Yes, They're Real III: The Final Collection of Creative Nonfiction

Yes, They’re Real is a series of creative nonfiction shorts that concluded in 2012 at the University of North Florida. The four short stories penned by Sam Bilheimer, April Hutchinson, Heather Peters and Travis Wildes are linked together by each author’s perspective of what the genre can resemble and their personal vision of the journey that takes place while writing creative nonfiction. Experience the stories and answer the question for yourself, "Are they?"Excerpts from Yes, They’re Real III:I can fall in love with someone from them merely asking me the time. I will imagine an entire future between a complete stranger and me if she brushes her arm against mine and it seems even remotely intentional. The cashier at some fast food joint was super friendly to me this afternoon. I think I’m going to wear my green blazer to our son’s graduation. – What Is by Sam BilheimerTheir friends stopped calling, but left business cards on the tables of booths where they sat staring, kissing, laughing. They only stopped talking to mark their pages. They scribbled mad things in margins, threw scraps of paper into the air. They drowned the fallen pages in whiskey and set them on fire. – Memoirs and Matchsticks by April HutchinsonI have no words for Doug the Fatbeard, just braces and too much saliva filling my mouth. Doug only wants my money and I only want his product, but I shake his hand anyway and look around the room, awkwardly aware of my presence, and continue to smile my pleasantries at them, unsure of what to do next. This is my first time in a place like this and they both know it. – Comic Relief by Heather PetersWhat once was tangible will transmigrate with the passage of uncounted seconds, days, and years. This substance trails off into vapor; its brief equilibrium inevitably interrupted by terminal circumstance. A governing body that ignores the effects of gravity and oxygen, everything feels weightless and nothing is without breath. – Love Synthesizer by Travis Wildes