Fourth Genre

Fourth Genre: Twenty-Five Essays from Our First Twenty-Five Years is an anthology of outstanding creative nonfiction published since the journal’s first issue in 1999. Describing it as an anthology, though, feels too dry for this collection. Is it a mixtape, maybe? A literary festival or a potluck? A mosaic of voices, a tapestry, or an open mic? This volume includes essays on grief and guns, prayer and parenthood, fear and family, race and religion, hometowns and home cooking. It features stories from parents, teachers, scholars, activists, and artists, told in voices that represent white, Black, brown, gay, straight, transgender, and immigrant experiences. Ordinary people engaged in the extraordinary act of humble self-reflection, all wrestling with issues, big and small, trusting in the power of the personal to reveal essential truths about all of us. Each essay comes paired with writing prompts and a reflective note from the author that reveals their personal creative process, inviting readers to begin their own journeys of discovery. Whether you’re here to teach, learn, or just savor fine writing, this book will remind you that life, in all its strange, wonderful, heartbreaking, devastating beauty and trauma, is always worth writing about.