Conservative writers? Who knew?
Mark Oppenheimer, whose work I enjoy at The New York Times, writes about a list his New Haven Review came up with. The top 20 non-fiction writers under 40. There are more than 20 in the list and they're not all under 40, but you get the idea. A commenter quickly noted something rather glaringly obvious: there are no conservatives on the list. No right-of-center folks at all. No libertarians that are easily identified as such. They're all the folks you might expect to see on a list comprised by an elite group of liberals. Some of them aren't even very good writers.
But when the commenter pointed out that there were no right-of-center folks, Oppenheimer responded:
In any event, how do YOU know none of them are right of center? Do you know the politics of all these writers? I don’t. Methinks you are assuming a lot. What do we know, for instance, about Fagone’s politics? He writes about extreme eating!
But anyway — do you have any suggestions for us? People who are primarily identified with the right but do interesting, elegant, long-form work? Send the suggestions our way!
How do you know? You know by looking at the list and seeing lots of liberals published in liberal mags and precisely no one who is known for being right-of-center or writing at right-of-center magazines. A better question would be, "How do you not know how narrow a list this is?"
Now, part of the problem is certainly that many of the places where long-form journalism is produced are openly hostile to conservatives and libertarians. You don't see very many right-of-center folks getting their work into the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker or Vanity Fair. And it's the same as if any other group of people were systematically excluded from publication -- their profile would be lowered.
I remember the first time an editor asked me to write a piece about a topic for which I could think of dozens of more qualified writers. He told me he wanted me -- and not them -- to write it because these other folks weren't going to be around forever. He wanted to cultivate me as a writer. There's something to be said for this type of mentoring.
Anyway, any list of Top 20 non-fiction writers that doesn't include the amazing Matt Labash is hard to take seriously. Particularly considering some of the folks who did make it on the list. But I think people trying to gather names for a less narrow list could look at many of the people writing for National Review, Reason, The Weekly Standard, First Things, In Character, the old Culture11, American Spectator and other conservative outlets.
So who are some of your favorite young non-fiction writers? Other than Labash, I'll throw out Laura Bramon Good, Jesse Walker, Cheryl Miller, Kathryn Mangu-Ward, and our own James Poulos.
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Comments :
Aug '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
How about our own Claire B as well?
Aug '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
Looks like a job for Breitbart .
Jul '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
Anne Applebaum
Sep '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
First, extra credit to Mr. Oppenheimer for working methinks into his response. Well played, sir. Second, I didn't recognize anyone on the list. Our course that could just be me. Methinks I need to get out more. Third, under 40, really? Nobody much under 40 can do much of anything anymore not involving skateboards. Labash may be under, but not by much, and he's a mutant cyborg anyway. If we use the 40 cutoff, Berlinski doesn't qualify, nor does Steyn, nor Lileks. And though Lowry looks about 14, I bet he's got a picture in his attic that would tell a different story.
Jul '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
Craig, methinks you need to edit Yer comment and add "Berlinski" to the list or there will be Claire to pay.
Sep '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
Good counsel, Jimmy Carter. And you can be damn sure that's the first time I ever said that.
Jul '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
Mollie, do you have a good definition of "long-form writing?" Are we talking 500 words? 5000? Or is it "know it when you see it" stuff?
Jul '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
Does Jonah Goldberg make it under the age cutoff? Or Byron York?
Sep '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
I don't think so.
Jul '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
Craig McLaughlin
I don't think so. · Oct 6 at 7:49pm
Close enough. Who cares what those outright ageists over at New Haven think anyway? I'll double down and nominate Amity Shlaes.
Sep '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
40 is the new 16. And Shlaes is younger than I am, so she's younggg!!!!
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
It's in the thousands -- nice long essays, magazine articles, books, etc. It's what most writers want to do and don't have time or opportunities for!
May '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
I'll say this: I did my damndest to publish smart conservatives and libertarians at Culture11, and I had a hell of a time getting submissions. I got a lot more submissions from apolitical folks and liberals. You'll find no bigger fan of James Poulos than me, but unless I am tragically missing some of his long form stuff, I don't think he writes enough of it to qualify (though I'd love that to change)!
Matt Labash should definitely be on the list if he is young enough. So should Kerry Howley and Graeme Wood, though I don't think either identify as being right-of-center. Cheryl Miller is indeed great, though I again doubt if she writes enough long form stuff to qualify.
I think one problem is that, outside The Weekly Standard, where they seem to have exceptional stylistic editors, there isn't really a right-leaning publication that polishes writer copy to the sheen one gets at New York, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Vanity Fare, or The New York Times Magazine. Setting aside the merit of the ideas, compare the quality of prose and structure at The Washington Monthly to National Review.
May '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
I'll definitely check out those other names you cite, Mollie. And the new Jonah Goldberg edited book includes some great longer essays by young conservatives. Ah, another one I remember, though I am blanking on her name: City Journal employs a very talented young staffer (or very regular contributor).
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
I was about to write, "I'm not under 40, so fair enough," until I saw this:
I therefore officially declare it a BOLSHEVIK OUTRAGE that I wasn't included. Although I suppose it could be worse. They could have included Mark Steyn.
Aug '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
I would suggest Carl Trueman who is a theologian first and foremost but is an astute observer of the American political scene. I think he is around 40. Here's a link to Reformation21 where he contributes.
Jul '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
Could you be thinking of Heather MacDonald? Or Nicole Gelinas? Both definitely belong on the list!
Jul '10
Re: Conservative writers? Who knew?
New Haven Update:
http://markoppenheimer.com/front-page/ten-reasons-men-like-making-top-ten-lists.html
They like Labash, Goldberg not so much.
Edited on Oct 9, 2010 at 10:56am