‘We all have storytelling genes,’ Boston University journalism professor Caryl Rivers told a small group of professors and students in the Howard Thurman Center Wednesday.
Rivers monitored one of three panels for the ‘Journalism and History: Crossing the Boundaries’ conference, where panelists discussed various aspects of historical narrative writing, including the components of the research process and the difficulties of fostering reader interest in historical non-fiction works.
Rivers’ panel, ‘History Into Narrative,’ featured Jim Green, a professor of history and labor studies at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Vanessa Mobley, Broadway Books senior editor and Tim Weiner, a former New York Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize recipient.
Mobley said in today’s society, both journalism and book publishing are in dire straits. However, the historical narrative is where history and journalism converge, she said.
‘History is not in crisis,’ she said.
Historical narratives are often better received by readers if they are released at appropriate times, Green said. Green said he received an offer to write ‘Death of the Haymarket,’ a book about a late-1800s anarchist labor group in America, soon after Sept. 11.
‘Readers will want to get some historical perspective on acts of violence,’ Green said. ‘It was a chance to retell an old story for a new time.’
Green said he applied the idea of a ‘braided narrative’ to his book. He wove the knowledge he gained as a historian through the context of a narrative to appeal to readers, he said.
‘I had to find anything I could to try to bring these people alive,’ he said. ‘I had to imagine a little bit what they were like.’
Mobley also said much depends on whether the timing of a book’s release is right. She said that as an editor, she looks to publish story that are original and resonate with today’s readers.’
‘Book publishing is getting tougher,’ she said. ‘Sometimes, you just get very lucky.’
Weiner said readership hinges on the beginning of a work.
‘If you cannot get them engaged in the first 20 to 30 pages, it will not be read,’ he said.
Weiner said his book on CIA operations, ‘Legacy of Ashes,’ began from newspaper beat coverage. He said after Cold War documents became declassified in 2004, he finally had the sources he needed.
‘I knew I would be able to write a book that was on the record,’ he said.
Weiner also said primary sources are an integral part of the historical narrative genre.’
‘If there is a living witness, it can probably be found,’ he said. ‘You have to dig deep.”
The task of converting thousands of historical documents into a cohesive story is actually simple if one follows a deep chronology, Weiner said.
‘There is no logic like chronologic,’ he said.
Dublin City University journalism professor Helena Sheehan said she found the discussion of historical narratives very informative.
‘ ‘I don’t really get that much opportunity to talk about the foundations of it,’ Sheehan said. ‘I found it very enriching.’
Sheehan said most people do not realize how difficult it is to write a well-constructed narrative.
‘I just get a lot out of hearing people reflect,’ she said.