The theme for this month’s creative nonfiction pieces is external and internal navigation.
And I’ve found four writers who brilliantly map out that theme for us in all of its fascinating detours, wrong turns, and unexpected destinations.
Jacqueline C. Kelley, in “Pushing on the Boardwalk,” must not only navigate a new life with a spinal injury, but finds that she has to navigate her way through the attitudes of other people.
Mary Bast, in “A Long Way Down,” is not only trying to navigate a new relationship with the famous writer she has met, but is trying to navigate her way through his dense and contradictory personality.
And you’ll see that Jan Steckel, in “A Cooler Kitchen,” is not just navigating family meals, but navigating a lifetime of family relationships.
Finally, we have Katheryn Krotzer Laborde, who, in “Lost,” is navigating the landscape around her even as she navigates the landscape within. Like all of us, including the other wonderful writers featured this month, she’s a bit lost, but she just might find her way into a new understanding that can save her.