Review of A Field Guide for Immersion Writing by Robin Hemley

Robin Hemley has written an excellent book on immersion writing, which he defines as ‘any kind of memoir, travel narrative, or journalistic piece in which the narrative is as much forward-looking as backward, and in which the writer is a part of the story being told’ (8). He writes with humour and passion and injects himself into the prose, thus making for a great example of what he is describing.

Hemley is the director of the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa, as well as author of fiction, non-fiction, memoir, essays and books on writing. His previous, now updated, book on writing is Turning Life Into Fiction.

He loosely classifies each form of immersion writing according to the subcategories of quest, experiment, investigation, reenactment and infiltration. He stresses that these subcategories are not equally important for each form. In a fairly straightforward manner, Hemley addresses each form of immersion writing in the three chapters after the introduction, followed by a chapter on ethical and legal considerations, and one on preparing a proposal.


Continued at M/C Reviews: Culture and the Media.