Craft Seminar: Ethically Unsound: On Trying and Likely Failing to De-sensationalize “True Crime” with Matthew Gavin Frank
Craft Seminar: Ethically Unsound: On Trying and Likely Failing to De-sensationalize “True Crime” with Matthew Gavin Frank
1 Session: Saturday, June 21
1:00-2:30pm ET
Matthew Gavin Frank
Matthew Gavin Frank is the author, most recently, of the nonfiction book, SUBMERSED: Wonder, Obsession, and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines, which has been described as "An exquisite, lyrical foray into the world of deep-sea divers, the obsession and madness that oceans inspire in us, and the story of submarine inventor Peter Madsen’s murder of journalist Kim Wall—a captivating blend of literary prose, science writing, and true crime." Frank is also the author of the nonfiction books Flight of the Diamond Smugglers, The Mad Feast, Preparing the Ghost, Pot Farm, and Barolo, as well as the poetry books The Morrow Plots, Warranty in Zulu, and Sagittarius Agitprop. His work has appeared in Harper's, The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, Guernica, The New Republic, Iowa Review, Salon, Conjunctions, The Believer, and the Best Travel Writing and Best Food Writing anthologies. He’s a professor of creative writing in the Masters of Fine Arts Program at Northern Michigan University, where he is also the Nonfiction/Hybrids Editor of the literary magazine, Passages North.
“In my forthcoming book, Submersed, I did not plan to write about a real-life murder. I wanted to engage the eccentric micro-community of DIY submersible enthusiasts, and to scratch at their obsessions and their actions for some kind of larger—if elusive or illusory—meaning; some kind of sly microcosmic comment on the human condition and on human longing. But, in my research, I kept bumping up against violence, misogyny, and murder. I couldn’t help but confront and interrogate the inflection points at which a sense of wonder sours into something more malign. When and why and how does the compulsion to sink to depth uncannily begin to dovetail with darker, more threatening traits? What is it with my own malign and fraught compulsion to sink to these depths, the ethics of inquiring into and interacting with—in book form and other art forms—real-life atrocity? This lecture will engage with my experience in navigating such questions while crafting Submersed, as well as with the voices of various writers and critics on the fraught nature of the “true crime” sub-genre of creative nonfiction. Q&A to follow.”
Workshop Highlights:
A frank discussion of the interaction between research and speculation in creative nonfiction, and the "true crime" sub-genre.
A behind-the-scenes breakdown of the author's research process.
An opportunity to ask the author anything about the lecture's themes, and/or about the writing and publishing process.
Matthew Gavin Frank is the author of five books of nonfiction, and three books of poetry. His most recent book of nonfiction is Flight of the Diamond Smugglers: A Tale of Pigeons, Obsession, and Greed Along Coastal South Africa (Liveright, 2022), an NPR Best Book of the Year and finalist for the Heartland Booksellers Award in Nonfiction. His next book is Submersed: Wonder, Obsession, and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines, to be published by Pantheon in June 2025.
His other works of nonfiction include The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour Through America’s Food ( Liveright, 2015), selected as a Staff Pick by The Paris Review, a Best Book of 2015 by Ploughshares, The Millions, and Paste Magazine, and featured in The Wall Street Journal, Saveur, and Entertainment Weekly, Preparing the Ghost: An Essay Concerning the Giant Squid and Its First Photographer (Liveright, 2014), a New York Times Editors' Choice, an NPR Notable Book, and a New Yorker Book to Watch Out For, Pot Farm (The University of Nebraska Press, 2012), and Barolo (The University of Nebraska Press, 2010). His poetry collections are The Morrow Plots (Black Lawrence Press, 2013), Warranty in Zulu (Barrow Street Press, 2010), and Sagittarius Agitprop (Black Lawrence Press, 2009).
His work appears widely in journals and magazines, including The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, Guernica, The New Republic, Iowa Review, Salon, Conjunctions, The Believer, The Normal School, The Best Travel Writing anthologies, The Best Food Writing anthologies, The Poetry Foundation, and as Notable selections in The Best American Essays anthologies.
