Let’s Talk Memoir

Beth Kephart joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the crucial differences between a book of essays and a memoir in essays, choosing what to keep and what to cut, the gifts of nonlinear storytelling, the ethics of telling other people’s stories, allowing ourselves to find beauty in the seemingly ordinary, and her new craft book We Are the Words. -Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir Also in this episode: -Privacy in memoir -Remaining open and vulnerable as writers -Making meaning with experimental forms   Books mentioned in this episode: Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas The Circus Train by Judith Kitchen An Earlier LIfe by Brenda Miller Headcase: My Father, Alzheimer’s & Other Brainstorms by Alexis Orgera   Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of three-dozen books in multiple genres, an award-winning teacher, co-founder of Juncture Workshops, and a book artist. Her new books are Wife|Daughter|Self: A Memoir in Essays, We are the Words: The Master Memoir Class, and A Room of Your Own: A Story Inspired by Virginia Woolf's Famous Essay (with Julia Breckenreid, illustrator). She can be reached through bethkephartbooks.com, junctureworkshops.com, and her Etsy book shop, https://www.etsy.com/shop/BINDbyBIND   Connect with Beth Kephart: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beth.kephart Twitter: https://twitter.com/BethKephart Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethkephartnow/ Website: bethkephartbooks.com Juncture Workshops: junctureworkshops.com Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BINDbyBIND Beth Kephart’s next series of workshops can be found here: https://junctureworkshops.com/shop-4/#shop  We Are the Words can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/WE-ARE-WORDS-master-memoir/dp/B098K2JSBN/ –- Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Jamie Gehring joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her braided memoir Madman in the Woods which details her and her family’s experience living next to Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, how she incorporated and structured research, interviews, and her own memories, the challenge of organizing so much information, and why writers need to follow their instincts.   Also in this episode: -Not losing the reader -Getting it all onto the page -Intimate true crime as a genre   Books mentioned in this episode: ShadowMan: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of the FBI by Ron Franscell When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank Bookends by Zibby Owens Inside Passage by Keema Watrfield The Babysitter: My Summers with Serial Killer by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan Knocked Down by Aileen Weintraub Educated by Tara Westover The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story by Anne Rule The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich  You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie   Jamie Gehring is a Montana native who grew up sharing a backyard with Ted Kaczynski, the man widely known as the Unabomber. She was featured in Netflix’s Unabomber—In His Own Words where she discussed her family’s role in Ted’s capture.   Connect with Jamie: Website: www.jamiegehring.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiegehringauthor/ Books: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781635768169 -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Lily Dunn joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the impact her father leaving to follow the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had on her childhood, when she knew it was time to write her memoir Sins of the Father, stepping into her role as reflective narrator, creating tension, family members in our work, and understanding as a means to healing.   Also in this episode: -writing to find answers -our early experiences as shadows in our lives -staying true to your purpose    Books mentioned in this episode: Educated by Tara Westover Whip Smart by Meliss Febos Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest Busy Being Free by Emma Forrst   Lily Dunn writes fiction and nonfiction. Her literary memoir, Sins of My Father: A Daughter, A Cult, A Wild Unravelling is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (March 2022), and her novel, Shadowing the Sun, by Portobello Books (2007). She has personal essays in Granta, Litro, Hinterland, MIRonline and The Real Story, and is a regular writer for Aeon magazine. She is co-editor of A Wild and Precious Life: Recovery Anthology, with Zoe Gilbert (Unbound 2021). She teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University in the UK and co-runs London Lit Lab.    Connect with Lily: Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilydunnwriter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilydunnwriting/ Website: lilydunn.co.uk London Lit Lab: londonlitlab.co.uk UK Book Link: https://smarturl.it/SinsOfMyFatherHB US Book Link: https://geni.us/SinsOfMyFatherUS -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers  

Sonya Huber joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about structure and time in memoir, the challenge of getting to the core of who we are and facing ourselves on the page, how her perspective on “voice” has changed over time and why that drove her to write her new book Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto.   Also in this episode: -the power of shame to silence us -how “authentic” voice might not mean what we think -a writing exercise to help jumpstart your work   Books mentioned in this episode: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf The Mezzanine by Nicholas Baker Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by Jjames Agee Writers: Andrew Monson and Peter Elbow   Sonya Huber is the author of seven books, including the new guide, Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto, and the award-winning essay collection on chronic pain, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System. Her other books include Supremely Tiny Acts: A Memoir in a Day, Opa Nobody, Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir, and The Backwards Research Guide for Writers. