Let’s Talk Memoir: Recent Episodes
Ronit Plank
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, and offers writing tips and inspiration.
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
Nicole Walker joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how we talk about current traumas and past traumas in ways that don’t retraumatize us, making our work matter to others, giving ourselves agency over the hard stuff we’re writing about, conveying interiority and emotion, making our experience fundamental to our writing process, exploring our stories through research, asking readers not to look away, disassociation vs distance, metaphors as entry points for readers, experimenting with the speculative, becoming more expansive, and her new book Writing the Hard Stuff.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
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revising life paths
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encapsulating our experience
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the narrator voice and perspective in our work
Books mentioned in this episode:
Constellation of Ghosts: A Speculative Memoir with Ravens by Laraine Herring
Frontier: A Memoir and a Ghost Story by Erica Stern
A Braided Heart: Essays on Writing and Form by Brenda Miller
How to Plant a Billion Trees by Nicole Walker
NICOLE WALKER is the author of several books including How to Plant a Billion Trees and Writing the Hard Stuff. She has written pieces for The New York Times and is a noted author in several editions of Best American Essays. She edits Crux, the literary nonfiction series at University of Georgia Press and teaches creative writing at Northern Arizona University where she serves as Writer-in-Residence for the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society.
Connect with Nicole:
Website: nikwalk.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.walker.18041 @nikwalk.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikwalker28/ https://nikwalk.substack.com/
Purchase Book:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/writing-the-hard-stuff-9781350518650/
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/how-to-plant-a-billion-trees-9798216278894/
- Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
D/Annie Liontas joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about suffering 3 brain injuries in one year and how that changed their relationship to their body and to the world, post-concussive syndrome, how science is delayed around all things female body, gender and selfhood, being a reluctant nonfiction writer and how memoir was the last thing on their mind, understanding the external and internal forces that we have to reckon with to live, the narratives around women and queer people, interrogating our own patterns, knowing when we’re sidestepping a thing, the cascading problem of vulnerability, considering how you protect the people you love in a memoir, what stories need to be told, and doing so on our own terms, the lonely condition of being inside the human body, how memoir has its own timeline, getting to the story beneath the story and their new memoir Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
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redacting text
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knowing when we’re hiding
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finding comfort in the telling
Books mentioned in this episode
- Fit Into Me by Molly Gaudry
- Decade of the Brain by Janine Joseph
- The Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction by Elizabeth McCracken
- The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
- Bone Black by bell hooks
- Wounds of Passion: A Writing Life by bell hooks
- Mad Eden by Morgan Thomas
- Clam Down by Anelise Chen
Essay: “Against Catharsis: Writing is Not Therapy” by Essay by T Kira Madden https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/litfriends-podcast/id1717357361
D/ANNIE LIONTAS is the trans-genderqueer author of the crip-queer memoir Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery, which won the ALA’s 2025 Stonewall Award for Nonfiction and was shortlisted for The Athenaeum of Philadelphia's Literary Award. They are a recipient of the 2025 Lambda Literary Córdova prize, and their debut novel, Let Me Explain You, was selected as New York Times Editors Choice. They co-edited the anthology A Manner of Being: Writers on their Mentors, and their work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, BOMB, McSweeney’s, The New Review, Oprah Daily, and elsewhere. An Associate Professor at George Washington University, LIONTAS helped secure a Mellon Foundation grant on Disability Justice to bring storytelling to communities in the criminal justice system. They write the Most Anticipated Queer Books list at Electric Literature and live in Philadelphia with their wife, dog, and Email the rabbit.
Connect With D/Annie Liontas:
- https://www.instagram.com/aliontas/
- https://www.annieliontas.com/
- (currently being updated)
Purchase Book:
- https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Sex-with-a-Brain-Injury/Annie-Liontas/9781668085561
- https://www.theshipmanagency.com/annie-liontas
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Lit Friends Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/litfriends-podcast/id1717357361
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Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
Rachel Weaver joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the mysterious illness she lived with for nearly two decades, seeing 30-40 doctors and spending 18 years in the medical system, the toll of dwelling in the kingdom of the sick, writing as a process of distillation, writing as refuge, raising tension without wearing the reader out, making narrative threads work together, the fluidity of memoir manuscripts, endings that resonate with beginnings, avoiding vindictiveness after the first draft, pulling readers inside our experience with specificity and particularity, and her new memoir Dizzy.
Also in this episode:
-narrative medicine
-the power dynamics of the medical system
-staying in our physical experience to write
Books mentioned in this episode:
-How to be Sick Toni Bernhard
Rachel Weaver’s novel Point of Direction was named a Top Ten Book To Pick Up Now by Oprah Magazine and won the Willa Cather Award for Fiction. Rachel’s newest book, Dizzy, an “arresting new memoir” according to Maureen Corrigan on NPR’s Fresh Air, published in February of 2026. Her second novel The Last Run, is forthcoming in June 2026 with Lake Union Publishing. Prior to earning her MFA in Writing and Poetics at Naropa University, Rachel worked for the Forest Service in Alaska studying bears, raptors and songbirds. She teaches at Wilkes University and Lighthouse Writers Workshop and holds a CPA in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. For more information visit https://rachelweaver.net/
Connect with Rachel:
Website: https://rachelweaver.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587520026172
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelweaver2222/?hl=en
Dizzy on NPR: https://www.npr.org/2026/02/09/nx-s1-5704301/dizzy-book-review-rachel-weaver
Course: Save Yourself Years of Drafting: https://www.rachelweaver.net/save-yourself-years-of-drafting-course
Book Purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Dizzy-Memoir-Connective-Rachel-Weaver/dp/1959000748
Book Purchase https://bookshop.org/p/books/dizzy-a-memoir-rachel-susan-weaver/dd0268049e6165a1
–Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.comSubscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplankFollow Ronit:https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlankhttps://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Deborah Shepherd joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the large age gap in her first marriage and having mixed feelings about the love story of her youth, the titillation of secrecy and huge risks she took in her personal life, how women were seen, feeling protective of our younger selves, power imbalances in relationships, complicated mother-daughter dynamics, not being sure she could write this book, asking a lot of questions of herself and on the page, thinking about the reader, and her new memoir An Old Man’s Darling.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
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opting for a prologue
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finding a community of memoirists
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working with a developmental editor
Books mentioned in this episode:
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Writing Hard Stories by Melanie Brooks
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Motherland by Elissa Altman
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Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick
Deborah K. Shepherd's memoir about her age-gap first marriage, An Old Man's Darling, has just been published by Heliotrope Books. Her first novel, So Happy Together, came out in 2021, when she was 74. Her essays have appeared in Oldster Magazine; Motherwell ; Herstry; InShort Journal; FauxMoir ; Eat, Darling, Eat, and more. She earned a Master of Social Worker degree in 1992 and spent much of her career focused on the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault and the provision of services to survivors. The mother of two and grandmother of two, Deborah lives in Maine with one husband and one sweet, jaunty rescue dog. You can find her at deborahshepherdwrites.com
Connect with Deborah:
Website: deborahshepherdwrites.com
Facebook: Deborah K. Shepherd Author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dkshdw74/?hl=en
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Samina Najmi joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up under a military dictatorship in Pakistan, the colonial legacy in South Asia, writing about migration, race, and gender, teaching as a secular Muslim woman in the aftermath of 911, living displaced lives, leaning into bursts of memory, anchoring ourselves in moments, writing an essay collection over 10 years, learning from realistic fiction, lyrical essays grounded in research, allowing our writing to spill over into different categories, embracing an expansive literary community, how home is less a place than a moment in time, willing to be vulnerable on the page, building trust with readers, and her new memoir Sing Me a Circle: Love, Loss, and a Home in Time.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
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entering writing contests
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our expansive literary community
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the different kinds of displacement
-
fragments that come together later
Books mentioned in this episode:
- Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall
- The Names by N. Scott Momaday
- The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
- You and Yours by Naomi Shihab Nye
Samina Najmi teaches multiethnic US literature at California State University, Fresno. Her memoir-in-essays, Sing Me a Circle: Love, Loss, and a Home in Time, won the Aurora Polaris Award in Creative Nonfiction and was published by Trio House Press in Oct, 2025. It has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and is featured among Poets & Writers’ five nonfiction debuts of the year and Debutiful’s Best Nonfiction Debuts of 2025. The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) includes it among notable 2025 nonfiction debuts and its recommended reading lists for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month 2025 and Women’s History Month 2026. Daughter of multiple migrations, Samina grew up in Pakistan and England, began her American life in Boston, and has called Fresno home since 2006.
Connect with Samina:
Website: saminanajmi.com
Instagram: samina.najmi
Facebook: Samina Najmi
Purchase book:
https://www.triohousepress.org/samina-najmi
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Jenny Lisk joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about losing her husband to an aggressive brain cancer and becoming a widowed parent, learning how to do a job she never asked for, being a resource for widowed parents, feeling like you're doing grieving wrong, better understanding grieving children, launching a podcast to learn more about widowhood, incorporating a Caring Bridge blog into memoir, utilizing storytelling principles to flesh out a story and transform it into memoir, fear of vulnerability, defining book marketing broadly, assisting writers in self-publishing, memoir as an act of service, and her memoir Future Widow.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
- knowing where to end a memoir
- instrumental and intuitive grievers
- early marketing and building relationships
Books mentioned in this episode:
- The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
- Real American Julie by Lythcott-Haims
The Chicago Manual of Style from University of Chicago Press
Jenny Lisk is the founder of the Widowed Parent Institute. She is an award-winning author and widowed mom who is dedicated to helping widowed parents increase their family's well-being. Jenny’s books, Future Widow and Widowed Parents Unite, and her show, The Widowed Parent Podcast, guide the journey of solo parenting after loss.
Jenny’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, Katie Couric Media, Yahoo Life, ParentMap, and more. She lives in Redmond, Washington, with her two college-age kids.
Connect with Jenny:
Website: https://jennylisk.com
https://jennyliskllc.com/
https://widowedparentinstitute.com/
- Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
Courtney Kocak joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her Hollywood misadventures, facing coercion and exploitation as a young woman, systemic structures we bump up against, fighting the patriarchy, having compassion for the girl she was, landing on essays as a place to stretch out on the page, not terrorizing the people we write about, making dialogue feel alive, book incubators, engaging with other writers and finding community, writing as a means to create opportunities for ourselves, forgiving our younger selves, writing our own rules, taking power back, and her new memoir Girl Gone Wild.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
- being objectified
- deadlines and accountability
- small presses as champions for innovative memoir
Books mentioned in this episode:
- Draft Number 4 by John Mcphee
- Finger Exercises for Poets by Dorianne Laux
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Stayed
- The Wager by David Grann
Courtney Kocak is a writer, podcaster, and comedian who splits time between Austin and Los Angeles. She wrote for Amazon’s Emmy-winning animated series Danger & Eggs and Netflix’s Know It All. She’s produced a slew of highly-ranked podcasts and currently hosts three of her own with over two million downloads to date: Private Parts Unknown, about love and sexuality around the world, The Bleeders, about book writing and publishing, and Podcast Bestie, a best friend to podcasters trying to grow and monetize their shows (and a popular Substack). As a writer, her bylines include The New York Times, The Cut, The Washington Post, LA Times, Cosmopolitan, Slate, HuffPost, and more. Her debut memoir, Girl Gone Wild, with Trio House Press, is out now!
Connect with Courtney:
Website: https://www.courtneykocak.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneykocak/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@courtneykocak
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/courtneykocak.bsky.social
Twitter: https://x.com/courtneykocak
Purchase Book via Bookshop:
Girl Gone Wild on Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/85623/9781949487541
Teaching: https://www.courtneykocak.com/teaching
- Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
Carol Odell joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being methodically sexually groomed as a girl during her time working at a stable, sexual grooming as a slow desensitization process, interrupting the patterns created from unprocessed trauma, including her experience as a therapist in her pages, trying to trace our behavior and thread the story in the narrative, taking risks and doing deeper work, the divisions within ourselves, writing self back into scenes we’ve emotionally splintered off from, recognizing ourselves as victims, hybrid publishing through She Writes Press, turning down the volume on critical self-talk, and her new memoir Girl Groomed: A Therapist’s Memoir of Trauma.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
- vulnerability
- practicing good self-care
- being compassionate with ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
- Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- Educated by Tara Westover
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Carol Odell, LICSW, grew up riding horses on the show jumping circuit in Virginia. She has been a practicing psychotherapist facilitating groups and working with couples and individuals since 1984. Married for thirty-eight years and the mother of a grown son, her other passions include: squash, pickleball, partner-dancing, mosaics, writing, traveling and being in community with friends and family. She and her husband currently split their time between Seattle and Cle Elum, Washington.
Connect with Carol:
Website and newsletter: www.carolodellmsw.com
Instagram: mosaicofthoughts_
Professional FB page: www.facebook.com/cfodellmsw
- Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
Cinelle Barnes joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her brain aneurism rupture, writing a memoir two years after brain surgery, the healing modality that is writing personal narrative, memoir as a palimpsest, having multiple memoirs, narrating from the perspective of the adult, choosing to be in a place of discovery, alternating timelines, offloading thoughts onto sticky notes, when writing becomes episodic and collage like, gratitude as fertilizer for the brain, holding onto our words and art to keep holding onto who we are, investigating the many selves within the self, and her new memoir A Way Home: A Memoir of Losing Yourself and the Beauty of Returning.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-micromemoirs
-fostering neuroplasticity
-changing as we explore
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones
-Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
-The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Contreras
Cinelle Barnes is the Philippine-born author of Monsoon Mansion: A Memoir, Malaya: Essays on Freedom, and A Way Home: A Memoir of Losing Yourself and the Beauty of Returning. She is also the editor of the New York Times “New and Noteworthy” A Measure of Belonging: Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South. Cinelle is a survivor of a brain aneurysm rupture and sits on the Brain Injury Leadership Council of South Carolina, and is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Sustainable Arts Fund, the Authors League Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, South Arts, and the North American Travel Journalists Association, among others. She has served on the jury panels for several literary awards, including the inaugural Pulitzer Prize for Memoir. Her writing has appeared in Coastal Living, Travel + Leisure, Buzzfeed, Catapult, Electric Literature, and Longreads, among others. Cinelle lives in Charleston, SC, with her husband, daughter, and cat.
Connect with Cinelle:
Webiste: cinellebarnes.com
Instagram: @cinellebarnesbooks
Purchase Book via Bookshop:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-way-home-a-memoir-of-losing-yourself-and-the-beauty-of-returning-cinelle-barnes/1a3f1cce1c657294?ean=9781662510618&next=t
- Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
Amil Niazi joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the pressure on children of immigrants, outsiderness, striving to change our circumstances, what happens to women in the workplace after becoming mothers, confronting misogyny and racism, The Hard Part - her series for The Cut, when people are threatened by ambition, avoiding the need to make memoir prescriptive, offering people perspective that is uniquely yours, sticking to our original vision, finding a way to get our books into the worlds, when work, motherhood, and ambition collide, the desire to have more, the journey of a life, and her new memoir Life After Ambition: A “Good Enough” Memoir.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-pivoting
-obligatory gratitude
-asking ourselves what drives us
Books mentioned in this episode:
Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion
Daughter by Claudia Dey
Amil Niazi is a writer and producer. She writes The Cut’s series on parenting, The Hard Part, and covers work and motherhood and how the two intersect. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post.
Connect with Amil:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amilniazi/
Ami Niazi’s column on The Cut: https://www.thecut.com/author/amil-niazi/
Life After Ambition: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Life-After-Ambition/Amil-Niazi/9781668056035
- Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
Melisa Febos joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about romantic obsessions, celibacy as a portal to freedom, living her way into a corner and having to fight her way out, leading with scene and story and plot, taking back the sovereignty of her own mind and body, approaching oneself as a protagonist, leaving out what isn’t central to the story, remembering memoir is not a transcription of a time lived, radical feminists, exercising agency and self-reclamation, living an examined life, integrating memories that were indigestible to us in the moment, the project of looking at ourselves honestly, and her most recent book, now in paperback The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-deepending friendships
-memoir-plus digressions
-writing about our obsessions
Books mentioned in this episode:
Will and Attention by Meghan O’Gieblyn
Canon by Paige Lewis
Fat Swim by Emma Copley Eisenberg
Melissa Febos is the national bestselling author of five books, including Abandon Me, Girlhood—which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism, Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, and, most recently, The Dry Season. Her awards and fellowships include those from the Guggenheim Foundation, LAMBDA Literary, the National Endowment for the Arts, The British Library, The Black Mountain Institute, MacDowell, the Bogliasco Foundation, The American Library in Paris, and others. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Sun, The New York Times Magazine, The Best American Essays, Vogue, The Best American Travel and Food Writing, and New York Review of Books. Febos is a Roy J. Carver Professor at the University of Iowa, where she teaches in the Nonfiction Writing Program. She lives in Iowa City with her wife, the poet Donika Kelly.
Connect with Melissa:
Website: https://www.melissafebos.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissafebos
Purchase book via bookshop:
This is for the pre-order paperback for The Dry Season
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-dry-season-a-memoir-of-pleasure-in-a-year-without-sex-melissa-febos/f1c8367d8e351d91?ean=9780593685150&next=t
- Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
In celebration of the launch of season 8, Jill Christman joins Let’s Talk Memoir to interview Ronit about growing up with no blueprint for making a relationship work, fending for ourselves in childhood, being driven by curiosity, writing about others with generosity and complexity, conveying to readers that we are not the only one, the use of speculation to move toward a deeper truth, the key to memoir structure, how the now-narrator reaches a hand back to help the character we were, finding a deeper empathy and understanding, opposite world, trying to look perfectly 1980s, trusting that our memories are trying to tell us something, and Ronit’s memoir When She Comes Back.
Ronit's upcoming in-person workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story: https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-Swedish Fish
-The Love Boat
-being prologue girls
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
Stop-Time by Frank Conroy
This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolf
To Show and to Tell by Pilllip Lopate
Jill Christman bio and links:
Jill Christman is the author of The Heart Folds Early: A Memoir (released March 2026 from the University of Nebraska Press). Christman’s other books include If This Were Fiction: A Love Story in Essays (2023 Foreword INDIES Silver Winner), Darkroom: A Family Exposure (winner of AWP Prize for CNF), and Borrowed Babies: Apprenticing for Motherhood. Her essays have appeared in many anthologies and in magazines such as Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre, Iron Horse Literary Review, Longreads, and O, The Oprah Magazine. A 2020 NEA Literature Fellow, she teaches at Ball State University and serves as editor of River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative and Beautiful Things (a weekly online magazine of micro nonfiction). Visit her at jillchristman.com.
Connect with Jill:
https://www.instagram.com/jillchristmanwriter
@jillchristman.bsky.social
jillchristman.com
Order for yourself and all your memoir-loving friends—directly from the University of Nebraska Press or your local independent or by using any of the handy links on my website. Use code 6AS26 for 40% off on any UNP book!
