NonfictioNOW Conference

The NonfictioNOW Conference is a regular gathering of over 400 nonfiction writers, teachers, readers and students from around the world in an effort to explore the past, present, and future of nonfiction. NonfictioNOW is unique in being neither a conventional academic conference nor a writers’ festival, but rather a conversation among peers, from well-established writers and artists to those just starting out. Founded by Robin Hemley at the University of Iowa in 2005, conferences have since been staged in Melbourne, Australia, Flagstaff, USA, Reykjavik, Iceland, Phoenix, USA., and most recently, in December 2021, in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand.

The next NonfictioNOW will be held at Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA, from 11th-13th June 2025.

Panels and readings highlight the myriad forms of nonfiction, from the video essay and graphic essays, to the memoir, lyric essay, and literary journalism. They address topics of contemporary concern; the intertwining of politics and poetics, histories, bodies, influences and concepts. NonfictioNOW panels are typically lively, discursive, playful, and interactive events, as opposed to the reading of a succession of individual papers. Experimental and performative panel formats are welcomed. The growing success of NonfictioNOW highlights the great energy and interest in the art of nonfiction storytelling in all its forms, from literary and political essays and memoir to reality TV.

Past keynote speakers have included Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, Behrouz Boochani, Karl Ove Knausgård, Maggie Nelson, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Alison Bechdel, Rebecca Solnit, Wayne Koestenbaum, Pico Iyer, Margo Jefferson, Richard Rodriguez, Tim Flannery, Helen Garner, Ross McElwee, David Shields, and Philip Lopate among others.