As in the past years, I’ll be conducting a workshop on long-form writing at the SAJA convention. This year, I intend to use a 1958 report on a stoning to death in Jeddah and, to contrast with it, a 2001 report from Afghanistan by John Sifton; a brief foray into the book-length essay from Hiroshima by John Hersey and then the long report on the tsunami aftermath by Barry Bearak. I also want to share a scene or two from Pankaj Mishra’s Butter Chicken in Ludhiana, and, in order to highlight the differences between a writer and a journalist presenting a shorter, and also straighter, report, take a close look at Somini Sengupta’s recent piece from Gurgaon. And, finally, an interview with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lawrence Wright.

Also check out Neiman Narrative Digest –for example, this piece that offers “six tips for crafting scenes.”