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, and other outlets. She teaches at Fairfield University and in the Fairfield low-residency MFA program. Connect with Sonya: Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonyahuber Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonya.huber/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonyahuber/ Website: www.sonyahuber.com Sonya's books: https://bookshop.org/lists/sonya-huber-s-books -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Isidra Mencos joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about setting her coming-of-age memoir against the backdrop of Spain’s cultural upheaval after the death of Franco, balancing personal narrative with history and research, writing about sex, the destructive power of shame, and the decision to write about family secrets in her new memoir Promenade of Desire.   Also in this episode: -What to do about gaps in our memory when writing memoir -Trusting our instincts -Deciding what and what not to share   Books mentioned in this episode: The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr Lit by Mary Karr Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado Jesusland by Julia Scheeres Dry by Augusten Burroughs Girlhood by Melissa Febos the work of Melissa Febos the work of David Sedaris   Isidra Mencos was born and raised in Barcelona. She spent her twenties experimenting with the new freedoms afforded by the end of Franco’s dictatorship in Spain while immersing herself in books and dancing. She freelanced for prestigious publishing houses, traveled the world as a tour leader, and worked for the Olympic Committee. In 1992 she moved to the US to earn a Ph.D. in Spanish and Latin American contemporary literature at UC Berkeley, where she taught for twelve years. She also developed her own business as a writer and editor for Spanish-speaking media. After a 10-year stint in corporate America, managing teams in several countries, she quit her job in 2016 to dedicate herself to writing. Since then, her essays have been widely published in literary journals and general interest magazines, such as Chicago Quarterly Review, Front Porch Journal, The Huffington Post, Wisdom Well, and WIRED. One was listed as Notable in the Best American Essays Anthology. Today Isidra lives in Northern California with her husband and son.   Connect with Isidra: Website: https://isidramencos.com Personal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isidra.mencos Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsidraMencosAuthor/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isidramencos/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/isidramencos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isidramencos/   -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Melissa Gould joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how writing was a way back to herself after she became a widow unexpectedly and at a young age, making the jump from screenwriting to nonfiction, when she knew she had a memoir, and how she protected her daughter in her writing. Also in this episode: -Melissa’s experience leading workshops -how writing helps transform grief -what it’s like to have your book optioned for TV.   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Wild by Cheryl Strayed Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Educated by Tara Westover Maid by Stephanie Land   Melissa Gould’s memoir, Widowish, is an Amazon best seller and Editor's Pick for best memoir, a Goodreads Top Book of 2021, and has been named one of BookAuthority's 100 Best Grief Books of All Time!  Her essays have been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Hollywood Reporter, Buzzfeed and more. She is an award-winning screenwriter who has worked on shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy, Beverly Hills 90210, Party of Five, and Lizzie McGuire. Widowish is available wherever books are sold. Find Melissa at www.widowish.com and on Instagram at MelissaGould_Author. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Widowish-Memoir-Melissa-Gould/dp/1542018781/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Website link: www.widowish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissagould_author/   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Ellen Blum Barish joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about becoming a memoirist after a career as a journalist and how that deepened her love of writing, the power of working on smaller pieces as we craft our memoir, and finding the themes and structure in our story. Also in this episode: -Ellen’s Eight Essential Elements of Essay -Writing about the people we love -Knowing where to begin and where to end   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Inheritence by Dani Shapiro What Comes Next and How to Like It by Abigail Thomas  Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas One Hundred Names for Love Diane Ackerman Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Greely Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett     Ellen Blum Barish is the author of Seven Springs: A Memoir (Shanti Arts, 2021) and Views from the Home Office Window (Adams Street Publishing, 2007). You can find her work in Brevity’s Blog, Full Grown People, Literary Mama, Tablet and The Chicago Tribune. Many of her essays have aired on Chicago Public Radio and have been told on storytelling stages around Chicago. Ellen founded the literary publication Thread, which earned four notables in Best American Essays and has taught writing at Northwestern University where she earned a master’s in journalism. She works privately with writers and teaches writing workshops on essay collections and memoir. Seven Springs: A Memoir: http://www.shantiarts.co/uploads/files/abc/BARISH_SEVEN.html Seven Springs: A Memoir (audiobook on Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Seven-Springs-A-Memoir/dp/B09BDBM1FD/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Website: https://ellenblumbarish.com Coaching: https://ellenblumbarish.com/coaching/ Blog on Craft, Creativity & Commotion: https://ellenblumbarish.com/blog/ E-Guides “Writing Your Marker Story” & “Ellen’s Eight Essential Elements of Essay” https://ellenblumbarish.com/guides/ Upcoming Workshops: https://ellenblumbarish.com/workshops/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenblumbarish/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllenBlumBarish Twitter: LinkedIn:   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Christie Tate joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the ethics of writing about groups therapy and ex-boyfriends, navigating writing anxiety, becoming a full-time writer, and why she never leaves a page blank.   