Introduction – The importance of being earnest again: fact and fiction in contemporary narratives across media 1. The return of the ‘real’ in Ali Smith’s Artful (2012) and How to Be Both (2014) 2. Realism for the post-truth era: politics and storytelling in recent fiction and autobiography by Salman Rushdie 3. Reality beckons: metamodernist depthiness beyond panfictionality 4. ‘Just because it isn’t happening here, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening’: narrative, fictionality and reflexivity in humanitarian rhetoric 5. Fictional characters in a real world: unruly fictionalised encounters in Borat, The Ambassador, and the Yes Men’s media hoaxes 6. Changing dominants, changing features? The fiction/nonfiction distinction in contemporary literary and Instagram narratives