November/December 2009
(Narrative Matters essays in recent "best of" collections; Nieman Foundation blogs about Narrative Matters; New monthly format starting in January 2010)

Narrative Matters essays in recent "best-of" collections

• The Best American Medical Writing 2009 is the first in a new series from by Kaplan Publishing. The inaugural edition, consisting of 23 essays, was edited by liver transplant surgeon and author Pauline Chen (herself a Narrative Matters author). The collection features pieces from the New Yorker, Newsweek, Harper’s, the New York Times, and two--yes, two--pieces from Narrative Matters: a split-voice narrative by Julie R. Rosenbaum titled "Duality" and Alok A. Khorana’s "Disorientation."
  
  
• The Best American Essays 2009, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, includes a listing of "Notable Essays." The yearly publication, which has been a staple in bookstores and nonfiction writing courses since 1986, invites a different guest editor to select a group of best essays each year (for the 2009 edition it was Mary Oliver), with series editor, Robert Atwan, also selecting a prestigious list of notable essays written in all fields and from all across the United States. This year, his "Notable Essays of 2008" included Anjali Jain’s Narrative Matters essay titled "Crossing the Atlantic."

Nieman Foundation blogs about Narrative Matters

• Nieman Storyboard is a project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard that looks at how storytelling works in various media. In October 2009 the blog focused on the personal essays published in the Narrative Matters section of Health Affairs. The post described Narrative Matters essays as ranging "from well-done to riveting." (http://niemanstoryboard.us/2009/10/08/the-best-kept-secret-on-medical-narratives/)

New monthly format starting in January 2010

• Previously published six times a year, as of January 2010 Health Affairs--and Narrative Matters--will begin monthly publication.  

July/Aug 2009 (Turning Ten:  The Top 10 “Most Read” Narrative Matters Essays)

May/June 2009 (Podcasts of Narrative Matters essays being recorded; Information flyer about Narrative Matters)

March/April 2009 (Jerald Winakur's Book Published; NPR Commentaries From Narrative Matters Essays By Nataly Kelly And Janette Kurie; To Date Four Narrative Matters Essays Have Become NPR Commentaries)