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Read the latest articles and view the most recent videos featuring Lee Gutkind.
April 3, 2024
Review: The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting by Lee Gutkind
I was struck then and am struck now, having read Gutkind’s book, by the notion that confessional writing is subversive.
March 11, 2024
The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting: How a Bunch of Rabble-Rousers, Outsiders, and Ne’er-do-wells Concocted Creative Nonfiction
“The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting . . . is often a graceful blend of memoir and history.”
February 12, 2024
Book Review: “The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting” — Punching for Respect
Over the years, Lee Gutkind has been one of the most persistent and impassioned voices making the case for the value of creative nonfiction.
January 27, 2024
No one knows what ‘creative nonfiction’ is. That’s what makes it great.
In ‘The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting,’ Lee Gutkind traces the fuzzy boundaries of a mysterious genre
January 27, 2024
Q&A with Lee Gutkind, 'Godfather' of Creative Nonfiction, on the Fine Line Between Truth and Fabrication
The author, professor and founder of “Creative Nonfiction” magazine talks about his latest book on the history of the genre, and pushing the limits of storytelling.
January 24, 2024
F*ck the Literary Establishment
How a bunch of rabble-rousers, outsiders and ne’er-do-wells concocted creative nonfiction and changed journalism forever.
January 23, 2024
How Nellie Bly and Other Trailblazing Women Wrote Creative Nonfiction Before It Was a Thing
Lee Gutkind on the Early Origins of a Very American Kind of Writing
December 13, 2021
The New Outliers: How Creative Nonfiction Became a Legitimate, Serious Genre
Lee Gutkind on the birth and surprising history of a different type of narrative form.
Originally published in Issue #76 of Creative Nonfiction, under the title “I’d Like to Thank the Academy.”
February 8, 2021
Lee Gutkind on Writing His Memoir, “My Last Eight Thousand Days”
“My memoir, ‘My Last Eight Thousand Days,’ published in October 2020, had been a work in progress for at least 10 years—just as my life had been a work in progress for 70-plus. I think of the book and the process of writing it, digging deeply into my life, as a bridge from the Lee I used to be to the Lee I am now—transformed. Writing the book helped me analyze my life and adjust to a more satisfying and realistic future.”
February 11, 2021
Review of My Last Eight Thousand Days Audiobook
“Gutkind made his name writing creative nonfiction, an offshoot of new journalism. After a lifetime of telling other people’s stories, MY LAST EIGHT THOUSAND DAYS is Gutkind’s look inward. Narrator Johnny Heller is the perfect voice for sharing Gutkind’s honest reflections…This is an engaging listen about looking back at life and accepting oneself.”
February 5, 2021
Seekers of Meaning
“On this week’s Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, author Lee Gutkind discusses his newest book, My Last Eight Thousand Days, An American Male in His Seventies, a look inward at his own experience with aging.”
Seekers of Meaning is a podcast and TV show by Jewish Sacred Aging, “a forum for the Jewish Community with resources and texts that feature discussions on the implications of the revolution in longevity for Baby Boomers and their families.”
December 18, 2020
Episode 233: Lee Gutkind on Magical Moments, the Rope Test, and ‘My Last Eight Thousand Days’
“Lee Gutkind (@LeeGutkind) has returned to the show after a long, long time, this time to talk about his wonderful new book My Last Eight Thousand Days: An American Male in His Seventies (University of Georgia Press).”
December 16, 2020
“It’s Hard to Know What You Really Know at Seventy:” TRR Reviews Lee Gutkind’s Memoir My Last Eight Thousand Days and Interviews the Author
“With refreshing honesty, Lee Gutkind’s book, My Last Eight-Thousand Days is an intimate and holistic look at his successes, his failures, and his vulnerabilities . . . infusing his language with candid, energetic comedy . . . this frank, humorous tone continues throughout the entire memoir, softening even the hardest of truths by tapping into those human idiosyncrasies that we all, in one way or another, share. More than solely a memoir about aging, it’s also a memoir about the importance of human connection, something that everyone, regardless of age, can relate to.”
November 23, 2020
The Age of Reflection
“After a lifetime spent writing about others, a Pitt alumnus hones in on his toughest subject yet: himself.”
November 18, 2020
On Media: Godfather of creative nonfiction publishes memoir, Trib calls out racism and Pittsburgh loses another Black reporter
“[My Last Eight-Thousand Days by Lee Gutkind] offers insights for people of all ages — inspiration for young journalists to follow their passions, and for older individuals to realize that they still can make meaningful change . . . Gutkind provides an enduring lesson about working on your passions no matter your age.”
November 17, 2020
Write On! Radio
Lee Gutkind on KFAI Twin Cities radio show Write On! Radio with Liz Olds for a short reading and discussion of his memoir My Last Eight Thousand Days.
November 12, 2020
Living Life Eight Thousand Days at a Time
The Live Long and Master Aging is “a podcast that explores the science and stories behind human longevity.” Lee joins podcast host Peter Bowes to talk about aging and his memoir My Last Eight Thousand Days.
November 12, 2020
'My Last Eight Thousand Days': Lee Gutkind Reflects On Living Life Meaningfully As An Older Man
Lee talks with Yvette Benavides from Texas Public Radio about My Last Eight Thousand Days.
November 6, 2020
NYIH Conversations: Lee Gutkind
Lee joins Robert Boynton for the New York Institute of Humanities podcast to discuss creative nonfiction and his memoir My Last Eight Thousand Days
November 3, 2020
Making "Masked” Friends During the Time of COVID
“I stepped out onto the street to allow the guy approaching me on the sidewalk six feet of safety, and said to him as he passed, ‘Were you able to see your grandchildren this weekend?’ He stopped and kind of rolled his eyes above his checkered mask and said: “I don’t have any grandchildren. I don’t even have any children.” And then we both realized what had happened. I had mistaken him for someone else I knew.”
