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
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
We’re highlighting Jacqueline Doyle’s essay “Shuffling the Cards: I Think Back Through Judith Ortiz Cofer” from Assay issue 4.1. In this piece, Doyle invites educators to re-deal the deck of narrative inheritance.
Read more here:
buff.ly/PFjuHOJ
#Pedagogy #Nonfiction #TeacherResources
Read more here:
buff.ly/PFjuHOJ
#Pedagogy #Nonfiction #TeacherResources
November 3, 2025 at 4:04 PM
We’re highlighting Jacqueline Doyle’s essay “Shuffling the Cards: I Think Back Through Judith Ortiz Cofer” from Assay issue 4.1. In this piece, Doyle invites educators to re-deal the deck of narrative inheritance.
Read more here:
buff.ly/PFjuHOJ
#Pedagogy #Nonfiction #TeacherResources
Read more here:
buff.ly/PFjuHOJ
#Pedagogy #Nonfiction #TeacherResources
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a creative writing workshop course from the Assay syllabi bank. The Personal Essay by Professor Deborah Thompson.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/inHTi6l
#Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #FreeTeachingResources #CreativeNonfiction #Teaching
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/inHTi6l
#Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #FreeTeachingResources #CreativeNonfiction #Teaching
November 2, 2025 at 4:02 PM
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a creative writing workshop course from the Assay syllabi bank. The Personal Essay by Professor Deborah Thompson.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/inHTi6l
#Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #FreeTeachingResources #CreativeNonfiction #Teaching
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/inHTi6l
#Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #FreeTeachingResources #CreativeNonfiction #Teaching
As we close down spooky week, we want to remind you that Assay is open for submissions year round! We’re seeking essays, pedagogy, and conversations that engage deeply with the craft, history, and theory of nonfiction - spooky and non-spooky!
Submit your work here: buff.ly/8BXEzxI
#SubmissionsOpen
Submit your work here: buff.ly/8BXEzxI
#SubmissionsOpen
November 1, 2025 at 3:01 PM
As we close down spooky week, we want to remind you that Assay is open for submissions year round! We’re seeking essays, pedagogy, and conversations that engage deeply with the craft, history, and theory of nonfiction - spooky and non-spooky!
Submit your work here: buff.ly/8BXEzxI
#SubmissionsOpen
Submit your work here: buff.ly/8BXEzxI
#SubmissionsOpen
Quotidiana.org is back! We're so excited that this magnificent nonfiction is resource is back up and running--check it out this from Patrick Madden!
buff.ly/kaGI9k6
buff.ly/kaGI9k6
Quotidiana.org is back!
Good news for writers, readers, and teachers of creative nonfiction! Quotidiana.org, the online essay anthology, is back. If you’ve tried to access our essays in the past year or so, you likely have noticed an image-propagation problem, with our pages marred by repeating author photos in the background of the text, making things nigh unreadable. We’ve finally figured out the issue (degraded HTML that browsers no longer rendered correctly) and fixed the problem. Once more, you can read, assign, and enjoy Quotidiana.org’s essays! Woot!
assayjournal.wordpress.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Quotidiana.org is back! We're so excited that this magnificent nonfiction is resource is back up and running--check it out this from Patrick Madden!
buff.ly/kaGI9k6
buff.ly/kaGI9k6
For spooky week we’re highlighting a literary magazine with a scary short submission period! The Stinging Fly is getting ready to open for submissions starting November 4th and lasting only a short 2 weeks. Spooky!
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/ZkAQe9L
#SubmissionsOpen
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/ZkAQe9L
#SubmissionsOpen
October 31, 2025 at 3:07 PM
For spooky week we’re highlighting a literary magazine with a scary short submission period! The Stinging Fly is getting ready to open for submissions starting November 4th and lasting only a short 2 weeks. Spooky!
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/ZkAQe9L
#SubmissionsOpen
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/ZkAQe9L
#SubmissionsOpen
This spooky week Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Assay issue 7.1 with August Owens Grimm’s essay “Haunted Memoir.” In this piece, Grimm explores how memoir can become a form of ghost story.
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/Bdi5qtw
#ThrowbackThursday#Nonfiction#CreativeWriting#Spooky
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/Bdi5qtw
#ThrowbackThursday#Nonfiction#CreativeWriting#Spooky
October 30, 2025 at 3:02 PM
This spooky week Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Assay issue 7.1 with August Owens Grimm’s essay “Haunted Memoir.” In this piece, Grimm explores how memoir can become a form of ghost story.
