
buff.ly/jGWRlyf
#Essay
This week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Sumana Roy. In the conversation, Roy reflects on her book How I Became a Tree, a genre-blending journey into nature, memory, and identity.
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/UuY04Lz
#Interview #Writer
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/UuY04Lz
#Interview #Writer
December 9, 2025 at 4:07 PM
This week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Sumana Roy. In the conversation, Roy reflects on her book How I Became a Tree, a genre-blending journey into nature, memory, and identity.
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/UuY04Lz
#Interview #Writer
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/UuY04Lz
#Interview #Writer
Let your ideas snow! ⛄️ Assay is open for submissions, and we’re looking for sharp, thoughtful nonfiction scholarship to brighten the winter months. We hope to see your submission in our inbox!
Submit your work here: buff.ly/SKO12UV
#SubmissionsOpen#Pedagogy#Nonfiction#Interviews#TeachingResources
Submit your work here: buff.ly/SKO12UV
#SubmissionsOpen#Pedagogy#Nonfiction#Interviews#TeachingResources
December 6, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Let your ideas snow! ⛄️ Assay is open for submissions, and we’re looking for sharp, thoughtful nonfiction scholarship to brighten the winter months. We hope to see your submission in our inbox!
Submit your work here: buff.ly/SKO12UV
#SubmissionsOpen#Pedagogy#Nonfiction#Interviews#TeachingResources
Submit your work here: buff.ly/SKO12UV
#SubmissionsOpen#Pedagogy#Nonfiction#Interviews#TeachingResources
Time is closing in! The Muleskinner Journal is closing submissions for their sixteenth journal on December 15th. Check out some of their guidelines below and visit their website to submit your work.
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/uk4zM20
#SubmitYourWork #SubmissionsOpen
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/uk4zM20
#SubmitYourWork #SubmissionsOpen
December 5, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Time is closing in! The Muleskinner Journal is closing submissions for their sixteenth journal on December 15th. Check out some of their guidelines below and visit their website to submit your work.
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/uk4zM20
#SubmitYourWork #SubmissionsOpen
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/uk4zM20
#SubmitYourWork #SubmissionsOpen
This Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Erin Fogarty Owen’s essay “How to Write Well About Death." Owen examines the craft of writing about death with honesty, care, and humility, arguing that confronting mortality head-on is essential for writers.
Read here:
buff.ly/OZjhRa2
#ThrowbackThursday
Read here:
buff.ly/OZjhRa2
#ThrowbackThursday
December 4, 2025 at 4:00 PM
This Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Erin Fogarty Owen’s essay “How to Write Well About Death." Owen examines the craft of writing about death with honesty, care, and humility, arguing that confronting mortality head-on is essential for writers.
Read here:
buff.ly/OZjhRa2
#ThrowbackThursday
Read here:
buff.ly/OZjhRa2
#ThrowbackThursday
This week we’re shining a spotlight on Jennifer Lang’s essay “When Worlds Collide: Writers Exploring Their Personal Narrative in Context” from Assay 3.2. Lang reflects on how personal life, family, and identity can’t be disentangled from global politics and history.
Read it here:
buff.ly/FlBc419
Read it here:
buff.ly/FlBc419
December 3, 2025 at 4:03 PM
This week we’re shining a spotlight on Jennifer Lang’s essay “When Worlds Collide: Writers Exploring Their Personal Narrative in Context” from Assay 3.2. Lang reflects on how personal life, family, and identity can’t be disentangled from global politics and history.
Read it here:
buff.ly/FlBc419
Read it here:
buff.ly/FlBc419
This week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Melanie Hoffert, conducted by Lisa Streckert. In this conversation, Hoffert reflects on writing her memoir Prairie Silence.
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/wPqI4lc
#Interview#CreativeNonfiction#Writer
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/wPqI4lc
#Interview#CreativeNonfiction#Writer
December 2, 2025 at 4:04 PM
This week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Melanie Hoffert, conducted by Lisa Streckert. In this conversation, Hoffert reflects on writing her memoir Prairie Silence.
