First Person

Why Humans Write

May 12, 2023

Essay by Martha Nichols

The engineering mindset of AI researchers is so different from my own that the media coverage of AI to date has left me feeling alone, stuck in an alternate universe.

Why I Write, Media Debate, First Person | Read More

No One Is Coming to Save Us (Except Us)

Jun 28, 2022

A Call to Action by Martha Nichols

Don’t let the Court’s decision to overturn Roe—or the findings of the January 6 hearings—or the continuing disaster of climate change—make you give up.

Media Debate, First Person, Journalism | Read More

Dreams of Escape

May 04, 2020

Essay by Martha Nichols

Humor is a go-to defense in our family when things go wrong, but so much is wrong now.

Grief, First Person, Transitions | Read More

Remembering Michael Steinberg (1940–2019)

Dec 19, 2019

Essay by Martha Nichols

He loved self-reflection—the way memory, personal changes over time, and reality can come together to conjure a place far beyond documentation.

Authors, First Person, About Memoir | Read More

Editor Talk: Martha Nichols

Nov 26, 2018

A Conversation with TW's Editor in Chief

Creative people are always juggling a lot of things—always. That's the nature of creativity.

TW Video, First Person, Editors | Read More

My Favorite Misfit: Ursula K. Le Guin

Apr 30, 2018

Essay by Martha Nichols

Rather than walking the road back to my teenage obsession with science fiction, I’ve realized what I owe her as a journalist and teacher.

Authors, Science and Society, First Person | Read More

Free Speech and Grassroots Writing

Feb 06, 2017

TW Column by Martha Nichols

I sometimes forget that the most effective creative writing has nothing to do with schooling or publishing.

Media Debate, Diversity, First Person | Read More

Dear Gretchen Carlson, Formerly of Fox News

Sep 05, 2016

Open Letter by Martha Nichols

When I read liberal commenters damning you with faint praise, I see ugly attitudes about women exposed.

Media Debate, Diversity, First Person, Open Letters | Read More

How I Became a First-Person Journalist

Mar 21, 2016

TW Column by Martha Nichols

In literary circles, nonfiction writing is often called everything but journalism.

Media Debate, First Person, Journalism | Read More

The Case of the Disappearing Editor

Jun 15, 2015

TW Column by Martha Nichols

In the battle over submission fees, what troubles me most is the idea that writers do everything and editors do nothing.

Media Debate, Money, First Person | Read More

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