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/Bdi5qtw
#ThrowbackThursday#Nonfiction#CreativeWriting#Spooky
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/Bdi5qtw
#ThrowbackThursday#Nonfiction#CreativeWriting#Spooky
This spooky week we’re shining a spotlight on Allison Ellis’s essay “Nonfiction Ghost Hunting” from Assay issue 8.1. In this piece, Ellis ventures into the eerie intersection of nonfiction and the supernatural.
Read it here:
buff.ly/ri1uKyn
#EssaysThatMatter #Nonfiction #GhostStories #Spooky
Read it here:
buff.ly/ri1uKyn
#EssaysThatMatter #Nonfiction #GhostStories #Spooky
October 29, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This spooky week we’re shining a spotlight on Allison Ellis’s essay “Nonfiction Ghost Hunting” from Assay issue 8.1. In this piece, Ellis ventures into the eerie intersection of nonfiction and the supernatural.
Read it here:
buff.ly/ri1uKyn
#EssaysThatMatter #Nonfiction #GhostStories #Spooky
Read it here:
buff.ly/ri1uKyn
#EssaysThatMatter #Nonfiction #GhostStories #Spooky
This spooky week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Gail Griffin. In this chilling conversation, Griffin delves into her book “The Events of October: Murder-Suicide on a Small Campus.”
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/Z0FNp97
#Interview
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/Z0FNp97
#Interview
October 28, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This spooky week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Gail Griffin. In this chilling conversation, Griffin delves into her book “The Events of October: Murder-Suicide on a Small Campus.”
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/Z0FNp97
#Interview
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/Z0FNp97
#Interview
This spooky week’s Pedagogy Monday we’re revisiting Wendy Ryden’s essay “Liminally True: Creative Nonfiction as Transformative Thirdspace” from Assay issue 6.1.
Read it here:
buff.ly/J56CR9o
#Pedagogy #Nonfiction #TeacherResources #FreeTeachingResources #SpookyWeek #LiminalSpace #Transformation
Read it here:
buff.ly/J56CR9o
#Pedagogy #Nonfiction #TeacherResources #FreeTeachingResources #SpookyWeek #LiminalSpace #Transformation
October 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This spooky week’s Pedagogy Monday we’re revisiting Wendy Ryden’s essay “Liminally True: Creative Nonfiction as Transformative Thirdspace” from Assay issue 6.1.
Read it here:
buff.ly/J56CR9o
#Pedagogy #Nonfiction #TeacherResources #FreeTeachingResources #SpookyWeek #LiminalSpace #Transformation
Read it here:
buff.ly/J56CR9o
#Pedagogy #Nonfiction #TeacherResources #FreeTeachingResources #SpookyWeek #LiminalSpace #Transformation
👻Today marks the first day of spooky week at Assay! 👻
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a Special Topics course from the Assay syllabi bank, an Honors Seminar with a theme of True Crime taught by Professor Amy Monticello.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/O6cHFzB
#Syllabus #ForTeachers
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a Special Topics course from the Assay syllabi bank, an Honors Seminar with a theme of True Crime taught by Professor Amy Monticello.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/O6cHFzB
#Syllabus #ForTeachers
October 26, 2025 at 3:02 PM
👻Today marks the first day of spooky week at Assay! 👻
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a Special Topics course from the Assay syllabi bank, an Honors Seminar with a theme of True Crime taught by Professor Amy Monticello.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/O6cHFzB
#Syllabus #ForTeachers
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a Special Topics course from the Assay syllabi bank, an Honors Seminar with a theme of True Crime taught by Professor Amy Monticello.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/O6cHFzB
#Syllabus #ForTeachers
Autumn is the season for reflection… and for sending out your best work! As the leaves turn, we invite you to share your essays in nonfiction with Assay. Let your words fall into place this season 😊
View our submission guidelines and submit here: buff.ly/7XsiSq4
#SubmissionsOpen
View our submission guidelines and submit here: buff.ly/7XsiSq4
#SubmissionsOpen
October 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Autumn is the season for reflection… and for sending out your best work! As the leaves turn, we invite you to share your essays in nonfiction with Assay. Let your words fall into place this season 😊
View our submission guidelines and submit here: buff.ly/7XsiSq4
#SubmissionsOpen
View our submission guidelines and submit here: buff.ly/7XsiSq4
#SubmissionsOpen
It’s getting down to the wire! Atlantic Northeast Literary Journal is closing submissions for their Winter issue on October 31st.