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/wPqI4lc
#Interview#CreativeNonfiction#Writer
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/wPqI4lc
#Interview#CreativeNonfiction#Writer
This Pedagogy Monday, we’re highlighting Kozbi Simmons’s “Literacy as Emancipation.” Simmons argues that literacy isn’t just a skill, it’s a form of freedom, identity, and survival for colored students marginalized by traditional English curricula.
Read it here:
buff.ly/mMT1ACd
#Pedagogy
Read it here:
buff.ly/mMT1ACd
#Pedagogy
December 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
This Pedagogy Monday, we’re highlighting Kozbi Simmons’s “Literacy as Emancipation.” Simmons argues that literacy isn’t just a skill, it’s a form of freedom, identity, and survival for colored students marginalized by traditional English curricula.
Read it here:
buff.ly/mMT1ACd
#Pedagogy
Read it here:
buff.ly/mMT1ACd
#Pedagogy
Don’t forget about Assay this fall! We’re coming up on the perfect weather to stay indoors with a hot beverage and submit to literary journals. We hope to see your submission in our inbox!
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/rRryWpS
#SubmissionsOpen #LitMag
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/rRryWpS
#SubmissionsOpen #LitMag
November 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Don’t forget about Assay this fall! We’re coming up on the perfect weather to stay indoors with a hot beverage and submit to literary journals. We hope to see your submission in our inbox!
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/rRryWpS
#SubmissionsOpen #LitMag
View our full submission guidelines and submit your work here: buff.ly/rRryWpS
#SubmissionsOpen #LitMag
This Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Assay issue 1.1 with Ned Stuckey‑French’s essay “Our Queer Little Hybrid Thing.”
“The essay has also gotten lost under the big tent of terms..."
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/vmZg07o
#ThrowbackThursday #CreativeNonfiction #CreativeWriting #Queer
“The essay has also gotten lost under the big tent of terms..."
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/vmZg07o
#ThrowbackThursday #CreativeNonfiction #CreativeWriting #Queer
November 6, 2025 at 4:04 PM
This Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Assay issue 1.1 with Ned Stuckey‑French’s essay “Our Queer Little Hybrid Thing.”
“The essay has also gotten lost under the big tent of terms..."
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/vmZg07o
#ThrowbackThursday #CreativeNonfiction #CreativeWriting #Queer
“The essay has also gotten lost under the big tent of terms..."
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/vmZg07o
#ThrowbackThursday #CreativeNonfiction #CreativeWriting #Queer
This week we’re shining a spotlight on Ashley Anderson’s essay “Give Them Space: Memoir as a Site for Processing Readers’ Grief” from Assay issue 10.1.
“Grief is an experience that needs space..."
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/ndhvO4o
#Nonfiction#CreativeNonfiction#Grief#Memoir#Memory
“Grief is an experience that needs space..."
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/ndhvO4o
#Nonfiction#CreativeNonfiction#Grief#Memoir#Memory
November 5, 2025 at 4:01 PM
This week we’re shining a spotlight on Ashley Anderson’s essay “Give Them Space: Memoir as a Site for Processing Readers’ Grief” from Assay issue 10.1.
“Grief is an experience that needs space..."
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/ndhvO4o
#Nonfiction#CreativeNonfiction#Grief#Memoir#Memory
“Grief is an experience that needs space..."
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/ndhvO4o
#Nonfiction#CreativeNonfiction#Grief#Memoir#Memory
This week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Maggie Paxson.
“‘Who does what with whom?’ is a foundational question."
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/ODIIZKY
#Interview#NonfictionBooks#CreativeNonfiction#AuthorInterview#Anthropology#Narrative
“‘Who does what with whom?’ is a foundational question."
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/ODIIZKY
#Interview#NonfictionBooks#CreativeNonfiction#AuthorInterview#Anthropology#Narrative
November 4, 2025 at 4:30 PM
This week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Maggie Paxson.
“‘Who does what with whom?’ is a foundational question."
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/ODIIZKY
#Interview#NonfictionBooks#CreativeNonfiction#AuthorInterview#Anthropology#Narrative
“‘Who does what with whom?’ is a foundational question."
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/ODIIZKY
#Interview#NonfictionBooks#CreativeNonfiction#AuthorInterview#Anthropology#Narrative