Also in this episode: -networking with other writers  -sex scenes -what it’s like to be picked for Reese Witherspoon’s book club   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Heavy by Kiese Laymon The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch Love and Trouble by Claire Dederer Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood BIOGRAPHY: Christie Tate is a writer and essayist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Carve Magazine, Cutbank, The New Ohio Review, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. Her debut memoir, Group-- How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life, was published in October 2020 and was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.   Connect with Christie: https://christietate.com/ https://www.instagram.com/christieotate/   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Jeannine Ouellette joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the power of literary constraints, why the how can be just as important as the what, writing about childhood sexual abuse, believing in your project when publishing gatekeepers don’t seem to, and why sad stories can make us happy,    Also in this episode: -poetic technique -mother wounds -finding your voice   Memoirs/Books mentioned in this episode: We the Animals by Justin Torres Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas Heavy by Kiese Laymon Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Alison Jeannine Ouellette’s memoir, The Part That Burns, was a 2021 Kirkus Best 100 Indie Book and a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award, with starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.  Her work appears widely in literary journals and anthologies, including Ms. Aligned: Women Writing About Men; Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives;  and Passed On: Daughters Write About Father Loss, Lack, and Legacy. She teaches through the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, The University of Minnesota, and Elephant Rock, a writing program she founded in 2012. She is working on her first novel.   Connect with Jeannine: https://www.jeannineouellette.com https://www.instagram.com/msjeannineouellette/ Essay on craft by Jeannine Ouellette in Cleaver:   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Debra Gwartney joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the difference between character and narrator in memoir, navigating writing about loved ones, why memoirists need to hold their own feet to the fire, and what question every memoir asks. -Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir  Also in this episode:  -memoir and essay recommendations -craft book suggestions -tips for avoiding common pitfalls when writing memoir   Memoirs/Work mentioned in this episode: The Sisters Antipodes by Jane Alison The Invention of Solitude by Paul Auster Borrowed Finery by Paula Fox Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick To Show and to Tell by Phillip Lopate "The Fourth State of Matter" by Jo Ann Beard "Thanksgiving in Mongolia" by Ariel Levy Authors mentioned: Melissa Febos, Eula Biss, Ann Carson, Claire Vaye Watkins, Ander Monson   Debra Gwartney is the author of two book-length memoirs, Live Through This, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and I Am a Stranger Here Myself, winner of the RiverTeeth Nonfiction Prize and the Willa Award for Nonfiction. Debra has published in such journals as Granta, The Sun, Tin House, American Scholar, The Normal School, Creative Nonfiction, Prairie Schooner, and others. She’s the 2018 winner of the Real Simple essay contest. She’s also a contributing editor at Poets & Writers magazine and received a Pushcart Prize in 2021 for her essay “Suffer Me to Pass,” from VQR. Debra is co-editor, along with her husband Barry Lopez, of Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape. She lives in Western Oregon.    Connect with Debra: https://www.facebook.com/writerdebragwartney/ http://www.debragwartney.com   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Let’s Talk Memoir is a podcast for memoir lovers, readers and writers, featuring interviews with memoirists about their writing process, their challenges, and what they’ve learned about sharing the most personal of narratives. Hosted by writer, speaker, and memoirist Ronit Plank, each episode of this limited series highlights different aspects of the memoir writing experience, writing tips, and inspiration.   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACKabout the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Steve Hoffman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about not getting sidetracked from the story you want to tell, the difference between accuracy and truth, coming to terms with who you are, how screenwriting classes improved his memoir, leaning into weaknesses and what we haven’t done well, writing sensorily about food and wine, learning how to tell a story, beyond beautiful prose, vulnerability and the process of changing, expanding our linguistic palates, immersing the reader vs. drowning them in description, embracing what is weird and singular about your life and sharing that on the page, new ways of seeing the same thing, mid-life self-acceptance, and his memoir A Season for That: Lost and Found in the  Other Southern France.   Also in this episode: -accepting our flaws and frailties -keeping forward propulsion in mind -deep reading   Books mentioned in this episode: My Father’s Glory by Marcel Pagnol Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G Wodehouse The Shipping News by Annie Proulx The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds   Steve Hoffman is a Minnesota tax preparer and food writer. His writing has won multiple national awards, including the 2019 James Beard M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. He has been published in Food & Wine, The Washington Post, and The Minneapolis Star Tribune, among others. He shares one acre on Turtle Lake, in Shoreview, Minnesota, with his wife, Mary Jo, their elderly and entitled puggle, and roughly 80,000 honeybees. Connect with Steve: Website: https://www.sjrhoffman.