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/m7nxQwg
#SubmitYourWork #SubmissionsOpen #CreativeNonfiction #Nonfiction #AtlanticNortheast #LitMag #LitJournal
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/m7nxQwg
#SubmitYourWork #SubmissionsOpen #CreativeNonfiction #Nonfiction #AtlanticNortheast #LitMag #LitJournal
October 24, 2025 at 3:05 PM
It’s getting down to the wire! Atlantic Northeast Literary Journal is closing submissions for their Winter issue on October 31st.
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/m7nxQwg
#SubmitYourWork #SubmissionsOpen #CreativeNonfiction #Nonfiction #AtlanticNortheast #LitMag #LitJournal
Read their complete guidelines and submit here:
buff.ly/m7nxQwg
#SubmitYourWork #SubmissionsOpen #CreativeNonfiction #Nonfiction #AtlanticNortheast #LitMag #LitJournal
This Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Assay issue 2.2 with William Bradley’s conversation piece “On the Pleasure of Hazlitt.”
“But I have to be honest—I enjoy hating things that suck.”
Read it here:
buff.ly/EyTjj7T
#ThrowbackThursday #EssaysThatMatter #CreativeNonfiction #LitMag #Nonfiction
“But I have to be honest—I enjoy hating things that suck.”
Read it here:
buff.ly/EyTjj7T
#ThrowbackThursday #EssaysThatMatter #CreativeNonfiction #LitMag #Nonfiction
October 23, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This Throwback Thursday, we’re revisiting Assay issue 2.2 with William Bradley’s conversation piece “On the Pleasure of Hazlitt.”
“But I have to be honest—I enjoy hating things that suck.”
Read it here:
buff.ly/EyTjj7T
#ThrowbackThursday #EssaysThatMatter #CreativeNonfiction #LitMag #Nonfiction
“But I have to be honest—I enjoy hating things that suck.”
Read it here:
buff.ly/EyTjj7T
#ThrowbackThursday #EssaysThatMatter #CreativeNonfiction #LitMag #Nonfiction
This week we’re shining a spotlight on Joanna Eleftheriou’s essay “Is Genre Ever New? Theorizing the Lyric Essay in Its Historical Context” from Assay 4.1.
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/FK2JYCH
#Spotlights #EssaysThatMatter #Nonfiction #CreativeNonfiction #Genre #Narrative #Poetry #Prose
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/FK2JYCH
#Spotlights #EssaysThatMatter #Nonfiction #CreativeNonfiction #Genre #Narrative #Poetry #Prose
October 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
This week we’re shining a spotlight on Joanna Eleftheriou’s essay “Is Genre Ever New? Theorizing the Lyric Essay in Its Historical Context” from Assay 4.1.
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/FK2JYCH
#Spotlights #EssaysThatMatter #Nonfiction #CreativeNonfiction #Genre #Narrative #Poetry #Prose
Read the complete article here:
buff.ly/FK2JYCH
#Spotlights #EssaysThatMatter #Nonfiction #CreativeNonfiction #Genre #Narrative #Poetry #Prose
This week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Debra Monroe conducted by Heidi Czerwiec.
“I wanted an anthology that reflected the genre now."
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/Btp8hs0
#Interview #EssayBooks #CreativeNonfiction #Anthology #Writing
“I wanted an anthology that reflected the genre now."
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/Btp8hs0
#Interview #EssayBooks #CreativeNonfiction #Anthology #Writing
October 21, 2025 at 3:03 PM
This week we’re pulling from the Assay Interview Project archives with an interview of Debra Monroe conducted by Heidi Czerwiec.
“I wanted an anthology that reflected the genre now."
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/Btp8hs0
#Interview #EssayBooks #CreativeNonfiction #Anthology #Writing
“I wanted an anthology that reflected the genre now."
Read the complete interview here:
buff.ly/Btp8hs0
#Interview #EssayBooks #CreativeNonfiction #Anthology #Writing
This Pedagogy Monday we’re highlighting Freesia McKee’s “Where and How We Might Teach Hybrid: A Pedagogical Review of Kazim Ali’s Silver Road.” McKee examines how Ali’s hybrid work can inspire classrooms to blur the boundaries between genres.
