Creative nonfiction has become a major growth field in late 20th / early 21st century writing, as witnessed by the proliferation of outlets in print and online for informed (and otherwise) personal opinion pieces. Nonfiction occupies a significant place in many of the courses taught in the University of South Australia’s Professional Writing program. The inclusion of creative nonfiction both as an object of enquiry and as a topos for written practice in an English syllabus is of value in opening up “literature” in ways more in keeping with current thinking about the field, and not least because it re-validates “personal writing” – usually compartmentalised as “composition” – as a legitimate aspect of literary endeavour.