October 29, 2020
Interview by Author Magazine Editor-in-Chief William Kenower
“Lee Gutkind, recognized by Vanity Fair as ‘the Godfather behind creative nonfiction,’ is the founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction, and editor of more than 25 books. He is Distinguished Writer-in-Residence in the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University and a professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication.”
Watch interview on Author2Author website
October 28, 2020
Lee Gutkind Episode #109
“Lee Gutkind is The Godfather behind creative nonfiction according to Vanity Fair and they’re right. His latest book is the intimate memoir entitled My Last Eight Thousand Days. He has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Good Morning America, and now, here on Drinks with Tony. I’m a lucky fella.”
October 27, 2020
Review: Lee Gutkind looks back and forward to his 'Last Eight Thousand Days'
“To hear Lee Gutkind tell it, his 40th birthday was a disaster, and his relationship with aging only deteriorated. His 70th was even worse, falling near-synchronously with the deaths of his beloved mother and his two closest friends, the breakup of a longtime romantic partnership and the disintegration of a book project he hoped would be his crowning achievement.”
October 20, 2020
Being a Good Model, However Old You Are
“As a matter of principle, and self-protection, I never discussed my age nor anyone else’s age, if I could help it, especially after I reached seventy. I did everything in my power to dodge these ‘How old are you?’ or ‘Do you realize how long ago that was?’ discussions that seem to come about more frequently as time passes.”
October 21, 2020
A Life In Progress: Writing My Last Eight-Thousand Days
“Lee Gutkind has played a singular role in shaping the world of creative nonfiction, as an author, as a teacher, as a public advocate for the genre, and by founding Creative Nonfiction magazine (and the many offshoots that form the Creative Nonfiction Foundation.) Though his best-known books over the years fall into the category of immersion journalism, his latest book, My Last Eight-Thousand Days: An American Male in His Seventies, tackles two acutely personal subjects, aging and death. I recently spoke with Lee about the book, the challenges of memoir, and how he turned his immersion skills around to focus on the self.”
October 9, 2020
Aging GrateFULLy podcast - My Last Eight Thousand Days with Lee Gutkind
Lee discusses aging and his new memoir My Last Eight Thousand Days with gerontologist Holley Kelley of the podcast “Aging GreatFULLy.” Listen on the show’s CTR Network website or wherever you get your podcasts.
October 6, 2020
ASU Professor Lee Gutkind reflects on life as a writer, the impact of aging
Lee Gutkind has made several costume changes in his life. The fatigues of the U.S. Coast Guard. The leather of a biker. The black T-shirt of a beatnik. The tweed of a college professor. But through it all, one thing has remained the same: He is a writer.
October 6, 2020
Pittsburgh Author Explores Aging in 'My Last Eight Thousand Days'
Lee Gutkind admits it, with a kind of relish: He used to lie about his age.
At some point in his late middle years, the author and creative-nonfiction guru started telling people who asked that he was “47.” He knew he looked, and was, rather older; he lied largely to confuse his questioners. Nonetheless, he was also truly self-conscious about his age.
October 1, 2020
Keeping Your Edge at 70
As usual, that morning, I was the first Starbucks customer. Six a.m. on the dot, when the lights went on and the doors unlocked. Since it had opened 31 years ago, I’d almost always been the first customer any morning I was in town. The baristas know what I want, a takeout venti dark roast, and usually have it ready or start pouring when I walk in the door. But that day, as I stood at the counter waiting, Tony the barista was taking longer than usual to fill my venti cup.
September 29, 2020
Lee Gutkind: The Godfather Behind Creative Nonfiction Takes on Memoir for the First Time
Dubbed the “Godfather behind creative nonfiction” by Vanity Fair Magazine, Lee Gutkind shares his first experience with memoir, what makes it different than his previous books, what writers can’t take back, and more!
September 14, 2020
Lee Gutkind, founder of journal Creative Nonfiction, takes a look within
Refusing to lose his identity, Lee Gutkind deep dives into literary subject: himself
August 31, 2020
The Risky Writing Life
It might seem that writers live pretty safe lives. Yes, there are some, mostly journalists, who immerse themselves in troubled and war-torn countries, and they can and do get hurt. But most of us who write sit at keyboards or notepads every day and create stuff—poems, plays, stories, essays—mostly from our heads.
August 20, 2020
I have always been kind of a loner. The coronavirus helped push me out of my shell
And then we both realized what had happened. I had mistaken him for someone else I knew.
The Godfather Speaks
A scathing article in Vanity Fair accused creative nonfiction writers, of memoir in particular, of “navel gazing.” Cultural critic James Wolcott reserved his sharpest words for an unsuspecting Lee Gutkind. He labeled Lee, with a healthy dose of sarcasm, “The Godfather behind creative nonfiction.”
What I Didn't Know: True Stories of Becoming a Teacher
Lee discusses how personal narratives can contribute to our understanding a profession, the writing process, and how the stories in What I Didn’t Know compare to those featured in his other works.
Story Behind the Design
Lee was guest co-editor, “The Story Behind the Design,” focusing on design and story for Innovation, the official publication of the Industrial Designers Society of America.
The How The Why: 171 – Lee Gutkind
Lee joins the podcast that documents the creative process and the creative purpose.
August 8, 2017
Episode 60: The Godfather of Creative Nonfiction
Brendan O’Meara interviews the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction.
February 6, 2013
Susan Orlean & Lee Gutkind in Conversation on Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend
A conversation on writing, reporting, and turning an idea into bestselling book.
June 21, 2011