Read more here:
buff.ly/8ldMxSH
#Pedagogy #LitMag
Read more here:
buff.ly/8ldMxSH
#Pedagogy #LitMag
October 20, 2025 at 3:17 PM
This Pedagogy Monday we’re highlighting Freesia McKee’s “Where and How We Might Teach Hybrid: A Pedagogical Review of Kazim Ali’s Silver Road.” McKee examines how Ali’s hybrid work can inspire classrooms to blur the boundaries between genres.
Read more here:
buff.ly/8ldMxSH
#Pedagogy #LitMag
Read more here:
buff.ly/8ldMxSH
#Pedagogy #LitMag
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a Literary Editing course from the Assay syllabi bank. Literary Editing and Publishing by Professor Dinty W. Moore.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/Yvzn3tl
#Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #FreeTeachingResources #CreativeNonfiction #Pedagogy
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/Yvzn3tl
#Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #FreeTeachingResources #CreativeNonfiction #Pedagogy
October 19, 2025 at 3:01 PM
This Syllabus Sunday we are highlighting a Literary Editing course from the Assay syllabi bank. Literary Editing and Publishing by Professor Dinty W. Moore.
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/Yvzn3tl
#Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #FreeTeachingResources #CreativeNonfiction #Pedagogy
Read the full syllabus here:
buff.ly/Yvzn3tl
#Syllabus #TeacherResources #LessonPlans #FreeTeachingResources #CreativeNonfiction #Pedagogy
As the semester settles in and the air turns crisp, it’s the perfect time to submit to Assay! We’re seeking essays, pedagogy, and conversations that engage deeply with the craft, history, and theory of nonfiction.
Submit your work here: buff.ly/7XsiSq4
#SubmissionsOpen
Submit your work here: buff.ly/7XsiSq4
#SubmissionsOpen
October 18, 2025 at 3:02 PM
As the semester settles in and the air turns crisp, it’s the perfect time to submit to Assay! We’re seeking essays, pedagogy, and conversations that engage deeply with the craft, history, and theory of nonfiction.
Submit your work here: buff.ly/7XsiSq4
#SubmissionsOpen
Submit your work here: buff.ly/7XsiSq4
#SubmissionsOpen
In our final piece of Assay 12.1, Molly Tompkins interviews Margaret Juhae Lee on her memoir Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, which unearths her grandfather’s imprisonment during Japan’s occupation of Korea.
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/HNVu6HH
#LitMag #Interview
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/HNVu6HH
#LitMag #Interview
October 17, 2025 at 3:04 PM
In our final piece of Assay 12.1, Molly Tompkins interviews Margaret Juhae Lee on her memoir Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, which unearths her grandfather’s imprisonment during Japan’s occupation of Korea.
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/HNVu6HH
#LitMag #Interview
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/HNVu6HH
#LitMag #Interview
The final article in Assay 12.1, Jeff Porter’s essay “The History and Poetics of the Essay” traces how the essay’s shape has morphed across eras and how its tension between freedom and constraint makes it unique.
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/PsNx8uS
#EssaysThatMatter #LitMag
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/PsNx8uS
#EssaysThatMatter #LitMag
October 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The final article in Assay 12.1, Jeff Porter’s essay “The History and Poetics of the Essay” traces how the essay’s shape has morphed across eras and how its tension between freedom and constraint makes it unique.
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/PsNx8uS
#EssaysThatMatter #LitMag
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/PsNx8uS
#EssaysThatMatter #LitMag
Our second Pedagogy piece in Assay 12.1, Jessica Handler’s essay “On Teaching Adrienne Rich” reflects on the possibilities and challenges of teaching a poet and activist whose work centers on power, identity, and resistance.
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/vyP0EoU
#Pedagogy
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/vyP0EoU
#Pedagogy
October 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Our second Pedagogy piece in Assay 12.1, Jessica Handler’s essay “On Teaching Adrienne Rich” reflects on the possibilities and challenges of teaching a poet and activist whose work centers on power, identity, and resistance.
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/vyP0EoU
#Pedagogy
Read it here or visit the link in our bio:
buff.ly/vyP0EoU
#Pedagogy