My Academic Papers and Articles

Professional Liars and Truthmongers
Writers of fiction tell lies all the time. Yet somehow in the middle of all of these made-up scenarios some truths emerge. Fiction, with its habits and conventions that lead to shared understanding, is becoming a narrative style rather than remaining a genre and makes possible a different type of biography, a different way of describing history, and even a way of establishing what happened within the gaps that lie between the verifiable facts. This paper considers the process that takes place in creating this type of narrative, which tools are available for the writer and how these are used. This will be illustrated with excerpts from my own recently completed fictional biography. Some points from the current discussion of this type of practice will be explored and some new content will be introduced into that debate.

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