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sjrhoffman/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjrhoffmanwriter/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-hoffman-6761112/ Book Purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Season-That-Found-Southern-France/dp/0593240286 Press Kit with copy of book: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ziwgi8owbwaoxnvb7wctk/AJS8Fwk5NKHILGum6nnQ4t0?rlkey=xdhrgfmzqd4smh4ct3kxpen2l&st=0nmf301u&dl=0 Photos from our time in France: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ztxem7efsu10eggtxltv7/AAkjbYta2Svt7tSC7C_np24?rlkey=oglczi4nys1qi1ufb86j4szu4&st=srofkk02&dl=0 – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Newsletter sign-up: https://ronitplank.com/#signup   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Seth Lorinczi joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about going from a state of deep hiding to deep sharing, untangling the scars of the Holocaust and world wars through psychedelics, how ancestral trauma can warp relationships with the people we love, when your spouse is a character in your book, writing the truth and the fear of family betrayal, peeling back everything in his life and putting vulnerability into action, and his memoir Death Trip: A Post-Holocaust Psychedelic Memoir.   Also in this episode: -attunement -putting stories in context -protecting people who don’t want to be in our memoirs   Books mentioned in this episode: Scattered Ghosts Nick Farley Barley Fatherland by Burkhard Bilger Young Heroes of the Soviet Union by Alex Halberstadt   Seth Lorinczi’s writing appears in The Guardian, DoubleBlind, Narratively, Portland Monthly and other print anthologies and periodicals. "Death Trip: A Post-Holocaust Psychedelic Memoir" is his first book. In addition, he was a co-founder of “Judaism & The Psychedelic Renaissance,” a first-of-its-kind live event in Portland. Connect with Seth: Website: https://www.sethlorinczi.com/ www.spiralpathcollective.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sethlorinczi/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seth.lorinczi/ Link to Ronit’s Writer’s Digest article mentioned in this episode: https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-nonfiction/how-to-approach-friends-and-family-about-your-memoir   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Newsletter sign-up: https://ronitplank.com/#signup   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Naomi Cohn joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about becoming legally blind in mid-life and how that changed her writing process, going from poetry to lyric essay, falling in love with Braille, being sure something is done and also realizing there’s more, reading our work aloud, privacy and what’s ours to tell, the perceptual richness of having altered sight, tapping into our senses, Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process, nonlinear logic, writing in small chunks, being curious, trusted readers, and her new book The Braille Encyclopedia. Also in this episode: -prose poems  -tapping into the nonlinear -ableism   Books mentioned in this episode: What It Is by Lynda Barry Pain Woman Takes Your Keys by Sonya Huber Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado The Periodic Table by Primo Levi   Naomi Cohn, author of the debut memoir THE BRAILLE ENCYCLOPEDIA, is a writer and teaching artist who works with older adults and people living with disabilities. Her past includes a childhood among Chicago academics; art-making: editing Disclosure, a national publication on community organizing; involvement in a guerrilla feminist art collective; and work as an encyclopedia copy editor, community organizer, fundraiser, nonprofit consultant, and therapist. Red Dragonfly Press published her chapbook, Between Nectar & Eternity, in 2013. Her poetry and essays have also appeared in Baltimore Review, Hippocampus, Nimrod, Poetry and, Terrain, among other places. She makes her home in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Connect with Naomi: https://naomi-cohn.com/ Order Naomi’s Book: https://rosemetalpress.com/books/the-braille-encyclopedia/ Attend Naomi’s Reading Events: https://rosemetalpress.com/readings-events/ – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Newsletter sign-up: https://ronitplank.com/#signup   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Anne Pinkerton joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about processing the loss of her older brother David, how brothers and sisters get short shrift when it comes to grief in our culture, her Writing Through Loss workshops, disenfranchised grief, when family members are private people, owning our story, taking breaks, giving ourselves grace, and learning how to take care of ourselves when writing about grief, treating our characters with love and care, when family doesn’t read our memoirs, feeling protective of our own experience, and her memoir Were You Close? A Sister's Quest to Know the Brother She Lost.   Also in this episode: -bereavement writing group -how grief messes with our executive function -providing consolation for other grieving siblings   Books mentioned in this episode: The Empty Room by Elizabeth Davida Rayburn Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Wild by Cheryl Strayed  Into Thin Air by John Krakauer History of a Suicide by Jill Invisible Sisters Jessica Handler 100 Tricks Any Boy Can Do by Kim Stafford   Anne Pinkerton is the author of Were You Close? a sister's quest to know the brother she lost (Vine Leaves Press, 2023). Her essays and poems have appeared in the Boston Globe, Hippocampus Magazine, Modern Loss, “Beautiful Things” at River Teeth Journal, and Sunlight Press, among other publications, as well as the anthologies The Pandemic Midlife Crisis: Gen X Women on the Brink and Nothing Divine Dies: A Poetry Anthology About Nature. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from Bay Path University and pays the bills as a marketing communications professional.  Connect with Anne: Website: https://annepinkertonwriter.com/ Were You Close? https://annepinkertonwriter.com/the-book/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnePinkertonWriter Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/annepinkertonwriter TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@annepinkertonwriter   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Newsletter sign-up: https://ronitplank.com/#signup   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers