Donna Tallarico’s idea came from a group exercise during Wilkes University’s creative writing MFA program: Why not create an online journal for creative nonfiction, the publishing genre producing popular memoirs and compelling histories? It was all make-believe, but still, what would the journal be called?
“Where do memories form in the brain?” Tallarico thought. “The hippocampus. We can’t have memories without the hippocampus.”
That “silly brainstorm” of an idea followed Tallarico to the midstate, where she is integrated marketing manager at Elizabethtown College. In 2009, she bought the domain name hippocampusmagazine.com. In January 2011, she started accepting submissions. In May 2011, she launched the first edition of Hippocampus, adding a one-of-a-kind journal to central Pennsylvania’s burgeoning literary scene.
The nation’s few literary journals devoted exclusively to creative nonfiction – and they can be counted on one hand with a couple of fingers left over – are issued in print. Hippocampus combines blind-judged submissions with regular articles on the craft of writing creative nonfiction.
Which begs the question: What is creative nonfiction? Tallarico calls it “a true story told with literary elements that you find in fiction.”
“If you’re writing a memoir, it could read very much like a novel,” she said. “You’re still using character development and foreshadowing.”
At Penn State Harrisburg, Professor Jen Hirt – winner of a 2010 Pushcart Prize, very prestigious on creative nonfiction circles – defines creative nonfiction by comparing a newspaper story about a car crash to an account that factors in the accident’s emotional toll.
Creative nonfiction is “more engaging,” she said. “Many times, it’s confessional. You’re allowed inside the writer’s world in a way you’re not usually allowed in. It’s compassionate.”
Devoting a journal to creative nonfiction exclusively “reinforces that it’s a legitimate genre,” said Tallarico.
“Look at all the memoirs that are hugely popular today,” she said. “There are so many home runs out there – Nick Flynn’s memoir (“Another Bullshit Night in Suck City”) is being made into a movie (“Being Flynn”). My mentor’s book, ‘Riding in Cars with Boys,’ was made into a movie. We like real people because we can relate to it.”
When Hirt entered college, nonfiction received little attention as a genre or career choice, but now she’s teaching it, and her students’ writings are winning awards. Like Tallarico, Hirt said that a creative nonfiction-only journal “legitimizes” the field.
Now celebrating its one-year anniversary, Hippocampus draws submissions from around the world, running only about 15 pieces in each month’s edition. Its core staff – all unpaid – remains anchored in the Harrisburg area. Interviews editor Lori Myers, a Susquehanna Twp. writer, snagged a recent Q&A with Dinty Moore – not the canned stew maker, but a top CNF writer and editor. Mechanicsburg-based Ally Bishop is reviews editor.
“It’s just nice to have that personal touch and meet in person,” Tallarico said.
Creative nonfiction “doesn’t get enough credit,” said Tallarico. Hippocampus is a way to elevate its profile.
“People might not realize they’re reading creative nonfiction sometimes, but there’s really a place for it, and I’m glad to have a place in it,” she said.
For more information, visit hippocampusmagazine.com.
