Powerful Profile

Creative writing professor visits war-torn Afghanistan
Jason Brown of UO creative writing

Jason Brown, of creative writing, is best known for short-story fiction centered on his childhood in rural Maine. But he believes too much of today’s fiction and nonfiction centers on the writer—an inward focus he also sees in college creative writing curriculum across the country. (Please see the full feature on Brown.)

Brown wants to turn the writing spotlight outward, toward real-life issues. He took a big step recently, when he and his sister braved suicide bombers and kidnappers to visit Afghanistan for research on their profile of an Afghani activist. The feature appeared in the online news website Salon.