Ronit Plank bio and links:
Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington’s Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY’s Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir and the Substack Let’s Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank
Website: www.ronitplank.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/
Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about going through almost a decade of conversion therapy, dismantling the dogma of pseudo science with its added layer of spiritual discipline, feeling desperate to change, yearning for a place to belong, keeping faith without losing soul, holding onto journals with the sense of using them someday, the difficulty of having to revisit traumatic experiences, weaving in dark humor, being a present-day witness to the past and honoring the more innocent, naive version of ourselves, getting sober and writing from a place of peace, making discoveries in the memoir-writing process, the importance of platform for nonfiction authors, being present and active on social media before our memoirs come out, being a queer person of faith, loving the present day person we’ve become, and his new memoir Conversion Therapy Dropout: A Queer Story of Faith and Belonging.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story: https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-finding a writing community
-the generosity of other writers
-having a therapist on speed dial
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Boy Erased by Garrard Conley
-All Down Darkness Wide by Sean Hewitt
-Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott
-How to Write an AUtobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
-books by David Sedaris
-books by Augusten Burroughs
Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez spent almost a decade in gay conversion therapy—all while working behind the scenes at some of the most influential Evangelical Christian megachurches. After embracing his identity as a gay Christian and stepping away from church work, he co-founded Church Clarity, an organization that helps queer people find affirming faith communities.
His story and work have been featured by BBC Newshour, TIME, NBC, VICE, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, and Religion News Service. Born in the Midwest, he now calls New York City home, where he continues his work as a writer, digital strategist, and advocate for queer people of faith. His first book is Conversion Therapy Dropout: A Queer Story of Faith and Belonging.
Connect with Timothy:
Website: https://www.conversiontherapydropoutbook.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timothy.s.rodriguez
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@timothy.s.rodriguez
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@timothy.s.rodriguez
Substack: https://timothysrodriguez.substack.com
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Dr. Craig Yorke joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the toll of centuries of bigotry, being consumed by race, growing up with psychological financial desperation, living other people’s lives, rethinking what Black studies are, processing shame, shedding identities assigned to us, the use of memory for liberation, being ruthless in our writing and revision process, the steep climb toward clarifying ourselves, bringing neuroscience to life, inviting people to wake up to how our history has controlled us, delighting in surprise, and his new memoir: STEEP: A Black Neurosurgeon's Journey.
Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story: https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-growing up with scarcity
-the price of success
-listening for the music in our writing
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Beautiful Brain:The Drawings of Santiago Ramon Y Cajal by Larry W. Swanson
On Writing Well by William Zisner
Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chodran
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Art is Therapy by Alain De Botton
Brown by Kevin Young
How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
The poem “Four Quartets” by T.S. Elliot
Dr. Craig Yorke was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He received a BA from Harvard College in 1970 and an MD from Harvard Medical School in 1974. His parental directive insisted he avenge centuries of bigotry with a life of infinite success.
After a neurosurgical residency at the University of California at San Francisco, he and his wife Mary found their way to an unlikely destination. He practiced in Topeka, Kansas, for 25 years, wrestling with his history and the armored identity it had imposed. He and Mary raised two admirable boys, Zack who lives in Brooklyn and Chris who calls Seattle home.
Dr. Yorke brews coffee for two each morning in the colonial home they’ve occupied for 33 years. He’s a credible violinist, having played the Bruch G Minor concerto with the Boston Pops at 17, and hits tennis balls with passion. Steep is his first book.
Connect with Craig:
Website: https://www.craigyorke.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570269755209
Purchase book:
https://www.amazon.com/Steep-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Craig-Yorke/dp/1953583989/
https://bookshop.org/p/books/steep-a-black-neurosurgeon-s-journey-craig-yorke/c5808fe0489a778c?ean=9781953583987&next=t&aid=107402&listref=our-authors-books
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
After four years of Let’s Talk Memoir, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for being here and share a few exciting updates about what’s ahead for the podcast.
In this short episode, I talk about some changes coming in Season 8, new ways to connect with the show and memoir community, and a few things I’ve been quietly working on behind the scenes.
Thank you for listening, supporting the show, and being part of this space for writers, readers, and storytellers. I’m so excited for what’s next.
Ronit’s in-person Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Monica Macansantos joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about organizing her collection of essays around her father’s very sudden and unexpected passing, not being sure she could write again, when common themes begin to emerge, connecting with loved ones through writing, recognizing and exploring complicated relationships with a home town and home country, feeling othered, the literary scene in the Phillipines, how writing takes a level of privilege, modeling literary citizenship, deepening our narrative journeys and allowing ourselves to go places we didn’t plan, growing up in a colonized land, leaning into the discomfort of writing, giving shape to grief, taking risks, and her new essay collection Returning to My Father’s Kitchen.
Ronit’s in-person Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-gatekeeping in writing
-thinking about what home is
-when the puzzle pieces come together
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Art of Revision by Peter Ho Davies
The Glass Eye by Jeannie Vanasco
Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway
The Memory Eaters by Elizabeth
The Second Tree from the Corner by E.B. White
cut after 37:40-37:54 start 37:55 begin “I think I connected”
Monica Macansantos is the author of the essay collection, Returning to My Father's Kitchen (Curbstone/Northwestern University Press, 2025), and the story collection, Love and Other Rituals (Grattan Street Press, 2022). She was a 2024-25 Shearing Fellow with the Black Mountain Institute in Las Vegas, and a 2025 Marguerite & Lamar Smith Fellow with the Carson McCullers Center in Columbus, Georgia. Her work has recently appeared in Electric Lit, River Styx, Lit Hub, Bennington Review, and Poor Yorick, among others. Her honors include a James A. Michener Fellowship from the University of Texas at Austin, and residencies from Hedgebrook, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Storyknife Writers Retreat, the I-Park Foundation, and Monson Arts.
Connect with Monica:
Website: https://monicamacansantos.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madamebutchay/
Bluesky: @missmacansantos.bsky.social
Purchase Book:
Purchase Returning to My Father's Kitchen from Northwestern University Press: https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9780810148390/returning-to-my-fathers-kitchen/
Or from Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/returning-to-my-father-s-kitchen-essays-monica-macansantos/8c4605e505fd4de8?ean=9780810148390&next=t&next=t
Or from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Returning-My-Fathers-Kitchen-Essays/dp/0810148390/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Jacque Gorelick joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up missing a mother, surviving a fractured family and worrying you’re broken in unfixable ways, how her husband's medical crisis upended her life as a new mother, letting our inner selves be cared for, protecting a space where a mother should be, owning our story, gathering all the pieces for structure, weaving in backstory to strengthen the stakes, including letters and managing time in memoir, telling the truth as we know it, taking risks, how we’re never finished, and her new memoir Map of a Heart: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Finding the Way Home.
Ronit’s in-person Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-coping strategies
-letting our guard down
-being once mothered, motherless, and unmothered
Books mentioned in this episode:
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Fast Draft Your Memoir by Rachael Herron
Jacque’s essays about family, motherhood, estrangement, education, and health have appeared or are forthcoming in The New York Times, Salon, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Kenyon Review, Pithead Chapel, X-R-A-Y, Healthy Women, The Washington Post, HuffPost and more.
After spending her fractured childhood in search of home and belonging, Jacque spent her adult life working with children and families. She has a degree in psychology and a graduate degree in education with an emphasis in early childhood development. She has always been fascinated with how family shapes and defines us, and how we ultimately choose to define it for ourselves.
A California native, Jacque has lived all over the West Coast from Santa Barbara to Alaska. Now firmly rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area, she lives beside a creek under redwood trees with her husband, two boys, and a mélange of rescues. To find out more about Jacque and her work visit her website at jacquegorelick.com.
Connect with Jacque:
Website: https://www.jacquegorelick.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacque.gorelick/
IG @jacgorelick: https://www.instagram.com/jacgorelick/
Threads @jacgorelick: https://www.threads.com/@jacgorelick
Substack: Heartmatters https://jacquegorelickheartmatters.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips
Purchase book via Bookshop:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/map-of-a-heart-a-memoir-of-love-loss-and-finding-the-way-home-jacque-gorelick/9daeff1a91645131?ean=9783988322265&next=t
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Jill Christman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about contextualizing a memoir in a post-Roe world, what it means to make a choice as mothers, ending a pregnancy, knowing you will write about an experience while it is happening, writing about childhood sexual abuse, returning to a manuscript with your skirt on fire, writing to a point of discovery, putting down our self-defense and having to be fully, fully vulnerable, getting clear on why we’re showing up to tell this story now, and her new memoir The Heart Folds Early.
Ronit’s in-person Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Storyhttps://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-writing in present tense
-not casting judgment on others
-how an imaginary choice is not a choice
Books mentioned in this episode:
Love Works Like This by Lauren Slater
The Book of Knowledge and Wonder By Steven Harvey
Crossed Over: A Murder, a Memoir by Beverly Lowry
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Maha
A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander
Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas
An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
Jill Christman’s recent articles on writing:
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“Writing the Tooth—Or, How to Find Big Ideas in Tiny Things.” Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies. https://www.assayjournal.com/jill-christman-writing-the-toothmdashor-how-to-find-big-ideas-in-tiny-things-assay-122.html
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“Three Takes on a Jump.” https://riverteethjournal.com/river_revisted/river-teeth-classics-three-takes-on-a-jump/
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“Tacking: A Sailor’s Guide to Writing Against the Wind.” Writer’s Digest,https://www.writersdigest.com/tacking-a-sailors-guide-to-writing-against-the-wind
Jill Christman is the author of The Heart Folds Early: A Memoir (released March 2026 from the University of Nebraska Press). Christman’s other books include If This Were Fiction: A Love Story in Essays (2023 Foreword INDIES Silver Winner), Darkroom: A Family Exposure (winner of AWP Prize for CNF), and Borrowed Babies: Apprenticing for Motherhood. Her essays have appeared in many anthologies and in magazines such as Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre, Iron Horse Literary Review, Longreads, and O, The Oprah Magazine. A 2020 NEA Literature Fellow, she teaches at Ball State University and serves as editor of River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative and Beautiful Things (a weekly online magazine of micro nonfiction). Visit her at jillchristman.com.
Connect with Jill:
https://www.instagram.com/jillchristmanwriter
@jillchristman.bsky.social
jillchristman.com
Order for yourself and all your memoir-loving friends—directly from the University of Nebraska Press or your local independent or by using any of the handy links on my website. Use code 6AS26 for 40% off on any UNP book!
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Mimi Nichter joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being hijacked on a plane when she was twenty years old in the first incident of international terrorism, how we can be socialized into silence about our stories, processing old trauma on the page, building immediacy in our narratives through contained time frames and present tense, what happens when we “other” people, wanting to get the story right, using humor to mitigate difficult material, overcoming fear of excavating long-buried trauma, arriving on structure, believing we will be able to find space for our books in the world, and her new memoir Hostage: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience.
Ronit’s in-person Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-putting the reader in our shoes
-being able to talk about our books
-taking as much time as we need to finish our manuscripts
Books mentioned in this episode:
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
The Choice by Edith Eager
Seven Drafts by Allison K. Williams
Big Magic by Elizabeth GIlbert
Mimi Nichter is a cultural and medical anthropologist, public speaker, and a professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Arizona. She is the author or coauthor of four anthropology-related books and the recipient of the Margaret Mead Award and the George Foster Practicing Medical Anthropology Award. Her essays have appeared in HuffPost, Newsweek, and Brevity.
Connect with Mimi:
Website: https://www.miminichter.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miminichter/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimi-nichter-30673313/
X (Twitter): https://x.com/MimiNichter
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Rachel Tzvia Back joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about living with depression, losing a sister, when a mother is emotionally and psychologically absent, how myths can be cloaks, listening to our language and what it offers, thinking in image, when stories don’t match, giving our children the space to tell their version of stories about us, incorporating four recurring elements in a hybrid memoir, the architecture of our books, representing children in our work but not speaking for them, creating a womb for our writing process, leaning into poetry, approaching material methodically, how trauma is handed down generation by generation, the vast divides between us, and her new memoir The Dark-Robed Mother.
Ronit’s in-person Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-writing residencies
-the Persephone and Demeter myth
-not torturing yourself in the writing process
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Dead Mother: The Work of Andre Green edited by Gregoria Kohon
-Darkness Visible by William Styron
-The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
-Metamorphoses Narrative poem by Ovid
-Letter collections/poetry collections by Emily Dickinson
Rachel Tzvia Back is a poet, translator, professor of literature, and the author of twelve books. Her poetry and translations have received numerous honors, including winner of the TLS–Risa Domb/ Porjes Prize, shortlisted for the National Translation Award in Poetry (ALTA), and finalist for the PEN Translation Award and National Jewish Book Award in Poetry. Her memoir, The Dark-Robed Mother, is being published by Wesleyan University Press.
Purchase book:
racheltzviaback.com
https://www.weslpress.org/author/rachel-tzvia-back/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Julie Scolnick joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about falling madly in love with a married Frenchman when she was 20 years old and living in Paris studying music, working our way back from aching first love, searching for answers, cutting everything that doesn’t serve the story, finding a universal truth in your memoir, restructuring a manuscript to include letters at the start of each chapter, the decades-long process of getting a book published, maintaining artistic control, writing about music in memoir, deep romance and intense heartbreak, and her memoir Paris Blue: A Memoir of First Love.
Ronit’s in-person Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Storyhttps://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-searching for an agent
-hybrid publishing
-believing in your story
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith
Let’s Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell
Julie Scolnik is a concert flutist and founding artistic director of Mistral Music, a chamber music series that since 1997 has brought her accolades for the high caliber of her artists, her imaginative programming, and the personal rapport she establishes with her audiences. She lives in Boston with her husband, physicist Michael Brower, and their two cats, Daphne and Chloë. They have two adult children, Sophie and Sasha Scolnik-Brower, also musicians. Paris Blue is a story that lingered in her psyche for over forty years, so she is thrilled to finally share it with the world.
Connect with Julie:
Website: www.JulieScolnik.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/julie_scolnik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jscolnik
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julie_scolnik/
Mistral Music:
https://www.facebook.com/MistralChamberMusic
https://www.youtube.com/c/MistralChamberMusic/videos
Purchase Book via Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Blue-Memoir-First-Love/dp/1646634713
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Stephanie Weaver MPH joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about family estrangement, gaslighting, her recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse, chronic illness, not wanting a book to be about revenge, reframing a memoir around a larger cultural moment to resonate with more people, stepping away from our memoir projects to take care of ourselves, avoiding traumatizing the reader, knowing when a structure has clicked in place, discovering the complex heart of your story, the querying process, when you don’t have a big platform but have lots of connections, and her new memoir Bitter, Sweet: How to Heal Yourself When Your Family is Broken.
Stephanie Weaver on The Body Myth: Loving Our Bodies When They’ve Been a Source of Pain
https://ronitplank.com/2022/06/14/the-body-myth-loving-our-bodies-when-theyve-been-a-source-of-pain-ft-stephanie-weaver/
Ronit’s Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-Beta readers
-removing tags in dialogue
-how our brains record memories
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
-Educated by Tara Westover
-The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
-When Longing Becomes Your Lover by Amanda J. McCracken
-The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
-Wild by Cheryl Strayed
-This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff
-Homebaked by Alia Volz
-Madman in the Woods by Jamie Gehring
Stephanie Weaver MPH is an experienced curator and storytelling strategist. With a rich career spanning museum storytelling, public health, and speaker coaching, she has worked at a range of iconic institutions – from The San Diego Zoo to The White House. A world traveler who embarked on a solo journey through Southeast Asia at 28, Weaver has curated TEDxSanDiego, coached hundreds of speakers, and authored five books that illuminate the power of personal narrative. A survivor and advocate, she's transformed personal battles with childhood sexual abuse and chronic illness into a mission of helping others heal.
After living in Cleveland, Connecticut, and Chicago, Stephanie has been a happy Southern Californian for thirty years, where she and her husband wait hand and foot on their golden retriever.
Sign up for her free newsletter Fun to Be Around at stephanieweaver.com
Connect with Stephanie Weaver, MPH on:
Website: https://stephanieweaver.com
Substack https://sweavermph.substack.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sweavermph/
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@sweavermph
Threads https://www.threads.com/@sweavermph
Purchase book:
Bitter, Sweet: How to Heal Yourself When Your Family Is Broken (Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Bitter-Sweet-Yourself-Family-Broken/dp/1960456377/
Bitter, Sweet (Bookshop) https://bookshop.org/p/books/bitter-sweet-how-to-heal-yourself-when-your-family-is-broken-stephanie-weaver/ff5eb4fcdc02b083
Bitter, Sweet (Barnes and Noble) https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bitter-sweet-stephanie-weaver/1148895292?ean=9781960456373
Professional beta reads & TED-talk speaker coaching https://experienceology.com/writing-coach/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Nikkya Hargrove joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the effects of incarceration on the family system, growing up lost and unsure who her family was, accepting the responsibility of becoming her brother’s mother, the spark that got her writing her memoir, gaining the lens to understand our story is worthy of being told, acknowledging the divisions within ourselves, incorporating backstory without slowing the narrative down, holding space for others in our work, allowing ourselves to use the words we couldn't use growing up, normalizing sharing feelings, the gift of found family, the complicated truths within us, and her memoir MAMA: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of Family Lost and Found.
Ronit’s in-person Fall Workshop - Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story
Also in this episode:
-starting with the basics
-getting to the truth
-finding freedom in our story
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
The Prisoner’s Wife by Asha Bandele
Nikkya Hargrove is a graduate of Bard College and currently serves as a member of the school's Alumni/ae Board of Governors. A LAMBDA Literary Nonfiction Fellow, she has written about adoption, marriage, motherhood, and the prison system for The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New York Times, Scary Mommy, Psychology Today, Rumpus, and more. Until recently, she has spent her professional career working for social impact organizations. She is now the proud owner of her very own, independent bookstore called Obodo Serendipity Books. She lives in Connecticut with her wife and three children.
Connect with Nikkya:
Website: https://www.nikkyamhargrove.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkyahargrove/
Book purchase via Hachettebookgroup:
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/nikkya-hargrove/mama/9781643751580/
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Amanda McCracken joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about what happens when you’re hopelessly, stubbornly in love with longing, fear of intimacy, the idea of falling in love vs. being in love, person addiction, choices around sex, longing for avoidant men, recognizing the illusion of control, applying to speak at Tedx talks, going to social media to find publishers, becoming an expert on a topic, learning how to trust yourself, self-compassion, becoming more real, and her new book When Longing Becomes Your Lover: Breaking from Infatuation, Rejection, and Perfectionism to Find Authentic Love: A True Story of Overcoming Limerence.
Also in this episode:
-wanting to be seen
-being a guest on a national talk show
-publishing articles on virginity and celibacy
Books mentioned in this episode:
Drinking: A Love Story by Carolyn Knapp
Appetites by Carolyn Knapp
Unrequited by Lisa A. Phillips
Love and Limerence by Dorothy Tennov
The Velveteen Rabbit by MArgery Williams
Amanda McCracken is a journalist passionate about experiences that highlight the intersection of wellness, travel, and relationships. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Vogue, National Geographic, Elle, NPR, Outside, ESPN, SELF, Runner’s World, and many others. She published her first article about longing in 2013, which led to additional articles featuring personal anecdotes and deep research and interviews with the BBC and Katie Couric. She is now considered a “limerence expert” and intimacy advocate. Her 2023 TED Talk, “How Longing Keeps Us From Healthy Relationships,” highlights how longing can become selfsabotaging and shares how to change our patterns of longing. McCracken is also a part-time university instructor, massage therapist, triathlon coach, and competitive athlete. Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, McCracken put down roots with her husband and daughter in Boulder, Colorado, after a trip around the world aboard the Peace Boat.
Connect with Amanda:
Website: www.amandajmccracken.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandajmccracken
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmandaJanaeMcCracken/
Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@thelonginglab
Get the book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/amanda-mccracken/when-longing-becomes-your-lover/9781546008538/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Wendy C. Ortiz joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the English teacher who preyed on her when she was thirteen, writing about the person we are now when writing about our past, placing the reader in the physical and psychological experience of character-you, how important the opening pages are in setting the stakes, feeling fear and shame, taking care of yourself when writing about traumatic events, reminding ourselves who we were before abuse, growing up feeling comfortable keeping secrets, art as means to recovery, when your press goes out of business, when a predator asks you not to write about them but you do, and her new memoir Excavation.
Also in this episode:
-interstitial chapters
-university presses vs. small presses
-taking care of ourselves when writing about trauma
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Firebird by Mark Doty
-Truth Serum by Bernard Cooper
-The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
Wendy C. Ortiz is the author of Excavation: A Memoir, Hollywood Notebook: Essays, and Bruja: A Dreamoir, all of which were reissued in Spring 2025 by Northwestern University Press. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Rumpus, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Her writing has appeared in BOMB Magazine online, The New York Times’ “Modern Love,” Joyland, FENCE, DIAGRAM, and Pleiades, among others. She was awarded a Tin House residency to continue working on her next book. Her current project is Mommy’s El Camino, a weekly online newsletter. Wendy is a psychotherapist in private practice in Los Angeles.
Connect with Wendy:
Website: https://www.wendyortiz.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wendyortiz.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendy.c.ortiz
Book purchase via Bookshop:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/excavation-a-memoir-wendy-c-ortiz/21982167?ean=9780810148604&next=t
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Mallary Tenore Tarpley joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the middle place between acute sickness and full recovery, living with the imprints of a disorder, resisting thinking in black and white, the memoir plus genre, making memoir reportage and research seamless, showing our imperfections on the page, exploring hard truths along with hope, leaning into the most authentic version of our story, calibrating how much to reveal and how much to conceal, not ever arriving at a place of full recovery, holding onto hope for our book project, upholding values of curiosity and authenticity and truthtelling, when the middle place is the story, restorative narratives, and her new memoir SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery.
Also in this episode:
-writing a book of service
-leaving room for readers
-applying for a book-writing grant
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Invisible Kingdom by Meghan O’Rourke
Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad
Illness As Metaphor by Susan Sontag
Lost and Found by Katherine Schulz
Mallary Tenore Tarpley is an assistant professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches journalism classes in the Moody College of Communication and writing classes at the McCombs School of Business.
Her debut nonfiction book, SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery, which was published by Simon & Schuster’s Simon Element explores the under-discussed complexities of eating disorders and recovery from them. The book is equal parts memoir and journalism, and it weaves together Mallary's own narrative with perspectives from clinicians, researchers, and others with lived experience. In 2023, Mallary received a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the science-related reporting in the book, specifically around the neurobiological and genetic aspects of eating disorders. SLIP received the Association of American Publishers’ 2026 Excellence Award for Biological & Life Sciences. It also won first place in the Clinical Medicine category and was a finalist in the Outstanding Work by a Trade Publisher category.
Mallary’s articles and personal essays about eating disorders have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, TIME Magazine, and Teen Vogue, among other publications. She maintains a weekly newsletter, Write at the Edge, featuring writing tips and best practices.
Connect with Mallary:
Website: mallarytenoretarpley.com
Weekly newsletter: mallary.substack.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mallarytenoretarpley/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallary-tenore-tarpley-6719484/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/mallary.tenore
Get the book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Slip/Mallary-Tenore-Tarpley/9781668035016
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Karen Palmer joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about changing her identity to escape a dangerous ex-husband, being stalked, the consequences of deciding to disappear, coming to grips with the experience of domestic abuse, mistaking grief for maturity, telling a story as truthfully as possible, relinquishing a child, the long-term effect of PTSD, not ever completely knowing ourselves or others, deep truth vs. inconsequential truth, writing about ourself like we are a character, projecting a persona that isn’t real, understanding the end of the story late in the writing, moving around in time without losing the reader, believing in a story and the ability to tell it, and her new memoir She's Under Here: a Love Story, a Horror Story, a Reckoning.
Also in this episode:
-keeping the faith
-trying a story out as fiction first
-coming of age with many obstacles
Books mentioned in this episode:
-In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
-Bluets by Maggie Nelson
-Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Karen Palmer’s memoir She's Under Here grew out of her award-winning essay The Reader Is the Protagonist, first published in VQR and selected by Leslie Jamison for inclusion in Best American Essays 2017. She has received a Pushcart Prize and grants from the NEA and the Colorado Council on the Arts, and is the author of the novels All Saints and Border Dogs. Other work has appeared in the Kenyon Review, Arts & Letters, The Rumpus, and Kalliope. She teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, CO, and lives with her husband in California.
Connect with Karen:
Website: www.karenpalmer.com
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/karenpalmer.bsky.social
Instagram: instagram.com/karenpalmer1989/
Facebook: facebook.com/palmer.karen
She's Under Here can be purchased at:
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Under-Here-Karen-Palmer/dp/1643757547?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.V14dH3NYK1_JGqY01snjfw.dGdXTKkQ0h0_uH68hQXjNRQ82iK7rF80ygG6EAeafQ8&qid=1759333809&sr=8-1’
BOOKSHOP.ORG: https://bookshop.org/p/books/she-s-under-here-a-memoir-karen-palmer/d5c065268851768c?ean=9781643757544&next=t
For a signed copy from Diesel Bookstore:
https://dieselbookstore.com/book/9781643757544s
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shes-under-here-karen-palmer/1147279207?ean=9781643757544
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Dorothy Roberts joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her father’s interviews beginning in the 1930s with over 500 back-white couples who crossed the color line in Chicago, moving to memoir to explore more personal experiences and feelings, growing up in a mixed race family, shifting the lens onto herself, thinking about identity, finding answers via the writing process, staying motivated and organized while working with heaps of material, the mystery in memoir, bringing the reader into the discovery process, the adventure of not knowing, looking for evidence people can love across racial boundaries, and her new book The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race and Family.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing:Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-taking breaks
-working with source material
-the possibility of racial harmony in America
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Color of Water by James McBride
-South to America by Imani Perry
-The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
-The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
Dorothy Roberts is the George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she directs the Penn Program on Race, Science, and Society. The author of five books, including Killing the Black Body, a MacArthur Fellow, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Connect with Dorothy:
Website: https://www.dorothyeroberts.com/
Get the book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Mixed-Marriage-Project/Dorothy-Roberts/9781668068380
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Rebecca N. Thompson, MD joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about life-threatening pregnancy losses and weaving her own story of navigating a challenging path to parenting with the stories of others, her decade-long collaboration with a remarkable group of women, how healing others helps us heal, imperfect love, not feeling heard, advocating for our own care, humanism in medicine, the cumulative impact of small actions, accepting help to get better, transcribing and processing interviews and forming a narrative, processing as we craft, making stories accessible to a wide audience, the moments that change everything when we least expect it, and her new memoir HELD TOGETHER: A SHARED MEMOIR OF MOTHERHOOD, MEDICINE, AND IMPERFECT LOVE.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-accepting help to get better
-portraying others in a positive light
-Getting consent from book contributors
Books mentioned in this episode:
How to Tell a Story from The Moth
Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum
If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano
Rebecca N. Thompson, MD, is a family medicine and public health physician from Portland, Oregon, who specializes in women’s and children’s health—and the author of HELD TOGETHER: A SHARED MEMOIR OF MOTHERHOOD, MEDICINE, AND IMPERFECT LOVE, published with HarperCollins in Spring 2025. In this innovative book, Dr. Thompson intertwines her personal story of life-threatening pregnancy complications with the stories of twenty-one of her patients, friends, and medical colleagues.
Through profoundly honest first-person narratives created primarily from spoken interviews, Held Together offers a space for connection, bringing comfort and solidarity to anyone touched by challenges in building or sustaining families. At its heart, this collaborative project celebrates the extraordinary moments in the lives of ordinary women, as they navigate the complexities of motherhood, family dynamics, and health and healing across generations.
Connect with Rebecca: www.rebeccanthompson.com
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Blair Glaser joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her time on a Catskills ashram during her twenties in the 1990s, yearning and the thrilling and perilous idolization of other human beings, spiritual development, group think, revisiting our experiences with curiosity and excitement, navigating writing about others, pitching agents and digesting their feedback, writing in scene in a sustained way, growing thematically, digging deeper, allowing the unconscious to inform our writing process, being the stewards of our stories, and her new memoir This Incredible Longing:Finding My Self in a Near Cult Experience.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-composite characters
-working with smaller presses
-our foundational, formative experiences
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Permission by Elissa Altman
-Seven Drafts by Allison K. Williams
-Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Blair Glaser, MA, is a writer, speaker, leadership consultant and licensed psychotherapist who helps create collaborative cultures and increase bottom lines across sectors including finance, law, healthcare, entertainment, and nonprofits. She has run a variety of workshops at renowned retreat centers, including Women Writing to Change the World. After working for six years for V’s (formerly Eve Ensler) nonprofit V-Day, a movement to stop violence against women and girls, she developed and facilitated The Vagina Monologues Workshop, a creative approach to sexual empowerment for women, and later worked with actor-activist Jane Fonda on an empowerment workshop for teenage girls.
Glaser earned her B.S. in theater at Northwestern University and received her master’s in Drama Therapy from Vermont College and The Institutes for the Arts in Psychotherapy, where she eventually served as a senior faculty member.
She was a New York-licensed creative arts therapist from 1998 to 2022, when she left therapy to work full-time with leaders and organizations. Glaser was the first ever online actor-advice columnist when her weekly column “Ask Blair” appeared on Playbill On-Line.
More recently, her work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Longreads, Quartz, The Muse, HuffPost, Shondaland and literary publications such as Dorothy Parker's Ashes, Brevity, and the Mantlepiece. Her new memoir is This Incredible Longing:Finding My Self in a Near Cult Experience.
Connect with Blair:
Website: www.blairglaser.com
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairglaser/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blair.glaser
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blair_glaser/
Substack: https://thehistack.substack.com/
Books: www.blairglaser.com/books
Events: www.blairglaser.com/events
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Bee Wilson joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the evolution of our narratives, how each book teaches you how to write it, approaching memoir from many different angles, how there’s no predetermined idea of what a memoir needs to be, writing about divorce and her husband leaving at the end of the first lockdown in the UK, the emotional life of kitchen objects, not being afraid to tell our truth, cooking as salve, obligations to our reader and our lives, growing comfortable with the idea of writing about ourselves, how the particular becomes universal, piecing strands together, creating necessary boundaries, writing closer to the bone, and her new memoir about moving on The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love Loss and Kitchen Objects.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-cooking as a salve
-choosing what we share
-the ethics of memoir writing
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
-The Kitchen Congregation: A Daughter’s Story of Wives and Women Friends by Nora Seaton
-Work by Guy de Mauppassant
-Work by Anton Checkov
Bee Wilson is a food writer and the author of 8 books on food-related topics. Her latest book, The Heart-Shaped Tin, is an exploration of the emotional stories behind kitchen objects, told partly through memoir. Her previous books include The Secret of Cooking: Recipes for an Easier Life in the Kitchen and Consider the Fork. She writes for a wide range of publications in the U.K. and U.S. including The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. She is the co-founder of TastEd, a charity aimed at bringing the joy of vegetables and fruits to children.
Connect with Bee:
Website: https://www.beewilson.com/
@kitchenbee on Instagram and Substack
Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Shaped-Tin-Love-Kitchen-Objects/dp/132407924X
Get the book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-heart-shaped-tin-bee-wilson/1146855283
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Alex Poppe joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about working in conflict zones, living abroad and negotiating cultural differences, teaching in northern Iraq, youth and female resilience, pursuing something elusive, using fiction techniques for creative nonfiction and essays, not standing on a soapbox in memoir, moving from the personal to the universal, safe domesticity vs. unpredictable intensity, feeling haunted, the tension between wanting to settle down and set roots but feeling desperate to travel, and her love letter to teaching the new memoir-in-essay Breakfast Wine: A Memoir of Chasing an Unconventional Life and Finding a Way Home.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-field reporting
-theTulsa Remote Program
-starting chapters in scene and dialogue
Books mentioned in this episode
-Woman in Berlin by Anonymous
-The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from The Border by Francisco Cantú
-Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett
-The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
-No Good Men Among the Living by Anand Gopal
-The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg
-The Natashas:The Horrific Inside Story of Slavery, Rape, and Murder in the Global Sex Trade by Victor Malarek
-Notebooks on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World by Suzy Hansen
-Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth by Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain and Andrew Thomson
Having worked in conflict zones such as Iraq, the West Bank, and Ukraine, Alex Poppe writes about fierce and funny women rebuilding their lives in the wake of violence. She is the award-winning author of four works of literary fiction. Breakfast Wine, her memoir-in-essay of her near decade teaching and volunteering in northern Iraq, celebrates women and youth resilience, post-conflict. Most recently, she served as the strategic communications advisor for a democracy and governance initiative at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Alex continues to be awed by place, people, and their stories.
Connect with Alex:
Website: www.alexpoppe.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyalexpoppe/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex_poppe_author/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alex.poppe.16/
Get the book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/breakfast-wine-alex-poppe/22155518?ean=9781627205931
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Louise Southerden joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about building a tiny home in Australia by hand during the Covid pandemic, being a travel writer for much of her career, choosing freedom over security, writing about exes, struggling with how much backstory to put in, narrative arc and the hero’s journey, firming up a timeline, wanting to be fair in depicting loved ones, taking care of and pacing ourselves while we’re writing, creating the life that we want to live inside with words, being led by how the story wants to be told, and her new memoir TINY: A Memoir About Love, Letting Go and a Very Small House.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-using Scrivener
-the freelance writing life
-what one really needs to be happy
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Tracks by Robyn Davidson
-Unfinished Woman by Robyn Davidson
-Wifedom by Anna Funder
-The Little Red Writing Book by Mark Tredinnick
-Things I Learned From Falling by Claire Nelson
Louise Southerden is an Australian author and award-winning travel writer who has spent more than 25 years travelling all over the world and won the Australian Travel Writer of the Year award a record five times. She’s the author of five non-fiction books including Surf’s Up, the world’s first surfing guide for women; a working holiday guide to Japan, where she once lived for a year and a half; an anthology of her best adventure travel tales; and her latest, TINY: A memoir about love, letting go and a very small house, published by Hardie Grant Explore. Originally from Sydney, Louise now lives and writes in her tiny home by the sea in northern NSW, Australia.
Connect with Louise:
Website: https://www.noimpactgirl.com/
More info about TINY on Louise's Substack: https://noimpactgirl.substack.com/p/tiny-a-memoir-about-love-letting-af1
TINY on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Memoir-About-Letting-Small/dp/174117922X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cDx-4ItRYaLsBKW5vu1dfQ.Pozgks-L91kJZfC4hCxsGFIuB_FqZlo7oJW31ra3GYU&qid=1755581587&sr=8-1
Living Big in a Tiny House episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipAxKp5fbvQ
Substack: https://noimpactgirl.substack.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/noimpactgirl/#
Fishpond: https://www.fishpond.com/Books/Tiny-Louise-Southerden/9781741179224
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Anna Rollins joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the relationship between evangelical purity culture and diet culture, incorporating research and reporting into personal narrative, the intricate connections between religion, God, and body shame, fearing our own desires, extreme thinking, body dysmorphia, viewing our bodies as suspect, the physical effects of belief systems, writing memoir plus, tying our work to the culture, learning how to pitch and get bylines, the logistics of placing short pieces in large outlets, religion on our own terms, rejecting scripts, and her new memoir Famished: On Food, Sex, and Growing Up as a Good Girl.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
This episode is brought to you by Prose Playground. If you’ve been writing for years but haven’t published, have tons of ideas but can’t get them on the page, if you have a book coming out, or you’re simply curious about writing, join Prose Playground—an active, supportive writing community for writers at every level. Visit www.ProsePlayground.com to sign up free.
Also in this episode:
-church hurt
-publishing scores of stand alone essays
-tuning into the newscycle and calendar to sell our work
Books mentioned in this episode:
Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum
Writing That Gets Noticed by Estelle Erasmus
The Byline Bible by Susan Shapiro
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders
Anna Rollins is the author of Famished: On Food, Sex, and Growing Up as a Good Girl. Her groundbreaking debut memoir examines the rhyming scripts of diet culture and evangelical purity culture, both of which direct women to fear their own bodies and appetites. Her writing has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, Slate, Electric Literature, Salon, Joyland, and more. She’s also written scholarly articles about composition and writing center studies. She’s an award-winning instructor who taught English in higher education for nearly 15 years. She is a 2025 West Virginia Creative Network Literary Arts Fellow. A lifelong Appalachian, she lives with her husband in West Virginia where they’re raising their three small children.
Connect with Anna:
Website: http://annajrollins.com
Substack: http://annajrollins.substack.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/annajrollins
Book: https://amzn.to/3Lu6uHR
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Steve Eichenblatt joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about losing a father through abandonment, the abuse he endured from his adoptive father, living in a household of trauma, feeling emotionally disconnected, verbal abuse and the wounds that don’t go away, embracing vulnerability and learning how to connect, writing and processing old, longstanding anger, sharing manuscripts with family before publication, the response to our narratives from siblings and parents, fighting for our voice and agency, learning to help ourselves, being accountable, and the 10-year process of writing his new memoir Pretend They Are Dead.
Also in this episode:
-not giving up
-finding your writing space and time
-writing without boundaries
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
-Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
-The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
-Stay True by Hua Hsa
Steven Scott Eichenblatt is a graduate of Florida State University and the University of Florida College of Law. A practicing attorney with Page and Eichenblatt, and father of five, he has spent over thirty years advocating for children as a pro bono guardian ad litem and representing families of first responders killed on 9/11. He lives with his wife, Melissa Ross, in Orlando, Florida.
Connect with Steve:
Website: www.stevenscotteichenblatt.com
Ronit’s upcoming 10-week online memoir course: https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Dr. Camille U. Adams joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about generations of mothers choosing to unmother their children, colonial violence in Trinidad and Tobago, stifling relationships, cognitive dissonance, finding the psychological, emotional, and geographical distance we need, narcissism and the golden child, not wanting to tell the story we ultimately find a way to tell, being a poet first, retracting and pulling back to get close to ourselves and write, exigence in memoir, going no contact with family, cocooning ourselves, finding support systems that work, getting into literary magazines, how content creates form, and her 300-page poem How To Be Unmothered: a Trinidadian memoir.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-the narcissist’s nest
-using elements of fiction
-trusting yourself
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Thick and Other Essays by Dr. Tressie McMillam Cottom
-Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz
-Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat
-Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
-The Dragon Can’t Dance by Earl Lovelace
-The Hurting Kind by Ada Limon
Dr. Camille U. Adams is a writer from Trinidad and Tobago. Camille is the author of the memoir, How To Be Unmothered: a Trinidadian memoir, released August 2025 with Restless Books. Her manuscript was recognised as a finalist in the Restless Books Prize in New Immigrant Writing 2023. Camille earned her MFA in Poetry from City College, CUNY and a Ph.D. in Creative Nonfiction from FSU. She has been awarded Best of The Net - nonfiction 2024, and has received five Pushcart Prize nominations, three Best of the Net nominations, and recognition for a notable essay in Best American Essays 2022. Among Camille’s awarded fellowships is an inaugural Tin House Reading Fellowship, an inaugural Granta nature writing workshop fellowship, an inaugural Anaphora Arts Italy Writing Retreat Fellowship, a McKnight Doctoral Fellowship, a Community of Writers Erica Ellner Memorial Scholarship, and a Roots Wounds Words Fellowship. Additionally, Camille is a Tin House alum and has received support from Kenyon Writers Workshop, VONA, and others. She has served as a juried reader for Tin House for two consecutive years, as a CNF editor at Variant Lit, and as an assistant editor at Split Lip Magazine and at The Account. Camille currently lives in Brooklyn where she teaches and is hard at work on book two.
Connect with Camille:
Website: www.camilleuadams.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camille_u_adams
Twitter: https://x.com/camille_u_adams
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@camille_u_adams
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/camilleuadams.bsky.social
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Lora Abrador joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation weaving together three themes in her memoir, writing about the ancient technique of egg tempura paint, incorporating 300 images in her book, gaining confidence as an artist, struggling to form a lasting romantic partnership, nature vs. nurture, our innate personalities, self-actualization, love addiction, feeling like a wounded bird, really connecting with an editor, publishing options, working with copyeditors, factchecking, recording an audio book, not intending to reveal ourselves but doing so anyway, and her new memoir Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
This episode is brought to you by Prose Playground. If you’ve been writing for years but haven’t published, have tons of ideas but can’t get them on the page, if you have a book coming out, or you’re simply curious about writing, join Prose Playground—an active, supportive writing community for writers at every level. Visit www.ProsePlayground.com to sign up free.
Also in this episode:
-trade reviews
-beta readers
-proof readers and proof listeners
Books mentioned in this episode:
Editing the RedPen Way: Ten Steps for Successful Self-Editing by Anne Rainbow
When She Comes Back: a memoir by Ronit Plank
Disconnected: Portrait of a Neurodiverse Marriage by Eleaonor Vincent
Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over by Nell Painter
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston by Musa Mayer
Hold Still by Sally Mann
My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand
At the age of 19, Lora Arbrador was given a recipe for making egg tempera, a homemade paint that combines colorful pigments with egg yolk. Like a musician with a strong affinity for a particular instrument, Ahrbrador found her creative home in egg tempera. To support her art practice, Arbrador became a registered nurse and the medical world has been the inspiration for many of her paintings, including the series, Ways of Dying: A Chronicle of the AIDS Epidemic. Her painting, Don’t Go My Friend: The Death of John Walsh, MD, won first place at the Art and Healing exhibit at Artwest Gallery.
In 1997, Arbrador co-founded the Society of Tempera Painters which was modeled after the 1901 Society of Painters in Tempera in England. Her first book, A History of Roman Calligraphy, is housed in the Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts & Special Collections Center of the San Francisco Public Library. Arbrador has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the US, including South Bend Regional Museum of Art, Wenatchee Valley College Art Gallery and the Bade Museum of the Pacific School of Religion. Arbrador is the former Editorial Director of NurseWeek magazine Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera.
Connect with Lora:
Website: www.artandlovebook.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arbrador
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arbrador
https://www.facebook.com/lora.arbrador/
substack: artblotterplus.substack.com
Purchase the book: www.artandlovebook.com/shop
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Gretchen McGowan joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the grit and glam of the 90s in New York, her career producing independent films, the thrill of creating something from nothing, honoring our own process, willing to be self-deprecating, negotiating manuscript revisions in digestible ways, keeping writing momentum in mind, getting character-you into trouble, when everyone around you seems to have it figured out, loving the hustle of NY, scrappiness, her role as the head of Goldcrest films, and her memoir Flying In: My Adventures in Filmmaking.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
This episode is brought to you by Prose Playground. If you’ve been writing for years but haven’t published, have tons of ideas but can’t get them on the page, if you have a book coming out, or you’re simply curious about writing, join Prose Playground—an active, supportive writing community for writers at every level. Visit www.ProsePlayground.com to sign up free.
Also in this episode:
-doing what works
-transcendental mediation
-women’s career memoirs
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
-An Unfinished Woman by Lillian Hellman
-The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith
-Fast Draft Your Memoir by Rachael Herron
Gretchen McGowan is an award-winning producer and the head of production for Goldcrest Films in New York City where she has overseen titles such as Cat Person, Carol and Restrepo. Gretchen independently produced Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control, helped to make his iconic film Coffee and Cigarettes and has made over sixty films across the globe. Her new memoir is Flying In: My Adventures in Filmmaking.
Connect with Gretchen:
Website: www.gretchenmcgowan.com
Links: https://linktr.ee/gretchenmcgowan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretmcgowan
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class
Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Sarah Gallucci joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being the child of a teen mom and early influences on ideas of love and relationships, pivoting from journalism to reporting on her own life, the hey day of mommy blogging, when relationships become incredibly messy, how we experience pleasure, manipulative, coercive, and nonconsensual sex, giving a partner a hall pass, measuring the brokenness of a marriage, writing when you’re in the thick of it, the aftermath of divorce, why writing real sex is imperative to literature, the autonomy of self-publishing, when family stops speaking to us after publication, strategies to writing about sex, and Laid: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and Marriage.
Info/Registration for Ronit’s 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
This episode is brought to you by Prose Playground. If you’ve been writing for years but haven’t published, have tons of ideas but can’t get them on the page, if you have a book coming out, or you’re simply curious about writing, join Prose Playground—an active, supportive writing community for writers at every level. Visit www.ProsePlayground.com to sign up free.
Also in this episode:
-trusting your truth
-blogging and going viral
-writing from a raw, unprocessed place
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Hunger by Roxanne Gay
-Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
-Wild by Cheryl Strayed
-Push by Sapphire
Sarah Gallucci is the author of Laid: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and Marriage. She has written reported features for CNN, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Harper's Bazaar, among others. Sarah works as a professor at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is also a speaker, and has given two TEDx talks. Most importantly, Sarah is the mother of two with storytelling, creative healing, and pasta in her blood.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: www.SarahGallucci.com
Instagram: @_Sarah_Gallucci_
TikTok: @_Sarah_Gallucci_
Threads: @_Sarah_Gallucci_
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Laid-Memoir-Love-Sex-Marriage/dp/B0DVCBXVZ7/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
Talks: https://www.sarahgallucci.com/speaking
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Elizabeth Rynecki and Tony Kaplan join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about multi-disciplinary approaches to memoir, the different skills we need for storytelling modalities, their new podcast That Sinking Feeling: Adventures in ADHD and Ship Salvage, searching for answers to family stories, the documentary about Elizabeth’s great grandfather who perished in the Holocaust, drawing connections, how to weave two very disparate things, being humble, the hoops we jump through to get a project made, ADHD and autism, capturing a spectrum of voices, respecting privacy, consuming art in all its formats to enrich your own creativity, Elizabeth’s memoir Chasing Portraits: A Great Granddaughter’s Quest for Her Lost Art Legacy.
Also in this episode:
-steep learning curves
-mother-son challenges
-the importance of vulnerability in storytelling
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Story of a Poem: A Memoir by Matthew Zapruder
-I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O’Farrell
-Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein
-The Souvenir by Louise Steinman
Documentaries mentioned in this episode:
-Crip Camp by Nicole Newham and James LeBrecht
-Shermans’ March by Ross McElwee
Elizabeth Rynecki’s narrative non-fiction memoir, Chasing Portraits: A Great Granddaughter’s Quest for Her Lost Art Legacy was published by NAL/Penguin Random House in 2016 and received a Kirkus Starred Review. She wrote, produced, and appeared in the documentary film, Chasing Portraits. She’s been featured in the New York Times, been a guest on NPR affiliate stations, and been a speaker at bookstores, libraries, book festivals, and film screenings around the world. Her podcast, That Sinking Feeling: Adventures in ADHD and Ship Salvage is available everywhere you get podcasts. She’s working on a novel inspired by real events. Elizabeth has a BA in Rhetoric from Bates College and an MA in Rhetoric and Communication from UC Davis. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, two sons, and three black cats.
Website: https://www.elizabethrynecki.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erynecki/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/erynecki.bsky.social
Substack: https://substack.com/@elizabethrynecki?utm_source=user-menu
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@erynecki
That Sinking Feeling: Adventures in ADHD and Ship Salvage on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-sinking-feeling/id1789191829
Tony Kaplan is an Emmy-nominated documentary director, cinematographer and filmmaker. He has more than 20 years of experience as a creative lead working within the film industry, and he produced and edited “That Sinking Feeling,” a podcast about the unlikely intersection of ADHD and ship salvage.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaplantony
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user210636356
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wraplan
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Sarah Chauncey joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her many careers in writing, working on a memoir and deciding not to publish, framing the story we want to tell, experiencing ourselves as a part of living system, going deeper and becoming more vulnerable, taking responsibility for our wellbeing and mental health, not seeing oneself as a limited, pursuing inner peace, reading subtextual energy on the page, different forms of storytelling, patterns in memoir, searching for emotional transformation and change, and getting to the heart of spiritual and awakened memoir.
Also in this episode:
-the great mystery
-no longer being a character
-deciding not to be too public
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Working by Studs Terkel
-The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
-Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen
-Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg
-The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown
Sarah Chauncey is a veteran writer and developmental editor, as well as the author of P.S. I Love You More Than Tuna, the first gift book for adults grieving the loss of a pet. In the early part of her career, she wrote for VH1, Comedy Central and other TV outlets, as well as entertainment websites and music magazines. Later, she pivoted to storytelling for organizations including NASA, McAfee and Intel. Sarah writes the Resonant Storytelling Substack, which offers guidance on craft and process for creative nonfiction writers. She also writes The Counterintuitive Guide to Life, which helps readers develop mental health resilience by developing self-awareness; and More Than Tuna, which offers support for those grieving the loss of a pet. In recent years, she’s written for Tiny Buddha, Lion’s Roar, Modern Loss, Eckhart Tolle’s website, Jane Friedman’s blog and the Brevity blog.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: https://www.sarahchauncey.com/
Substack: https://substack.com/@sarahchauncey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahkchauncey/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahchauncey/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.k.chauncey
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Kaila Yu joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how she hated writing at first and has had an accidental career in it, how she had no intention of writing a memoir, selling a book on proposal and pitching off a timely event, racial and sexually motivated hate crime, Asian fetishization and the feeling of being other, her experience as a pin up model in the 90s, sexual assault and the flight, fight, fawn response, dismantling tropes, the male gaze, forms of erasure, internalized racism, putting it all out there, and her new memoir in essays Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty.
Also in this episode:
-feeling invisible
-shaping a book with an agent
-the marathon that is book promotion
Books mentioned in this episode:
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
My Body by Emily Ratajkowski
Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It by Kamal Ravikant
Kaila Yu is an author with bylines in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Bon Appétit, Conde Nast Traveler, and many more.
Her debut memoir, ‘Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty,’ was published on August 19th, 2025, with Penguin Random House's Crown Publishing.
Connect with Kaila:
instagram.com/kailayu
tiktok.com/@kaila.yu
KailaYu.com
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738645/fetishized-by-kaila-yu/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Tamara Jong joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up Jehovah’s Witness, her mother's untimely passing, losing faith, disguising who we are, trying multiple approaches to a writing practice, navigating material that resists us, becoming vulnerable, the tenderness of losing, learning to trust ourselves, weaving in motherhood and mother figures in our work, finding community and home, spirituality without religion, when we feel comfortable enough to be ourselves, and her new memoir in essays Worldly Girls.
Also in this episode:
-learning to trust others
-leaning into what works for us
-feeling compelled to finish books
Books mentioned in this episode:
Lit by Mary Karr
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel byAlexander Chee
Unquenchable Thirst by Mary Johnson
TAMARA JONG is a Tiohtià:ke (Montréal) born writer of Chinese and European ancestry. Her work has been published in the Humber Literary Review, Room Magazine, and The Fiddlehead, and has been both long and shortlisted for various creative non-fiction prizes. She is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University, and a former member of Room Magazine’s collective. She currently lives and works on Treaty 3 territory, the occupied and ancestral lands of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabewaki, Attiwonderonk, and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (Guelph, ON). Worldly Girls is her first book.
Connect with Tamara:
Website: https://www.tamaraljong.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bokchoygurl
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bokchoygurltjong.bsky.social
Twitter: @Bokchoygurl
Book*hug's website: https://bookhugpress.ca/shop/author/tamara-jong/worldly-girls-by-tamara-jong/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/worldly-girls-tamara-jong/1146964224?ean=9781771669504
Also available on Amazon or ask for it at your local bookstore or your library
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Diane Gottlieb, Jennifer Fliss, and Nina B. Lichtenstein join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about their work as editors and what they look for in submissions, setting your writing apart, knowing where to omit for maximum impact, the magic of prompts, working with supportive editors, how constraints give us freedom, ordering an essay collection, how stories sustain us, disentangling the artist from politics, allyship, the process of becoming ourselves, celebrating our heritage, the ecosystem of Jewish life, submission calls, and our new anthology Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage.
Also in this episode:
-being seen
-writing into joy
-being a Jew by choice
Purchase Manna Songs here: https://elj-editions.com/mannasongs/ and wherever you get your books
www.Dianegottlieb.com
www.Jenniferflisscreative.com
https://www.ninalichtenstein.com/
Diane Gottlieb, MSW, MEd, MFA, is the editor of Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture & Heritage, the award-winning anthology Awakenings: Stories of Body & Consciousness, and Grieving Hope. Her writing appears in Brevity, Witness, River Teeth, 2023 Best Microfiction, Smokelong Quarterly, Bellevue Review, Colorado Review, JUDITH, and Jewish Book Council among many other lovely places. She is the winner of Tiferet Journal’s 2021 Writing Contest in Nonfiction, and a finalist for Hole in the Head Review’s 2024 Charles Simic Poetry Prize and Florida Review’s 2023 Editor’s Choice Award in Nonfiction. Diane is the Prose/CNF Editor at Emerge Literary and the Special Projects Editor at ELJ Editions.
Connect with Diane:
https://elj-editions.com/mannasongs/
dianegottlieb.com
@dianegotauthor
Jennifer Fliss (she/her) is a Seattle-based author of the collections, As If She Had a Say and The Predatory Animal Ball. Over 200 of her stories and essays have appeared in F(r)iction, PANK, Hobart, The Rumpus, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. She was a Pen Parentis Fellow and recipient of a Grant for Artist Project award from Artist’s Trust.
www.jenniferflisscreative.com
https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9780810146259/as-if-she-had-a-say/
https://okaydonkeymag.bigcartel.com/product/the-predatory-animal-ball-by-jennifer-fliss
Nina B. Lichtenstein is a native of Oslo, Norway, and holds a PhD in French literature from UCONN and an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program. She is the founder and director of Maine Writers Studio, and the co-founder and co-editor of In a Flash Lit Mag. Her writing has appeared in various journals, magazines, and outlets, as well as in several anthologies. Her book, Sephardic Women's Voices: Out of North Africa, was published by Gaon Books in 2017, and her memoir, Body: My Life in Parts by Vine Leaves Press in May , 2025. She has three adult sons, and lives in Maine with her husband.
https://www.facebook.com/ninalich/
https://www.instagram.com/vikingjewess/
https://ninablichtenstein.substack.com/
https://www.ninalichtenstein.com/
https://www.mainewritersstudio.com/
https://vineleavespress.myshopify.com/products/body-my-life-in-parts-by-nina-b-lichtenstein
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Edgar Gomez joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up poor in Florida, wanting to believe in the American dream and realizing it’s not accessible, surviving a precarious childhood, reckoning with trauma, grappling with and excavating shame, what queer people want vs. what they get, navigating sex work, the Pulse nightclub tragedy, when to tell family about our memoirs, writing about others with generosity, staying true to our identity, fighting for joy, and their memoir in essays Alligator Tears.
Also in this episode:
-staying true to ourselves
-growing up NicaRican
-navigating queerness
Books mentioned in this episode:
Butterfly Boy by Rigoberto Gonzalez
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Neale Hurston
Edgar Gomez is a queer NicaRican writer born and raised in Florida. He is the author of the memoir High-Risk Homosexual, winner of the American Book Award, a Stonewall Israel-Fishman Nonfiction Book Honor Award, and the Lambda Literary Award. Their sophomore book, Alligator Tears, was released in February 2025 and was called "Triumphant, dazzling, and unfailingly stylish" by Publisher's Weekly. A graduate of the University of California’s MFA program, Gomez has written for The LA Times, Poets & Writers, Lithub, New York Magazine, and beyond. He has received fellowships from The New York Foundation for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Black Mountain Institute. He lives between New York and Puerto Rico. Find him across social media @OtroEdgarGomez.
Connect with Edgar:
Website: EdgarGomez.net
@OtroEdgarGomez on Bluesky and instagram.
Get the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/743399/alligator-tears-by-edgar-gomez/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Anne Abel joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her experiences winning the Moth StorySLAM, what she learned from the storytelling community, the lifelong toll of her parents’ abuse and her chronic, recurrent depression, overcoming self-loathing, how Bruce Springsteen changed her life, following a hunch, overcoming writers block, why it’s better to overwrite than underwrite, her giant following on TikTok and Instagram, why it’s never too late to move forward, taking a leap and landing on our feet, allowing ourselves to persevere and dream, and her new memoir High Hopes.
Also in this episode:
-capturing story
-leaning into dialogue
-why it’s never too late to move forward
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
-Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
-Educated by Tara Westover
-Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
Anne Abel is an author, storyteller, and influencer with over 700 thousand followers. Her first memoir, Mattie, Milo, and Me, (2024), about unwittingly rescuing an aggressive dog, was inspired by her Moth StorySLAM win in New York City. Her second memoir, High Hopes, was inspired by her Moth StorySLAM win in Chicago. It will be published September, 23, 2025. In January, 2025 she was featured in Newsweek, “Boomer’s Story About How She Met Her Husband of 45 Years Captivates Internet.” She holds an MFA from The New School for Social Research, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a BS in chemical engineering from Tufts University. She has freelanced for multiple outlets over the course of her career.
Anne lives in New York City with her husband, Andy, and their cavapoo puppy, Wendell. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok: @annesimaabel
Connect with Anne:
Instagram, TikTok, FB @annesimaabel
Website: www.anneabelauthor.com
High Hopes: A Memoir: https://a.co/d/88HiMkb
Mattie, Milo, and Me: A Memoir: https://a.co/d/aiDwCqw
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Heather Sweeney joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her quest to find out who she was apart from her life as a military wife, mining 20 years worth of journals, uncovering internal dynamics through writing, knowing where to begin a memoir, managing multiple settings with a chronological timeline, cutting redundancies, retitling a memoir late in the game, killing our darlings, writing about exes, coping strategies, reclaiming identity, being true to our own writing process, and her new memoir Camouflage: How I Emerged from the Shadows of a Military Marriage.
Also in this episode:
-writing when you can
-the e-structure
-brainstorming for titles
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Seven Drafts Allison K. Williams
-Wild by Cheryl Strayed
-On Writing by Stephen King
-Bird by Bird by Anne Lammott
-Big Magic by Elizabeth GIlbert
-Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum
-The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
-The Book Bible by Sue Shapiro
-A Thousand Words by Jamie Attenberg
Heather Sweeney is the author of the memoir Camouflage: How I Emerged from the Shadows of a Military Marriage. She writes about divorce, life as a military spouse, parenting, and women’s health, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, HuffPost, TODAY.com, Newsweek, Business Insider, Good Housekeeping, Healthline, Grown and Flown, Military.com, and many others. She lives in Virginia with her boyfriend, two college-aged kids, and their geriatric Labrador retriever.
Connect with Heather:
Website: https://www.heatherlsweeney.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writersweeney
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@writersweeney
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heathersweeneywrites
Substack: https://heathersweeney.substack.com/
Amazon: http://posthill.to/B0F316HJTD
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/camouflage-heather-sweeney/1147211233
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/camouflage-how-i-emerged-from-the-shadows-of-a-military-marriage-heather-sweeney/22522585
Target: https://www.target.com/p/camouflage-by-heather-sweeney-paperback/-/A-1003183204
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Kelly Foster Lundquist joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about falling in love with creative nonfiction, believing our story is worth sharing, contemplating how to tell it without hurting someone else, shifting from writing academically to personally, taking 20 years to complete a memoir, leaning into and trusting the particularity of our story, learning to stop explaining in our manuscripts, trying different structural approaches, the pattern hungry brain, incorporating culture, history, and research, when writing feels redemptive, liberating, and affirming, and her new memoir Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage.
Also in this episode:
-gratitude
-conversion therapy
-when a story feels too sacred
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Argonauts by Maggie Nelston
-The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
-Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Books by Allison K. Williams
-Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salessas
Kelly Foster Lundquist teaches writing at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, MN. Originally from Mississippi, Lundquist has taught writing all over the United States (Boston, Chicago, Mississippi, Seattle, California, etc), as well as in Slovakia and Scotland. Her poetry and nonfiction can be seen in many places, including Villain Era Lit, Last Syllable Lit, Whale Road Review, and Image Journal. Her work has been nominated for a 2024 Best of the Net Award as well as a Pushcart Prize. She is the recipient of grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board as well as the Central Minnesota Arts Board. Her book Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage (Eerdmans) will debut in October 2025. She lives in a little red house in Minnesota with her spouse and daughter.
Connect with Kelly:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyfosterlundquist
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EgWxeL94v/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Website: https://www.kellyfosterlundquist.com/
Book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/beard-a-memoir-of-a-marriage-kelly-foster-lundquist/22424165?ean=9780802884732&next=t
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Shigeko Ito joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the lasting impact of childhood emotional neglect, how invisible trauma can manifest in adult life, fragmented memories, facing a fierce inner critic, accepting limits, growing as a person and as a writer, when the back story feels as important and relevant as the front story, the often chaotic experience of managing lots of material, becoming more compassionate, the healing power of storytelling, the generational trauma we inherit, using our experience to help others, and her new memoir The Pond Beyond the Forest: Reflections on Childhood Trauma and Motherhood.
Also in this episode:
-not giving up
-our authentic selves
-viewing our work from a larger picture
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Writing Without a Parachute:The Art of Freefall by Barbara Turner-Vesselago
-Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
-The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
-Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg
-Your Life as Story by Tristine Rainer
-Immersion and Emotion: The Two Pillars of Storytelling by Michelle Barker
Shigeko Ito is an author, educator, and mental health advocate in Seattle who grew up in Japan and immigrated to the United States in her early twenties to pursue higher education. She holds an MEd in early childhood education with an integrated Montessori teaching credential from the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California, and a PhD in Education from Stanford University.
Her articles have appeared on the CPTSD Foundation's blog and on the ADAA (Anxiety and Depression Association of America) website. She has spent many years teaching at a Montessori preschool in Seattle, where she lives with her husband of thirty years. Her new memoir is The Pond Beyond the Forest: Reflections on Childhood Trauma and Motherhood.
Connect with Shigeko:
Website: shigekoito.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/shigekoitomemoir
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/shigekochakoito
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shigekoito-memoir
Twitter/X: x.com/ShigekoChakoIto
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/shigekoito.bsky.social
The Pond Beyond the Forest: Reflections on Childhood Trauma and Motherhood is available at major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes &; Noble, and Apple Books. However, the official purchase link is: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Pond-Beyond-the-Forest/Shigeko-Ito/9781647429805
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Leslie Johansen Nack joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up with parents who struggled with mental illness and substance abuse, surviving an inappropriate and domineering father, getting tools to heal, making ourselves safe, knowing as a child you will write your story, becoming sober, portraying difficult and abusive people as whole human beings, writing a memoir like a novel, when family members disavow our memoirs, excavating the divided self on the page, grappling with feeling exposed, telling the truth to help move the cultural needle, and her new memoir Nineteen: A Daughter’s Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery.
*Seattle area listeners, Leslie and Ronit will be in conversation at Third Place Books Ravenna on Tuesday, October 28th 2025 at 7:00. Reserve your spot here:
https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/event/leslie-johansen-nack
Also in this episode:
-overcoming past trauma
-writing a memoir sequel
-when siblings respond to our memoir differently
Book mentioned in this episode:
Liars Club by Mary Karr
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
American Daughter by Stephanie Thornton Plymale
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
Unearthed: On Race and Roots, and How the Soil Taught Me I Belong by Claire Ratinon
Leslie Johansen Nack is the author of two award-winning books: her debut memoir, Fourteen, and her historical novel, The Blue Butterfly. Hersequel, Nineteen: A Daughter’s Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery, a Zibby most anticipated book for 2025, concludes her raw and deeply personal story, chronicling her path to sobriety and a renewed sense of hope. Nack graduated from UCLA with a degree in English literature and overcame past traumas to raise two children in a healthy, loving home. She is a member of NAMW, the Historical Novel Society, and the PNWA. She lives outside Seattle with her husband.
Connect with Leslie:
Website: www.lesliejohansennack.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesliejohansennack/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Leslie.johansen.nack/
YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqImTCBk_TIKCpA7NSWHbbQ
Get the book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/search/books/_/N-/Ntt-Leslie+Johansen+Nack
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Sue William Silverman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about evolving as a writer and bringing freshness to the same subject, experimenting with truncated and fractured forms, making a collection more cohesive, writing to feel centered, utilizing a recurring persona, the divided self in memoir, trusting the pieces will fall into place, giving ourselves new challenges, leaning into sensory details, writing as imagistically as possible, focusing on our obsessions, claiming our story, and her new collection Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader.
Also in this episode:
-using metaphor
-our core narratives
-casting a light on the narrator’s interiority
Books and resources mentioned in this episode:
-Heating and Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly
-flash essays at Brevitymag.com
-find Sue’s complete list of book recommendations at SueWilliamSilverman.com
Sue William Silverman is an award-winning author of nine works of nonfiction and poetry. Her new book, "Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader," is a collection of flash essays. Her book on the craft of writing, "Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul," won the 2024 IPPY Silver Award. Her memoir-in essays collection, "How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences," won the gold star in Foreword Reviews INDIE Book of the Year Award and the Clara Johnson Award for Women’s Literature. Other works include "Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction," made into a Lifetime TV movie; "Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You," which won the AWP Award; and "The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew." She’s co-chair of the MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her media appearances include The View, Anderson Cooper-360, and PBS Books.
Connect with Sue:
Website: www.SueWilliamSilverman.com
Facebook: SueWilliamSilverman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suewilliamsilverman
University of Nebraska Press: https://tinyurl.com/mwph3wvs
Bookshop.org: https://tinyurl.com/56n9u9p5
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/bsa7ay22
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Ren Cedar Fuller joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how when we love people we want their world to be bigger, raising a transgender child, having a disability, writing a lot of drafts for the right structure to snap into place, revising for months, not forcing an ending, writing about other people, including our children in our work, putting a collection together, finding themes in our work, entering contests, moving toward creativity and also toward organization, shaping a memoir-in-essays vs. an essay collection, and her award winning collection Bigger.
Also in this episode:
-using the Poets & Writers database to research contests and presses
-studying in an MFA program
-a close look at a hermit crab essay
Books mentioned in this episode:
-H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
-Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel
-In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Ren Cedar Fuller's debut book, Bigger, won the 2024 Autumn House Press Nonfiction Prize and was a finalist for the 2024 Iron Horse Prize and the Santa Fe Writers Project 2023 Literary Awards Program. Her creative nonfiction essays have won Under the Sun's Summer Writing Contest in 2022, been a finalist in the 2022 Terry Tempest Williams Prize for Creative Nonfiction at North American Review, and placed second in the 2022 Eunice Williams Nonfiction Prize. Ren’s essays have appeared in HerStry, Hippocampus, New England Review, North American Review, and Under the Sun, and have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best American Essays.
Ren is a parent facilitator at TransFamilies, an online hub for families with gender diverse children. She taught public school in California, Oregon, and Washington before founding a nonprofit early learning center in the Seattle area, where she continues teaching parent education.Ren lives in Seattle with her husband, Jason, and loves to kayak on the Salish Sea. She is currently in the M.F.A. in Writing program at Pacific University.
https://www.instagram.com/ren.cedar.fuller/
https://www.rencedarfuller.com/
Book purchase: https://bookshop.org/p/books/bigger-essays/f18b41d10d1216d8?ean=9781637681084&next=t&affiliate=21790
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Gina Tron joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about coming of age in the aftermath of the Columbine massacre, the myth of the bullied school shooter, revenge fantasies, her advocacy work, capturing the 1990s, connecting a personal story through journalism and interviews, being a suspected school shooter, when a publisher gets cold feet, leaning into shame, not wanting to be a problem author, confronting the dark and the embarrassing, giving ourselves grace, being as honest and vulnerable as possible, trying to paint the most accurate version of ourselves, and her new memoir Suspect.
Also in this episode:
-having multiple editors
-working with contracts
-keeping lots of journals
Books mentioned in this episode:
-On Writing by Stephen King
-The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
-It’s Kind of a Funny Story
-Books by Hunter S. Thompson
Gina Tron is the author of several memoirs and poetry books, including her debut 2014 memoir "You're Fine,” called "vibrant, darkly funny, and courageously candid,” by Interview Magazine. She wrote reported pieces for several outlets, including The Washington Post, VICE, Politico, and The Daily Beast. The Rumpus says her newest memoir-journalism hybrid "Suspect" captures the 1990s "without sentimentality, and with a very clear lens." Gina’s work advocating for rape victim-survivors has helped lead to several bills and the DOJ investigation into the NYPD’s Special Victims Department. She received her MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts and is an adjunct professor at Norwich University in Vermont.
Connect with Gina:
Website: www.ginatron.net
Instagram: instagram.com/ginatron
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gina.tron/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ttcm45uxu7xamlv7a6tq2tuv
X: https://x.com/_ginatron
Get the book: https://whiskeytit.com/product/suspect/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/suspect-gina-tron/1146576658?ean=9781952600586
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Jocelyn Jane Cox joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the challenges and guilt around caretaking, her childhood experience as a competitive figure skater, telling a story in the structure of a day, using the directed “you” in a book, writing about what has shaped us and played a role in the story we are trying to tell, using Post-It Notes, ordering our backstory, listmaking a low pressure way to get material on the page, as the process of adding and subtracting, exploring divisions within ourselves, developing and exploring metaphor in our narratives, and her new memoir Motion Dazzle: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss, and Skating on Thin Ice.
Also in this episode:
-reducing page count
-relying on Beta readers
-the silver tsunami
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Wolf
-On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
-The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
-Fast Draft Your Memoir: Write Your Story in 45 Hours by Rachel Herron
Jocelyn Jane Cox joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about Motion Dazzle: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss, and Skating on Thin Ice.
Jocelyn Jane Cox holds an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Sarah Lawrence College. She competed in the United States Figure Skating Championships with her older brother Brad four times (twice in pair skating and twice in ice dance). She has been coaching kids, teenagers, and adults in both skating and writing for over 25 years. Her creative nonfiction was included in the anthology Awakenings: Stories of Body Consciousness, edited by Diane Gottlieb (2023). Among other publications, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Newsweek, Good Men Project, WIRED, Belladonna Comedy, The Offing, HAD, Cleaver, Litro Magazine, Literal Latte, and Colorado Review. Her fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She lives with her son and husband in the Hudson Valley of New York.
Connect with Jocelyn:
Website: https://www.jocelynjanecox.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jocelynjanecoxwriter/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JocelynJaneCoxWriter
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jocelynjanecox.bsky.social
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Gaar Adams joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about living amongst and depicting queer and migrant communities in the Gulf states, falling in love with Arabic literature and translation, the undeniable parallels between queerness and migration, exploring subversive acts, capturing ourselves in less than flattering ways, combating self-censorship, concern with how loved ones might perceive us, protecting our memory, calibrating interiority, writing into periods of discomfort, the importance of chosen families, transcribing and organizing vast amounts of material and interviews, allowing for a multiplicity of voices, intentional interrogation of stories that aren’t being told, and his new book Guest Privileges: Queer Lives and Finding Home in the Middle East.
Also in this episode:
-the fallacy of the solo artist
-knowing when to let go
-protecting our memory
Books mentioned in this episode:
Notes on a Foreign Country by Suzy Hansen
Sea State: A Memoir by Tabitha Lasley
Maximum City by Suketu Mehta
The Pink Line by Mark Gevisser
Gaar Adams is the author of Guest Privileges: Queer Lives and Finding Home in the Middle East, longlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. His reporting from the Middle East and South Asia has been featured in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Rolling Stone, Bloomberg, VICE, Slate, and elsewhere. He received his Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Glasgow and currently teaches on the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Hull. He lives in London, UK.
Connect with Gaar:
Website: https://gaaradams.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gaar.adams/
X: https://x.com/gaaradams
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Bridey Thelen-Heidel joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up with a mom who was addicted to everything including dangerous men, revisiting and writing about a traumatic childhood forty plus decades later, when you have to let go to protect yourself, choosing to balance the heaviness and dysfunction in a story with pop culture and lightness, writing creatively with an audience in mind, speaking for the child you once were, being true to your past experience, learning to let go and trust editorial feedback, knowing the ending of your book as you live it, literary devices and motifs, being a hybrid author and her 3 Cs for rocking book promotion, grieving the mother she never had, and her award-winning memoir Bright Eyes.
Also in this episode:
-trauma bonding with music
-enmeshed relationships
-investing in yourself
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Some Bright Morning I’ll Fly Away by Alice Anderson
-The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
-The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
-Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
-Fearless Writing by William Kenower
-Fast-Draft Your Memoir: Write Your Life Story in 45 Hours
by Rachael Herron
-Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
-The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Bridey Thelen-Heidel is a teacher, TEDx speaker, and cast member of Listen To Your Mother NYC. Her memoir, Bright Eyes, earned a Zibby Award “Best Story of Overcoming,” New York City Big Book Award “Distinguished Favorite,” and Runner-up from the San Francisco Writers’ Festival. A fierce LGBT+ youth advocate, Bridey has been celebrated by the California Teachers' Association. She’s also partnered with NAMI and numerous domestic violence and child abuse resource agencies, speaking about defeating our monsters but also learning to live without them.
Connect with Bridey:
Website: bridey-thelenheidel.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/brighteyesthememoir/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/brighteyesauthor/
TikTok: @brighteyes_author
TEDx Talk: ROB the Trauma: Steal Back Your Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT6rvXyjsZU&t=152s
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Sarah Boon joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about allowing elements of a memoir to reveal themselves, radical acceptance of what we need as a writer and what we can feasibly accomplish with the resources we have, getting to know who we are as creatives, publishing with an academic press and the peer review process, navigating refusals, struggling with narrative arc, her experience as a woman and a scientist doing research in remote locations, breaking away from science writing to write a science memoir, living with bipolar II and anxiety, the effect of mental illness on creative process, being gentler with ourselves, pivoting from working alone to sharing a personal story, and her new memoir Meltdown: The Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist.
Also in this episode:
-writing groups
-living with an invisible illness
-discovering the trajectory for your book
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Solitude of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich
The Only Woman in the Room Eileen Pollack
Mean and Lowly Things: Survival: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo by Kate Jackson
Sarah Boon, PhD, has published essays, book reviews, and author interviews for the LA Review of Books, Hippocampus, The Rumpus, Brevity Blog, Science, Nature and other outlets. Her first book, Meltdown: The Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist, came out with University of Alberta Press in June of 2025. She lives on southern Vancouver Island with her husband and dog, and is working on her next book.
Connect with Sarah:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHjQHnRpPTG/
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/snowhydro.bsky.social
FB: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.boon.31
www.melt-down.ca
www.watershednotes.ca
Get the book:
For Canadians: https://www.indiebookstores.ca/book/9781772127911/
For Americans: https://bookshop.org/p/books/meltdown-the-making-and-breaking-of-a-field-scientist-sarah-boon/21630061?ean=9781772127911
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Michael Jamin joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about his career as a TV writer, moving from mimicking to discovering and trusting our own voice, allowing our style to evolve,
making sense of ourselves through art, imposter syndrome and feeling displeased with our work, comedy writing, performing staged readings to test out material, building a bridge between separate sections of our story, infusing comedy with drama, asking permission from children before we write about them, breathing life into relationships on the page for readers to witness, showing up generously for newer writers, getting a moment to land, and his memoir A Paper Orchestra.
Also in this episode:
-doing stand up
-debunking writing myths
-having a spouse as trusted reader
Books mentioned in this episode
-Books by David Sedaris
-David Bowie making art video YouTube
Michael Jamin is a TV writer/author. His many television credits include King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head, Just Shoot Me, Wilfred, Maron, Rules of Engagement, Brickleberry, and Tacoma FD. His debut collection of personal essays (a cross between David Sedaris and Neil Simon) was just named one of Vulture’s “Best Comedy Books of 2024.”
Connect with Michael:
Website: michaeljamin.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MichaelJaminWriter/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/michaeljaminwriter/
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeljaminwriter
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/MichaelJaminWriter
Threads https://www.threads.net/@michaeljaminwriter
A Paper Orchestra: michaeljamin.com/book
Catch Michael Jamin on tour: michaeljamin.com/upcoming
Mining Your Life for Stories: (memoir writing course) https://michaeljamin.com/sp/mining-sales/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Melissa Fraterrigo joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the personal and emotional toll of being female, becoming a mother and watching her daughters navigate culture, making sense of our world through memoir and essay, discovering a softness for the younger versions of ourselves, when the fictional world doesn’t hold our attention, processing different time periods, making sure there are universal truths in memoir as well as our own story, not inviting people others into the space while we’re drafting, memoir as permission to explore our own life, taking the time to get to know ourselves and our process, how are we changed by writing, and her new memoir The Perils of Girlhood.
Also in this episode:
-Lafayette Writers Studio
-sharing of ourselves
-keeping our channels open
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Writing Past Dark by Bonnie Friedman
-The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard
-How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
-Spilt Milk by Courtney Zoffness
-Books by Melissa Febos
-Negative Space by Lilly Dancyger
Melissa Fraterrigo’s new memoir is The Perils of Girlhood published by the University of Nebraska Press. She is also the author of the novel Glory Days (University of Nebraska Press, 2017), which was named one of “The Best Fiction Books of 2017” by the Chicago Review of Books as well as the short story collection The Longest Pregnancy (Livingston Press, 2006). Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies from storySouth and Shenandoah to Notre Dame Review, Sou’wester and The Millions. A graduate of the University of Iowa (BA) and Bowling Green State University (MFA), she teaches creative writing at Purdue University, and is also the founder and executive director of the Lafayette Writers’ Studio in Lafayette, Indiana, where she offers classes on the art and craft of writing. She lives with her husband and two daughters in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Connect with Melissa:
Website: melissafraterrigo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.fraterrigo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissafraterrigo/
Lafayette Writers’ Studio: lafayettewritersstudio.com
Get her book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-perils-of-girlhood-a-memoir-in-essays/6da6408eda085813
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496242203?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_XZ0VSR4RDAFX5FBRZYB6
https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496242204/the-perils-of-girlhood/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Gail Eisnitz joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about structuring her memoir around her pursuit of answers to a lifelong medical mystery, coming to terms with her own humanness, writing about her career in animal advocacy, exposing the underbelly of the meat industry and effecting change for millions of animals, working on difficult and hard-to-sell material, not sharing a book project with friends and loved ones until it’s complete, weathering a difficult submission process, allowing herself to soften emotionally, becoming more in touch with self-compassion, and her new memoir Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator’s Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival.
Also in this episode:
-factory farms
-writing what feels right
-discovering what holds the book together
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
The Choice by Dr. Eva Edith Eger
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Gail A. Eisnitz, winner of the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Medal for outstanding achievement in animal welfare, has been working for decades to document and expose the shocking underbelly of the U.S. meat industry. She is chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association and author of the forthcoming memoir, Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator’s Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival. Eisnitz and her first book, Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment inside the U.S. Meat Industry, were the driving force behind a front-page exposé in the Washington Post that resulted in an annual multimillion dollar Congressional appropriation for enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Act – the first funding ever allocated for a law that had been on the books for more than forty years. Eisnitz’s work has resulted in exposés by ABC’s Good Morning America, PrimeTime Live, and Dateline NBC, has been featured in such newspapers as the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald, Detroit Free Press, Texas Monthly, Denver Business Journal, Los Angeles Times, and U.S. News & World Report, and her interviews have been heard on more than 1,000 radio stations. In her new memoir, Eisnitz takes readers on a journey of self-discovery as she fights to document and expose scandalous animal abuse, all in the face of a rare visual processing disorder that she has grappled with since childhood. The disease, which was only identified in the scientific literature a mere ten years ago – was diagnosed after she began writing her memoir – and is revealed at the book’s climax.
Connect with Gail:
Website: www.GailEisnitz.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gail.eisnitz
Humane Farming Association: www.hfa.org
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Alex DiFrancesco joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about using rituals and tarot as a framework in a manuscript, Italian folk tradition as a spiritual outlet, the sometimes difficult path to publishing, being sued for defamation, finding a publisher brave enough to publish our work, writing about sexual assault, thinking in sections, using books as inspiration, complex PTSD, hiding who we are, alters, saints, and card divination, taking it slow, keeping our body in working order, making our own magic, and their new memoir Breaking the Curse.
Also in this episode:
-anti-SLAPP laws
-seeking protection
-multi-tonal books
-Snakes and Acey’s Print Shop: https://www.snakesandaceys.com/
Books mentioned in this episode:
78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack
The Part That Burns by Jeannine Ouellette
Aura by Hillary Leftwich
Saint Dymphna’s Playbook by Hillary Leftwich
Glory Guitars by Gogo Germaine
I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well by James Allen Hall
Alex DiFrancesco is the author of ALL CITY, PSYCHOPOMPS, TRANSMUTATION, and BREAKING THE CURSE. Their work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Tim House, and more. They are a 2022 recipient of the Ohio Atts Council's individual excellence awards, as well as the first transgender awards finalist in over 80 years of the Ohioana Book Awards.
Connect with Alex:
Website: www.alexdifrancesco.com
Get the book: https://www.sevenstories.com/authors/453-alex-difrancesco?srsltid=AfmBOor0TGaH2gWxGoaqEPlv2rNOrjiALa2iEha3b-z1m0s6mFIosnja
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Nina B. Lichtenstein joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing to metabolize, using body parts as portals, pivoting from academic writing to memoir, discovering an authentic writer’s voice, finding the right form as a neurodivergent writer, allowing various stories to cross-pollinate, opening doors with exploration, transforming shame into a shared experience, writing about the memories lodged within our bodies, being a Viking Jewess, the body as record keeper, the complex emotions around shame, moving from reactive and blameful writing to discovery, giving ourselves permission to tell our story, and her new memoir Body: My Life in Parts.
Also in this episode:
-leaning into literary community
-publishing shorter pieces first
-In a Flash literary magazine
Books mentioned in this episode:
Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create by Elissa Altman
Bird by Bird by Anne Lammott
Still Writing by Dani Shapiro
Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas
The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
Nina B. Lichtenstein is a native of Oslo, Norway, and holds a PhD in French literature from UCONN and an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program. She is the founder and director of Maine Writers Studio, and the co-founder and co-editor of In a Flash Lit Mag. Her writing has appeared in various journals, magazines, and outlets, as well as in several anthologies. Her book, Sephardic Women's Voices: Out of North Africa, was published by Gaon Books in 2017, and her memoir, Body: My Life in Parts by Vine Leaves Press. She has three adult sons, and lives in Maine with her husband.
Connect with Nina:
Website: https://www.ninalichtenstein.com/
Maine Writers Studio: https://www.mainewritersstudio.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ninalich/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vikingjewess/
Substack: https://ninablichtenstein.substack.com/
Get the book: https://vineleavespress.myshopify.com/products/body-my-life-in-parts-by-nina-b-lichtenstein
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Sonita Alizada joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about surviving the Taliban in Afghanistan, speaking up against forced child marriage and racism, finding a voice through music, when we have nothing else to help us survive but art, protesting against an oppressive government, fighting for an education, the lack of meaningful action from NGOs, how much we can live through and endure, survivor’s guilt, becoming the subject of a documentary, risking what you have for your dreams, and her new memoir SONITA: My Fight Against Tyranny and My Escape to Freedom.
Speak up against for marriage against racism and around, not just about hardship but about survival resistance and hope it’s about celebration what Art can do when we have nothing else to use and no other resources to use to really fight for ourselves to find our voices to chase our dreams
Also in this episode;
-not putting everything into the book
-the fatigue of advocacy work
-fighting for those who don’t have a voice
Books mentioned in this episode:
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
On Writing by Stephen King
Sonita Alizada is an Afghan rapper and activist and the author of the new book: “SONITA: My Fight Against Tyranny and My Escape to Freedom." Through her music and advocacy work, Sonita has campaigned for women’s rights and against child marriage, partnering with notable NGOS. She has performed at the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Awards and has been recognized with prestigious honors, including TIME Magazine's Next Generation Leader, Forbes 30 Under 30, the Cannes Lions Humanitarian Award, and was included in BBC’s 100 Women in 2015. Sonita, who learned English upon coming to the U.S., graduated from Bard College in 2023. In October 2025, she will be pursuing a master’s degree at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
Connect with Sonita:
Website: www.sonita.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonitalizadeh
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Maura Casey joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the toll longterm illness has on a family, her sister Ellen’s kidney disease and researching the history of kidney transplants for her memoir, when alcohol is a member of the family, growing up with a manipulative parent who didn’t keep promises, sibling dynamics, being a lifelong diary keeper, her decades in journalism and transitioning to memoir, joining a writer’s group, keeping chapters short, deciding on a structure, portraying complicated love, leaving space for forgiveness, and her new memoir Saving Ellen: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery.
Also in this episode:
-parentified children
-medical trauma
-supporting independent bookstores
Books mentioned in this episode:
-I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
-Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
-The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
-Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
-The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Maura Casey is a native of Buffalo NY, and is the youngest of six in a big Irish family. She’s been a writer since the age of 12 and grew up to have a more than three decade career in journalism, writing opinion for four newspapers- including as a member of The NY Times editorial board. She has won more than 40 awards in journalism. Her book, “Saving Ellen: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery,” will be release by Skyhorse Publishing in April of 2025.
Connect with Maura:
Website: www.caseyink.com
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/maura.casey.57/
BlueSky: @mauracasey.bsky.social
Get the book: https://a.co/d/79edoZ3
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Linda Trinh joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her personal spiritual journey, opening a memoir with a question, sparks of creativity even when we’re not actively writing, focusing on voice, owning our many identities and communities, making meaning from experience, paying attention to both the external and internal search, memoir as a time capsule, being okay with the version of ourselves as it is on the page, being gentle with ourselves, recognizing we are works in progress, Buddhism and world mythology, becoming comfortable with the unknown, and her new memoir Seeking Spirit.
Also in this episode:
-book promotion
-owning our identities
-paying attention to the nudge
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Embers by Richard Wagamese
Body and Soul: Stories for Skeptics and Seeker by Susan Scott
Perspehones Children byRowan McCandless
Linda Trinh is a Vietnamese Canadian author of nonfiction and fiction for adults and children. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in literary magazines such as The Fiddlehead, Room, and Prairie Fire. She has been nominated for two National Magazine Awards. Seeking Spirit: A Vietnamese (Non) Buddhist Memoir is her first book for adults. Her award-winning early chapter book series, The Nguyen Kids, explores Vietnamese culture and identity with elements of the supernatural, spirituality, and social justice woven in. She lives with her family in Winnipeg, Canada.
Connect with Linda:
Website: https://lindaytrinh.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LindaYTrinh
Get her book: https://guernicaeditions.com/products/seeking-spirit?srsltid=AfmBOor-knwnqu9qqq7QBvtBJYsWYRYebw3JrIr9cV-rjFzEwe2oP2nL
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Amber Rae joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about meeting her soulmate while already married, living a story as you write it, allowing a book to show you what it needs to be, writing for our own growth and delight, slowing scenes down to put readers in our lived experience, holding onto the larger intention of the book, wounds we're afraid to look at, facing both old and new shame, compassionate understanding, learning how to mother ourselves, revealing intimate details of our lives in public forums, authentically inserting our voice into our chosen medium, healing through the process of writing, choosing to be as brave as possible on the page, and her new memoir Loveable: One Woman’s Path from Good to Free.
Also in this episode:
-setting boundaries
-tracing original patterns
-bringing readers into our interior world
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Untamed by Glennon Doyle
-You Could Make this Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
-Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth GIlbert
Amber is the international bestselling author of Choose Wonder Over Worry (translated into 8 languages), The Answers Are Within You, and The Feelings Journal. Her writing and illustrations reach millions of people per month in nearly 200 countries, and she’s been featured in The New York Times, NYMag, TODAY, SELF, Forbes, and Entrepreneur. She’s a sought-after keynote speaker and workshop facilitator who’s worked with Kate Spade, Meta, Microsoft, Merrill Lynch, Lululemon, Unilever, TED, SAP, and more. A Seth Godin alum, Amber helped launch his publishing company with Amazon and supported authors like Steven Pressfield and Derek Sivers. She’s also mentored over 1,000 writers and helped more than a dozen land six-figure book deals. As a creative entrepreneur, Amber has launched global journaling challenges, art movements, life accelerators, and book birthing workshops. Her personal journaling practice spans 30 years, forming the foundation of her inner work and creative clarity. Her new memoir is Loveable: One Woman’s Path from Good to Free.
Connect with Amber:
Website: https://www.amberrae.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyamberrae/
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Amy Mackin joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the disability landscape and advocating for our children, special education and early intervention, struggling to get kids the help they need, parental guilt and shame, mom rage, flexible education programs, balancing how we write about loved ones, changing names for privacy, showing the parts of us that are really cranky, wondering if we're getting it wrong, beginning a memoir in MFA program, using a hybrid memoir form, placing work in literary journals, trusting our intuition and voice, staying true to our own style and vision, and her new memoir Henry’s Classroom: A “Special” Education in American Motherhood.
Also in this episode:
-family and gender roles
-feeling as if we don’t fit in
-conflicting feedback from agents
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Lit by Mary Karr
Mom Rage by Minna Dubin
Screaming on the Inside by Jessica Grose
books by Barbara Ehrenreich
books by Nora Ephron
Amy Mackin writes at the intersection of education, cultural history, public health, and social equity. Her essays have been featured in The Atlantic, Chalkbeat, The Washington Post, Literary Mama, The Writers Chronicle, The Shriver Report, and elsewhere. She earned her MA in American Studies from the University of Massachusetts and her MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her new memoir is Henry’s Classroom: A “Special” Education in American Motherhood from Apprentice House/Loyola University Press.
Connect with Amy:
Website: www.amymackin.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/AmyMackinWriter/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amymackin/
X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/mackinwriting
Get the book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/henry-s-classroom-a-special-education-in-american-motherhood-a-memoir-amy-mackin/22134318?ean=9781627205726&next=t&affiliate=109363
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Natasha Williams joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about caring for her schizophrenic father and the jeopardy of being in his life, narcissism and her mother’s limited parenting resources, handling misbehaving parents and reckoning with the toll they took on her childhood, precocious and feral kids, getting clarity on family through writing, re-understanding childhood stories and our parents’ stories, finding an entry point to our narrative, balancing the character and narrator in memoir, beta readers, staying in relationship with loved ones living with mental illness, and her new memoir The Parts of Him I Kept: The Gifts of My Father’s Madness.
Also in this episode:
-setting boundaries
-the heritability of mental illness
-checking in with our kids before writing about them
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg
We the Animals by Justin Torres
Author Bio- Natasha Williams has worked as an adjunct biology professor at SUNY Ulster in the Hudson Valley of New York and as a consultant for the International Public-School Network, coaching science teachers. She has an MA from the University of Pennsylvania. In the summer of 2020, she continued working on the manuscript summers at the Bread Loaf School of English and at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in 2023. Excerpts of The Parts of Him I Kept, forthcoming April 2025 from Apprentice House Press, have been published in the Bread Loaf Journal, Change Seven, LIT, Memoir Magazine, Onion River Review, Writers Read, Post Road, and South Dakota Review.
Connect with Natasha:
Website: Natashawilliamswriter.com
Get the book: https://www.natashawilliamswriter.com/memoir/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-williams-5998949/
X: https://x.com/NatashaW_writes
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Ed Latimore joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up in an urban warzone and surviving domestic violence, poverty, and limited resources, life in the boxing ring, writing about alcoholism and sobriety, building up the muscle of sharing and being vulnerable, when an agent tells you your approach to your book is all wrong, giving ourselves time to process, sharing our stories to help others, rebalancing the cosmic scales, the difference between gratitude and entitlement, coping with resentment, betting on ourselves, risking ostracism, using our life to teach, forgiving ourselves and forgiving others, and his new memoir Hard Lessons from the Hurt Business: Boxing and the Art of Life.
Also in this episode:
-building platforms
-making new connection with our connections
-embracing new version of ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
The Art of Learning by Josh Whiteskin
Travels by Michael Crichton
Ed Latimore is an author, former professional American heavyweight boxer, competitive chess player, and the founder of Stoic Street-Smarts. He holds a degree in physics and is a veteran of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Connect with Ed:
Website: edlatimore.com
X: https://x.com/edlatimore
Instagram: https://instagram.com/edlatimoore
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edlatimore/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EdLatimore1
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Mallory McDuff joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about expanding a project from straight memoir to broaden its accessibility and audience, feedback from editors about what’s marketable, placing an essay to help sell a book, starting a memoir in the middle of the story, death and choices we can make that align our final wishes with the values we hold in our life, conversations around burial, making less of an impact on the earth, how detachment from death and dying is relatively new in our culture, allowing scenes to stack upon themselves, how to weave the personal throughout the whole book to take the reader with us, and her new memoir Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love.
Also in this episode:
-living with and on the earth
-climate justice
-mirroring real conversations in memoir
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl
Wild Spectacle by Janisse Ray
Soil by Camille Dungy
Briefly Perfectly Human by Alua Arthur
The Green Burial Guidebook by Elizabeth Fournier
From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty
Mallory McDuff writes and teaches environmental education at Warren Wilson College, a liberal arts school that integrates academics with work and community engagement. She lives on campus with her two daughters in a 900-square foot house with an expansive view of a white barn, a herd of cows, and the Appalachian mountains of Western North Carolina, an area still recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Helen. Her writing examines the intersection of people and places for a better world.
She is the author of the books Love Your Mother: 50 States, 50 Stories, and 50 Women United for Climate Justice (Broadleaf Books); Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love (Broadleaf Books); Sacred Acts: How Churches are Working to Protect Earth’s Climate (New Society Publishers); Natural Saints: How People of Faith are Working to Save God’s Earth (Oxford University Press) and co-author of Conservation Education and Outreach Techniques, 2nd Ed., (Oxford University Press).
In addition, she has published 20 articles in academic journals and more than 50 essays in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, Sojourners, and more. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Florida, M.S. from the University of South Alabama, and B.S. from Vanderbilt University.
Connect with Mallory:
Website: https://mallorymcduff.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mallory.mcduff
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mallorymcduff1/
X: https://x.com/malmcduff
Link to purchase Our Last Best Act: https://bookshop.org/p/books/our-last-best-act-planning-for-the-end-of-our-lives-to-protect-the-people-and-places-we-love-mallory-mcduff/16147581?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAu8W6BhC-ARIsACEQoDCXXHpQuMQxxUoTaRQmdReLz7lFh-2qI4DYUvze6KyZm6hPclcqrZ4aAkMzEALw_wcB
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Katy Grabel joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about a childhood immersed in professional magic, when a parent’s dream because ours, wanting to be famous, searching hard for self, trying to understand the allure of our parents’ choices, using journals to familiarize ourselves with our emotional life from the past, what drives someone to want to be a magician, seeing the whole person when writing about loved ones and accepting their good and their bad, going deep, not including everything just because it’s a true story, waiting to publish a memoir until after loved ones are gone, drawing parents carefully and with love, and her new memoir The Magician's Daughter.
Also in this episode:
-being honest with ourselves
-accepting imperfections
-knowing what you want to say
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Riding the White Horse Home by Teresa Jordan
Katy Grabel lives in Taos, New Mexico, where she fits right in as the daughter of the Human Cannonball. A former newspaper reporter, her stories about professional magic have been published in ZYZYYVA and New Millennium Writings. She shares her time between an old rambling adobe house in Taos with her guitar, fancy dreams and penchant for dancing in her kitchen, and a lovely book-filled casita in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. She has always seen herself as a magician’s assistant, taking notes, and believes daughters of magicians—even more than sons—must make their own way:
Daughters must decide whether to be the willing assistant, command the spotlight, or turn away with a story untold. And all will be lost unless we recognize the resiliency and strength of our mothers as they lay down on the sawing table. Yet who can deny, late at night, when the dark is crowded by our failures, that every daughter of a magician must find her own magic.
Connect with Katy:
www.TheMagiciansDaughter.com
www.LeeGrabelMagic.com
Facebook.com/KatyGMagic
Instagram.com/KatyGMagic
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Dr. Stacey Hettes joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about therapeutic writing and how she crafted a memoir about childhood sexual abuse without revictimizing herself, metabolizing childhood trauma, inviting readers into our physiological response, the role of our limbic systems, deciding whether to share specifics about abuse in our manuscripts, italicizing difficult material for readers so they can decide, approaching a story of child sexual abuse in a protective way, putting therapy into our memoirs, demonstrating our character’s progress in our narrative, remembering we can write beautifully about hard things, and her new memoir Dispatches from the Couch.
Also in this episode:
-sharing a memoir with family
-the amygdala and child trauma victims
-deciding whether to share specifics about abuse
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Bodywork by Melissa Febos
-Wintering by Catherine May
-Writing a Woman’s Life by Caroline G. Heilbrun
-Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor
Professor Stacey Hettes teaches biology and neuroscience to undergraduates eager to enter the worlds of science and medicine at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Riverside, and is the youngest winner to date of the Milliken Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Science. Her classes are difficult because life is difficult. They are also full of wonder, joy, and triumph because, like her students, she is a hard-working seeker. She relishes in shared struggle and shared discovery, even when the topic is long-buried child sexual abuse. Reemerging from the shadows of her past was only possible once she resolved to carry the story found in her Debut memoir, Dispatches from the Couch, into the light.
Connect with Stacey:
Website: https://www.staceyhettes.com/
Facebook: Stacey Hettes, https://www.facebook.com/stacey.hettes
Instagram: @staceyhetteswrites, https://www.instagram.com/staceyhetteswrites/
If you'd like to know more about Wofford College: https://www.wofford.edu/
Books may be purchased from all major outlets
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Deb Miller joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how her memoir began as a family project, being surprised to have become an author, discovering and latching onto a framework, using an “e” structure, what we recognize during the process of writing, focusing on our behavior and patterns, leaning into generational shifts, the women's movement and breaking society’s norms, connecting with readers on a personal level, innovative ways to market and launch a book, promoting a message not ourselves, becoming the hero of our own story, and her new memoir Forget the Fairy Tale & Find Your Happiness.
Also in this episode:
-finding a marketing hook
-creating new relationships and working them
-living your own fairy tale
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Wild by Cheryl Strayed
-High Hopes: A Memoir by Anne Abel
Deb Miller is the author of Forget the Fairy Tale & Find Your Happiness, a memoir that explores her personal journey toward self-reliance and strength, using the evolution of Disney princesses as a metaphor for her own transformation. A passionate advocate for personal empowerment, Deb’s writing encourages readers to question societal expectations and discover their own path to happiness.Having visited nearly 50 countries as a corporate executive, she is now on a mission to visit all of our national parks. A part-time marketing professor, Dr. Miller lives in Redmond, Washington, and can be found outside landscaping, walking her energetic Auggie, or hanging out with her three kids and grandchildren. Degrees: BS Purdue University, MBA University of Dayton, DBA City University of Seattle. Also a CPA. She is former VP of marketing and communication for several Fortune 500 companies.
Connect with Deb:
Website: https://forgetthefairytale.net/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-deb-miller-acc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forget_the_fairy_tale/
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Forget-Fairytale-Find-Your-Happiness/dp/1647429226/
Simon and Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Forget-the-Fairy-Tale-and-Find-Your-Happiness/Deb-Miller/9781647429225
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Kate Gies joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the lasting effects of trauma on the body and mind, taking care of ourselves while writing by remembering our purpose, allowing early drafts to be angry and raw and finding meaning later, body shame and body acceptance, coming of age later in life, weaving together a medical narrative, protecting ourselves from reinjury by focusing on the larger message, writing where the energy is, finding boundaries, practicing self-compassion, and her memoir It Must Be Beautiful to Be Finished: A Memoir of My Body.
Also in this episode:
-writing where the energy is
-giving yourself time
- writing in vignettes
Books mentioned in this episode:
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealey
The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso
Bluets by Maggie Nelson
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
The Sucide Index by Joan Wickersham
Kate Gies is a writer and educator living in Toronto. She teaches creative nonfiction and expressive arts at George Brown College. Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have been published in The Malahat Review, The Humber Literary Review, Hobart, the Best Canadian Essays 2024 Anthology, and other places.She is the author of It Must Be Beautiful to Be Finished: A Memoir of My Body, which details her childhood medical experiences related to a missing ear. It was published by Simon & Schuster in February of 2025.
Connect with Kate:
Website: kategies.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katygies
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kategies.bsky.social
Get the Book: US: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/It-Must-Be-Beautiful-to-Be-Finished/Kate-Gies/9781668051054
Get the Book: Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Must-Be-Beautiful-Finished-Memoir/dp/1668051052
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Jennifer Pastiloff joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about getting out of our own way, practicing curiosity, feeling like we have a right to tell our stories and be creative, finding a way into our work, the yes and, tapping into other art forms, not throwing people under the bus, harnessing the mental space to write, accepting change as a necessary part of living, when “fine” is not fine, putting ourselves out there, sharing deeply, refusing to hide in shame, leaving her marriage, and her new book Proof of Life.
Also in this episode:
-genre schmenre
-getting past the inner a*shole
-when change feels like it will equal death
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
Reading the Waves by Lidia Yuknavitch
From Under the Truck: A Memoir by Josh Brolin
Everyone at This Party Has Two Names by Brad Aaron Modlin
Stolen focus byJohann Hari
Fired Up by Anna Durand
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
Jennifer Pastiloff trots the globe as a public speaker and to host her retreats to Italy, as well as her one-of-a-kind workshops, which she has taught to thousands of people all over the world. The author of the popular Substack, also called Proof of Life, she teaches writing and creativity classes called Allow, and workshops called Shame Loss, when she isn’t painting and selling her art. She has been featured on Good Morning America, and Katie Couric, and in New York magazine, People, Shape, Health magazine, and other media outlets for her authenticity and unique voice. She is deaf, reads lips, and mishears almost everything, but what she hears is usually funnier (at least she thinks so). The author of the national bestseller On Being Human, Pastiloff lives in Southern California with her son, Charlie Mel.
Connect with Jen:
Website: JenniferPastiloff.com
Substack: https://proofoflifewithjen.substack.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenpastiloff
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Niko Stratis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about entertaining the queerest part of her soul, working on a book almost by accident, building a manuscript backwards from a title, arriving at a structure early into the process, making peace with the past, being in a safe place to write, processing adolescence, the performance of masculinity, giving humanity to even the difficult people, making a writing habit to hit deadlines, working with a small academic press, her time as a music and culture columnist for Catapult, and her new memoir The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman.
Also in this episode:
-writing slowly
-talking to parents about our memoir
-working with a small academic press
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Night Moves by Jessica Hopper
-Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote
-Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib
-Nevada by Imogen Binnie
-Tacky: Love Letters ot the Worst Culture We Have to Offer by Rax by King
Niko Stratis is an award-winning writer from Toronto by way of the Yukon, where she spent years working as a journeyman glazier before coming out as trans in her thirties and being forced to abandon her previous line of work. Her writing has appeared in publications like Catapult, Spin, Paste and more. She’s a Cancer, and a former smoker.
Connect with Niko:
Website: https://www.nikostratis.com/
Anxiety Shark Newsletter: https://www.anxietyshark.ca/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nikostratis.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikostratis/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/nikostratis
Link to book: https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477331484/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Erica Stern joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about self-interrogation and taking risks to tell the story we need to, exploring the liminality of a lived experience through the speculative, hybrid memoir and leaning into history and research to illuminate and deepen understanding, the unexpected complications she experienced in childbirth, the historical misogyny in U.S. medical system, the male takeover of birth, how trauma can stunt empathy, trusting the work will go where it needs to go, giving our projects time and space to grow, when publishers and editors are not quite sure what to make of your book, exercising control over the uncontrollable, the long road to publishing, capturing the timelessness of an experience, and her new book Frontier: A Memoir and a Ghost Story.
Also in this episode:
-discovering material through writing
-meditations on the history of childbirth
-when an editor encourages you to make your book even more like itself
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Suicide Index by Joan Wickersham
-An Encyclopedia of Bending Time by Kristen Keane
-My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shaplans
-A Life’s Work: On Becoming a Mother by Rachel Cusk
Erica Stern’s work has been published in The Iowa Review, Mississippi Review, Denver Quarterly, and elsewhere. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, the Martha's Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. Erica received her undergraduate degree in English from Yale and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native of New Orleans, she now lives with her family in Evanston, Illinois.
Connect with Erica:
Website: erica-stern.com
Instagram: @ericasternwriter
Substack: @ericastern
Bluesky: @ericarstern.bsky.social
Get the book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/frontier-a-memoir-and-a-ghost-story/876292ffe52fe93f?ean=9798985008937&next=t&next=t
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/frontier-erica-stern/1146916883?ean=9798985008937
https://www.barrelhousemag.com/books/frontier-erica-stern
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Marty Ross-Dolen joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation discovering the story while writing, inviting the speculative and magical elements into a narrative, rediscovering lost relatives, advocating for our vision and for our books, scaffolding fragmented forms, being raised by a mother in protracted mourning, incorporating letters, photographs, and erasure poetry, when people tell you what your book is supposed to be, living with an inherited sense of grief, unspoken family pacts, when structure is a surprise, and her new memoir Always There, Always Gone: A Daughter’s Search for Truth.
Also in this episode:
--being raised in silence around a tragedy
-telling 3 stories at once
-memoir as erasure
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas
-Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn
-Ghostbread by Sonja Livingston
-Disconto for My Father by Harrison Kandelaria Fletcher
-Fearless Confessions by Sue William SIlverman
Marty Ross-Dolen is a graduate of Wellesley College and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist. She holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Prior to her time at VCFA, she participated in graduate-level workshops at The Ohio State University. Her essays have appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, Redivider, Lilith, Willow Review, and the Brevity Blog, among others. Her essay entitled “Diphtheria” was named a notable essay in The Best American Essays series. She teaches writing and lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Connect with Marty:
Website: www.martyrossdolen.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martyrossdolen
Get the book: https://a.co/d/5HtWU4s
https://www.thurberhouse.org/adult-writers-studio
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Alyson Shelton and Lynn Shattuck join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing about sibling loss, creating an essay anthology as means to advocate for grief, taking care of ourselves while crafting work about loss, helping people tell their stories, laughter and making space for the rest of our lives, coping with rejection, creating a mosaic with essays, feeling empowered, self-acceptance building community, independently publishing as an act of defiance, and their new anthology The Loss of a Lifetime: Advice from Grieving Siblings.
Also in this episode:
-owning out stories
-rejecting shame
-how no can send us in new directions
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Viktor Hansen and Amy Newmark
-Encyclopedia of an Ordinary LIfe by Amy Krause Rosenthal
-The Heart and Other Monsters by Rose Anderon
Always a Sibling by Annie Sklaver Orenstein
ALYSON SHELTON is an award winning screenwriter and essayist. Her writing is widely published at outlets including The New York Times, Ms. and The Rumpus. She’s anthologized in Comics Lit Vol. 1 (Accomplishing Innovation Press), No Contact: 28 Writers on Family Estrangement (Catapult 2026), Root Cause: Stories of Health, Harm and Reclaiming Our Humanity (Editor: Jeannine Ouellette) and The Loss of a Lifetime: Advice from Grieving Siblings (Contributor and Co-Editor). She’s best known for her Instagram Live series inspired by George Ella Lyon’s poem, Where I’m From where she’s hosted close to 200 writers. The poem also provides the spine for her memoir in progress.@byalysonshelton on Instagram, Threads, Youtube. www.alysonshelton.com
Lynn has been publishing essays on the topic of sibling loss for more than a decade. She was a paid columnist at Elephant Journal for ten years; several of her essays on the topic of grief and sibling loss have gone viral.Lynn co-founded the website lossofalifetime.com, a hub of resources for those who’ve experienced sibling loss. She also co-edited the essay collection, The Loss of a Lifetime: Grieving Siblings Share Stories of Love, Loss and Hope; the book is expected to be available in June, 2025
https://www.instagram.com/lynn_shattuck/
Connect with Alyson:
Alyson Shelton on The Body Myth podcast: https://ronitplank.com/2022/03/22/the-body-myth-from-childhood-gymnastics-to-puberty-to-motherhood-a-body-judgment-story-ft-alyson-shelton/
Website: www.alysonshelton.com
Connect with Lynn:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynn_shattuck/
Get the book: https://www.lossofalifetime.com/book
www.lossofalifetime.com
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Maureen Stanton joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her writing beginnings in fiction and using the scenic and immersive to move readers, falling in love with creative nonfiction, revisiting and recreating a love story, discovering the question behind her book, facing the blank page, bad first drafts, writing an illness narrative, placing an essay in Modern Love, authenticity on the page, the long winding path to publishing, not thinking your book will ever get published, working on multiple projects while querying, how love evolves, and her new memoir The Murmur of Everything Moving.
Also in this episode:
-the fog of grief
-killing our darlings
-submitting to writing contests
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
-Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
-The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
-This Boys Life by Tobias Wolff
-Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
-Barbarian Days by William Finnegan
Maureen Stanton is the author of The Murmur of Everything Moving: A Memoir, winner of the Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence; Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood, winner of the Maine Literary Award for memoir and a People Magazine "Best Books Pick"; and Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: An Insider’s Look at the World of Flea Markets, Antiques, and Collecting, winner of the Massachusetts Book Award in nonfiction and a Parade Magazine "12 Great Summer Books" selection. Her nonfiction has been widely published, including in The New York Times, Fourth Genre, Creative Nonfiction, Longreads, New England Review, Florida Review, River Teeth, The Sun and many others. Her essays have received the Iowa Review prize, The Sewanee Review prize, Pushcart Prizes, the American Literary Review award, and the Thomas J. Hruska award from Passages North. She's been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maine Arts Commission, the MacDowell Colony, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. She teaches creative writing at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and lives in Maine.
Connect with Maureen:
Website: https://www.maureenstantonwriter.com
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/maureenstanton41
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maureenstanton41
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@maureenstanton41
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maureen-stanton-6693ab11
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maureen.p.stanton
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maureenstanton.bsky.social
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Leah Paulos of Press Shop PR joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about 2 things writers can do right now to help launch their book successfully, how to find your targeted readers and effectively reach them through media, the dedicated focus required to promote a book,tapping into your storytelling chops to help you with marketing, tools for positioning your book with media and journalists, the lead time we need to promote our books and when to pitch, selling journalists on covering your book, finding the story and the audience for your book, the cost of publicity, your job as your own publicist, being proactive, and the classes she offers at Book Publicity School.
Also in this episode:
-using spreadsheets
-building a media contact list
-working with in-house publicity teams
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Sounds of Life by Karen Bakker
-The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korellitz
-Writing to Persuade by Trish Hall
Leah Paulos is the Founder and Director of Publicity at Press Shop PR and Book Publicity School, and has worked at the intersection of books and media for over 25 years. Twice named a top PR firm by the Observer, Press Shop PR has worked on many notable books and #1 bestsellers including MARCH by Rep. John Lewis and ON TYRANNY by Timothy Snyder, as well as books by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Neil deGrasse Tyson, James Kirchick, and Pulitzer-finalists Samuel Freedman and Louise Aronson. Leah has spoken on book publicity at Columbia School of Journalism, CUNY Graduate Center, and as part of her regular workshop series, Book Publicity for Literary Agents.
Book publicity 101
Leah began her career as a magazine editor at a NYC-focused glossy magazine in 1998. She later worked as an editor at Conde Nast and as a freelance writer for dozens of national magazines. She made the shift to book publicity in 2006 and launched Press Shop in 2012. She graduated from Cornell University and now lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.
bookpublicityschool.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahpaulos/
https://www.facebook.com/PressShopPR/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090936998502
https://x.com/PressShopPR
www.PressShopPR.com
www.BookPublicitySchool.com
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Jill Damatac joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up undocumented in the US and how she ultimately self-deported, weaving Filipino food, mythology, history, and culture in her narrative, opting for a hybridized memoir to mitigate the fear of talking about her experience, American exceptionalism, internalized doubt and unworthiness, contextualizing the self within a broader set of stories, when fear is a defining container for our lives, being willing to announce our lived experience via memoir, wanting to shrug off the yoke of shame, offering the reader a kaleidoscopic view, and her new memoir Dirty Kitchen A Memoir of Food and Family.
Also in this episode:
-sifting through hybridized aspects of a memoir
-knowing where to cut and where to expand
-shame around trauma writing
Books mentioned in this episode:
Another Country by James Baldwin
Bodywork by Melissa Febos
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Jill Damatac is a writer and filmmaker born in the Philippines, raised in the US, and now a UK citizen, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her film and photography work has been featured on the BBC and in Time, and at film festivals worldwide; her short documentary film Blood and Ink (Dugo at Tinta), about the Indigenous Filipino tattooist Apo Whang Od, was an official selection at the Academy Award–qualifying DOC NYC and won Best Documentary at Ireland’s Kerry Film Festival. Jill holds an MSt in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Documentary Film from the University of the Arts London.
Connect with Jill:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jilldamatac/
Website: https://www.jilldamatac.com/
Get the book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Dirty-Kitchen/Jill-Damatac/9781668084632
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Ruthie Ackerman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about maternal ambivalence and coming from a long line of women who abandoned their children, taking motherhood on from different angles, feeling ashamed of shame, illuminating what we need to about ourselves, listening to our inner voice, breaking cycles, focusing our work on the memoirist’s journey and search for understanding, when family members read our memoir, a close look at the trajectory of her book deal, finding another angle to a story, honing in on the universal question our memoir is asking, when the book needs to be something very different from what you imagined, The Ignite Writers Collective, and her memoir The Mother Code.
Also in this episode:
-rejecting binaries
-writing about others’ illnesses and differences
-when publishing is not an easy path
Books mentioned in this episode:
Bodywork by Melissa Febos
Avalanche: a love story by Julia Leigh
Belabored: A Vindication of the Rights of Pregnant Women by Lyz Lenz
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness by Catherine Cho
An award-winning journalist, Ruthie's writing has been published in Vogue, Glamour, O Magazine, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Salon, Slate, Newsweek, and more. Her Modern Love essay for the New York Times became the launching point for her forthcoming memoir, The Mother Code. Ruthie started The Ignite Writers Collective in 2019 and since then has become an in-demand book coach and developmental editor. Her client wins include a USA Today bestseller, book deals with Big 5 publishers, representation by buzzy book agents, and essays in prestigious outlets. She has a Master's in Journalism from New York University and lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Connect with Ruthie:
Website: https://www.ruthieackerman.com/
Instagram: @ruackerman
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthieackerman/
Workshops: https://www.ruthieackerman.com/new-workshop-page
Ruthie’s Bookshop shelf: https://bookshop.org/shop/ruthieackerman
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Daria Burke joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about sharing her journey out of Detroit where she was raised in poverty and the question that inspired her memoir, writing well and being well while writing, running away from the past, writing deeply and with courage, refusing to believe in inevitability, doing the unfinished business of raising ourselves, surviving the retelling of our story, holding space for each of the versions of ourselves, how she delivered the investigative reporting aspects of her memoir, rewriting the stories we tell ourselves, posttraumatic growth, embracing full frontal honesty, and her new memoir Of My Own Making.
Also in this episode:
-neuroplasticity
-becoming fully available to our life
-incorporating books and research
Books mentioned in this episode:
-I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
-The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
-Black Women Writers at Work by Claudia Tate
The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate MD
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Emotional Inheritance by Galit Atlas
DARIA BURKE is an American writer, speaker, and wellbeing advocate. A marketer by trade and a seeker at heart, Daria is a storyteller and sense-maker, weaving together personal experience and the science of healing and transformation to explore new ways of understanding how we choose who we become. Her debut memoir, OF MY OWN MAKING (Spring 2025), is a soulful and scientific exploration of overcoming adversity, healing from childhood trauma, and rewriting one's own story. As a Chief Marketing Officer, Daria was named a 2020 AdAge Woman to Watch whose work has been recognized by Women’s Wear Daily, Forbes, Vogue, Town & Country and the Cut. She has written for Fast Company, The Huffington Post, and Black Enterprise, and has appeared on The Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC. A distinguished alumna of NYU Stern School of Business (MBA) and the University of Michigan (BA), Daria was born in Detroit and now calls Los Angeles and East Hampton home.
Connect with Daria:
Website: dariaburke.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dariaburke/
Get her book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/daria-burke/of-my-own-making/9781538766804/
LinkedIn Newsletter: The Power of Possibility
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Tom McAllister joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about finding the right container for our work trusting our writing to speak for itself, giving ourselves homework, writing constraints as guiding principles, his approach to teaching nonfiction, the challenge of self-promotion, strategies for creating companion pieces, stating things boldly and with confidence, the podcast Book Fight he co-hosts, and how he wrote a short essay for every year of his life and turned it into his new book It All Felt Impossible.:42 Years in 42 Essays.
Also in this episode:
-trusting the reader
-when the well feels dry
-handling rejection
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Largess of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson
My Documents by Alejandro Zambra
A Childhood: The Biography of a Place by Harry Cruz
The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
Tom McAllister is the author of the novel How to Be Safe, which was named one of the best books of 2018 by Kirkus and The Washington Post. His other books are the novel The Young Widower’s Handbook and the memoir Bury Me in My Jersey. His short stories and essays have been published in The Sun, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Black Warrior Review, and many other places. He is the nonfiction editor at Barrelhouse and co-hosts the Book Fight! podcast with Mike Ingram. He lives in New Jersey and teaches in the MFA Program at Rutgers-Camden.
Tom's article in The Writer's Chronicle: https://writerschronicle.awpwriter.org/TWC/2025-february/preview/04_From-Anecdote-to-Essay-preview.aspx
Connect with Tom:
tom.mcallister.ws
https://www.instagram.com/realpizzatom/
https://bsky.app/profile/tmcallister.bsky.social
https://www.facebook.com/tom.mcallister.12
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Bonny Reichert joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about not knowing if she’d find a way to tell the story that weighed on her, growing up in the shadow of traumatic family history, selling on proposal and working out the boundaries of a book, her background as a food journalist, hammering out the details of the narrative arc, eliminating the squishy middle, reverse outlining for emotional resonance, creating composite characters, telling a story through food, crafting the self as a character, shortening chapters for flexibility, drawing the complexity and sense of beauty and wonder around her father’s story of surviving the Holocaust, and her memoir How to Share an Egg.
Also in this episode:
-food as glue
-writing a culinary memoir wrapped around a family story
-the toll of intergenerational trauma
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Also a Poet:Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me by Ada Calhoun
-H is for Hawk by Helen McDonald
-Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
Bonny Reichert is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist. She has been an editor at Today’s Parent and Chatelaine magazines, and a columnist and regular contributor to The Globe and Mail newspaper. When she turned forty, a now-or-never feeling made her quit her job to enroll in culinary school, and she’s been exploring her relationship with food on the page ever since. Bonny was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and lives in Toronto with her husband and little dog, Bruno. HOW TO SHARE AN EGG won the 2022 Dave Greber Book Award for social justice writing.
Connect with Bonny:
Website: https://bonnyreichert.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bonnyreichert
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Vicky Nguyen joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up Vietnamese in America and what this country has meant for someone like her, writing memoir as a public figure, pivoting as a writer, not being too quick to self-edit, managing backstory to keep a memoir propulsive, having conversations with loved ones about shared family history, connecting through vulnerability, book promotion as a whole other job, exhausting every marketing channel, writing about people who don’t necessarily want to be in our memoirs, how we “rememoir” things, digging deep, and her new memoir Boat Baby.
Also in this episode:
-when family remembers things differently
-writing in our voice
-anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S.
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
-Owner of a Lonely Heart by Beth Nguyen
-The Manicurist’s Daughter by Susan Lieu
-Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran
-The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
-The Writer by James Patterson
Vicky is an NBC News senior consumer investigative correspondent and anchor of NBC News Daily. She reports for the Today show, Nightly News with Lester Holt and NBC News Now. She graduated as valedictorian from the University of San Francisco. Vicky lives in New York with her husband and three daughters. Her parents are always nearby.
Connect with Vicky:
Website: https://www.vickynguyen.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vickynguyentv
Get Boat Baby: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Boat-Baby/Vicky-Nguyen/9781668025567
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
KB Brookins joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about transness, masculinity, and race, how how being a writer has crystalized their experience and made it legible to an audience and to themselves, turning to prose to say the hard things, the tenacity of memoir, resisting erasure and pushing back on toxic systems, coming at creative nonfiction from a poetic impulse, having patience with ourselves, what we might need to let go of as writers, looking at our work with kinder eyes, the way we treat people because of gender, and their multi-themed memoir Pretty.
Also in this episode:
-stages of grief
-permission to have anger
-when lines for genre aren’t as helpful
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Asatta: An Autobiography by Asatta Shakur
-Black Boy by Richard Wright
-Heavy by Kiese Laymon
KB Brookins is a Black queer and trans writer, cultural worker, and visual artist from Texas. KB’s chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize, a Writer’s League of Texas Discovery Prize, and a Stonewall Honor Book Award. Their debut poetry collection Freedom House won the American Library Association Barbara Gittings Literature Award and the Texas Institute of Letters Award for the Best First Book of Poetry. KB’s debut memoir Pretty, released in May 2024 with Alfred A. Knopf, won the Great Lakes Colleges Association Award in Creative Non-Fiction.
Connect with KB:
Website: https://earthtokb.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthtokb
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthtokb
Substack: https://substack.com/@earthtokb
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/earthtokb.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthtokb
Get the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724994/pretty-by-kb-brookins/
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Michelle Yang joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her bipolar diagnosis and becoming a mental health advocate, immigrating to the U.S. as a young child, writing at the intersection of body image, mental health, and Asian American identity, building an author platform, revisiting old family dynamics and patterns, grieving a family of origin, mourning make-believe mothers, doing a lot of processing before writing about trauma, keeping the reader in mind, removing societal stigma around serious mental health diagnoses, how she survived and found hope, and her new memoir Phoenix Girl: How a Fat Asian with Bipolar Found Love.
Also in this episode:
-keeping strict boundaries
-writing in short digestible chapters
-revising a manuscript from past to present tense
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Relative Strangers by A.H. Kim
-Educated by Tara Westover
-Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me by Ellen Forney
-Rock Steady by Ellen Forney
-I’m Telling the Truth But I’m Lying by Bassey Ikpi
-The Body Papers by Grace Talusan
-Hunger by Roxane Gay
-What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
Michelle Yang is an advocate whose writings on the intersection of Asian American identity, body image, and mental health have been featured in NBC News, CNN, InStyle, and Reader’s Digest. Michelle has also been featured on NPR, Washington Post, and The Seattle Times for her advocacy. She loves exploring new parts of her new home state of Michigan with her family and smoking up the kitchen with spicy recipes. Her new memoir is Phoenix Girl: How a Fat Asian with Bipolar Found Love. You can find her on michelleyangwriter.com or on Instagram @michelleyangwriter.
Connect with Michelle:
Website: michelleyangwriter.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleyangwriter/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelleyangwriter
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Julie Brill joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and her journey to understand the unexamined childhood stories she grew up with, being a reluctant memoirist and leaning into telling the story of an ordinary person figuring things out, the Holocaust and the history of the Jews of Serbia, inherited memories, making ourselves the central character, when our parents’ foundational stories become ours, finding our place, permission to tell a story if you didn’t live through it, and her new memoir HIdden in Plain Sight: A Family Memoir and the Untold Story of the Holocaust in Serbia.
Also in this episode:
-the missing missing
-the unthought known
-making research readable
Books mentioned in this episode:
Three Minutes in Poland by Glenn Kertz
Paper Love by Sarah Wildman
Plunder by Menachem Kaiser
Big Magic by Liz Gilbert
The Creative Process by Twyla Tharp
As a child, Julie Brill held two conflicting beliefs. She knew Germans had murdered her Jewish grandfather in occupied Yugoslavia, yet she somehow believed the Holocaust had never come to his hometown of Belgrade. The family anecdotes her father passed down, a blend of his early memories and what his mother told him, didn’t match what Julie had heard about Germany, Poland, and Anne Frank in Holland during World War II.
Even frequent readers of Holocaust history likely do not understand the Serbian story. Destruction there came early and fast. Without cattle cars, gas chambers, or distant camps, the Nazis murdered almost the entire Jewish population before the plan for the Final Solution was even set.
With so few Jewish survivors and descendants from Serbia, the story of the Shoah there has gone untold. Julie’s quest to understand and share what she learned led to Hidden in Plain Sight: A Family Memoir and the Untold Story of the Holocaust in Serbia.
Julie has written for Haaretz, the Forward, Kveller, The Times of Israel, Balkan Insight, and elsewhere. She shares her family’s experiences in the Holocaust in middle and high school classrooms through Living Links.
Additionally, Julie is a lactation consultant, doula, childbirth educator, and the author of the anthology Round the Circle: Doulas Share Their Experiences. She began attending births and teaching childbirth classes in 1992 and has supported thousands of families in the childbearing year. She graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Sociology and Gender Studies and completed the Massachusetts Midwifery Alliance Apprenticeship Course. She is the mother of two adult daughters.
Connect with Julie:
Website: https://juliebrill.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliesbrill/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/juliebrill.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julie.brill1
X: https://www.Twitter.com/juliebrill8
Get her book: https://mybook.to/irl0
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Margaret Anne Mary Moore joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her realization at an early age that she wanted to be a nonfiction writer and memoirist, facing severe discrimination as a child with disabilities, how she wrote about her disability experience on a granular level, using a communication device, taking breaks to work on other aspects of a project when the writing process grows tiresome, devoting chapters to a single theme, striving to make characterizations rich in detail, looking at rejection juxtaposed against life circumstances, how traumatic memories get seared into our memory, compassion and acceptance, and her memoir Bold, Brave, and Breathless: Reveling in Childhood's Splendiferous Glories While Facing Disability and Loss.
Margaret’s Brevity blog article link: https://brevity.wordpress.com/2024/12/23/who-gets-a-spot-on-the-river/
Also in this episode:
-hermit crab forms
-writing sharp scenes
-embodied writing
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Mindful Writer by Dinty W. Moore
The Shell Game by Kim Adrian
Congratulations, Who Are You Again? by Harrison Scott Key
Margaret Anne Mary Moore is the author of the bestselling disability memoir Bold, Brave, and Breathless: Reveling in Childhood's Splendiferous Glories While Facing Disability and Loss (Woodhall Press, 2023) and is currently writing the sequel. She is a summer 2022 graduate of Fairfield University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program, where she earned a degree in creative nonfiction and poetry. Margaret is an editor and the marketing coordinator at Woodhall Press and an ambassador for PRC-Saltillo. A featured book on the AWP Bookshelf, Bold, Brave, and Breathless is her debut book. She is a contributor to Gina Barreca’s book Fast Famous Women: 75 Essays of Flash Nonfiction (Woodhall Press, 2025). Her writing has appeared in America Magazine, Brevity’s Nonfiction Blog, and Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, Independent Catholic News among other publications.
Connect with Margaret:
Website: margaretannemarymoore.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margaretannemarymooreauthor/
X: https://x.com/mooreofawriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/margaretannemarymoore_author
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-moore-m-f-a-86835312a/
Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/29567595.Margaret_Anne_Mary_Moore
Book: https://a.co/d/b0VZ8Mk
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Diana Raab joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about connecting with ancestors and tuning into their guidance, books that need to be written, when publisher requests don’t resonate with us, adding prompts for readers, unwanted daughters and intergenerational trauma, how books we don’t like help us, adding prompts for readers, tapping into authentic voice, and her new book Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors.
Also in this episode:
-reading broadly
-surviving cancer multiple times
-how trauma manifests later in life
Book mentioned in this episode:
This Boys Life by Tobias Wolff
Paula by Isabel Allende
Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick
Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo
Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo
Diana Raab, MFA, PhD, is a poet, memoirist, workshop leader, thought-leader and award-winning author of fourteen books. Her work has been widely published and anthologized. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net. She frequently speaks and writes on writing for healing and transformation. Her 14th and newest book is Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors, A memoir with reflection and writing prompts (2024).Raab writes for Psychology Today, The Good Men Project, Sixty and Me, Thrive Global, and is a guest writer for many others.
Connect with Diana:
Website: https://www.dianaraab.com
Forthcoming poetry anthology:
https://gunpowderpress.com/product/women-in-a-golden-state/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianaraab/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-raab-phd-a1850911/
Facebook (Author): https://www.facebook.com/DianaRaab.Author/
Facebook (Diana M Raab): https://www.facebook.com/diana.m.raab/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/512931.Diana_Raab
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/dianaraab1
Diana’s monthly newsletter: https://dianaraab.com/signup/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Rebe Huntman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about who are we as women and what holds us together as a culture, following questions to their conclusions and changing in the process, running away from grief, magical thinking, reinventing ourselves, Afro-Cuban traditions and relationships to the dead, hungering for answers, permission to be more than one thing, losing mothers and finding them again through memoir, spiritual mothers and keeping the dead close, and her new memoir My Mother in Havana: A Memoir of Magic & Miracle.
Also in this episode:
-getting a do over
-trusting the writing process
-including the beautiful and the terrible
Books mentioned in this episode:
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Poetry by Richard Blanco
Poetry by Aracelis Girmay
REBE HUNTMAN is the author of My Mother in Havana: A Memoir of Magic & Miracle (February 2025, Monkfish Books), a memoir that traces her search to connect with her mother—thirty years after her death—among the gods and saints of Cuba. A former professional Latin and Afro-Cuban dancer and choreographer, for over a decade Rebe directed Chicago’s award-winning Danza Viva Center for World Dance, Art & Music and its resident dance company, One World Dance Theater. She collaborates with native artists in Cuba and South America, and has been featured in LATINA Magazine, Chicago Magazine, and the Chicago Tribune, and on Fox and ABC. Rebe’s essays, stories, and poems appear or are forthcoming in such places as The Southern Review, The Missouri Review, Parabola, Ninth Letter, The Cincinnati Review, and the PINCH, and have earned her an Ohio Individual Excellence Award as well as fellowships from the Macondo Writers' Conference, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Ragdale Foundation, PLAYA Residency, Hambidge Center, and Brush Creek Foundation. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from The Ohio State University and lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and Delaware, Ohio. Both e’s in her name are long. Find her at www. rebehuntman.com and on Instagram at @rebehuntman.
Connect with Rebe:
Website: www.rebehuntman.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebehuntman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebehuntmanauthor
Links to purchase the book at www.rebehuntman.com/mymotherinhavana
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Bridgett M. Davis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the effect of trauma and weathering on Black lives, the unique bond between sisters, showing relationships in action and dialogue, homing in on a throughline, giving our books and writing the space they need,finding patterns and switching lenses, exploring varying lived experiences within family structures, shedding light on Lupus, the physiological effects of systemic racism, Black maternal mortality, moments of heartbreak, asking important narrative questions early on, the letters her sister wrote to her, and her new memoir Love, Rita.
Also in this episode:
-birth order
-getting a book optioned or film
-shifting points of view
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Situations and the Story by Vivian Gornick
-Inventing the Truth by William Zisner
-The Yellow House by Sarah
-Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway
-The Invisible Kingdom by Megan O’Rourke
-Fairy Land by Alisha Abbott
-Gather Me by Glory Adams
Bridgett M. Davis (pronounced Brih-jet) is the author of the memoir, Love, Rita, published by Harper Books in spring 2025.Her first memoir, The World According To Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life In The Detroit Numbers, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, named a Best Book of 2019 by Kirkus Reviews, BuzzFeed, NBC News and Parade Magazine, and featured as a clue on the quiz show Jeopardy! The upcoming film adaptation will be produced by Plan B Entertainment and released by Searchlight Pictures.
She is author of two novels, Into the Go-Slow, named a Best Book of 2014 by The San Francisco Chronicle, and Shifting Through Neutral, shortlisted for the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award. Davis is also writer/director of the 1996 award-winning feature film Naked Acts, newly restored and released to critical acclaim, screening in theaters across the US and globally and now available on DVD, Blu Ray and select streaming services.
Davis is Professor Emerita in the journalism department at Baruch College and the CUNY Graduate Center, where she has taught creative, narrative and film writing. Her essays have appeared most recently in The New York Times, the LA Times and The Washington Post, among other publications. A graduate of Spelman College and Columbia Journalism School, she lives in Brooklyn with her family. Visit her website at www.bridgettdavis.com.\
Connect with Bridgett:
Website: bridgettdavis.com
Facebook: bridgettdavis
Bluesky: bridgettmdavis.bsky.social
IG: https://www.instagram.com/bridgett_d
substack: bridgettmdavis.substack.com
Links for book purchase: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/love-rita-bridgett-m-davis?variant=43263953174562
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/love-rita-a-sister-s-story-bridgett-m-davis/21696108
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Megan Williams joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being a new mother while training at the police academy, looking for validation, resisting the urge to punish ourselves, pushing back against the voice of patriarchal culture, writing to our past self, going too far and not going far enough, the loneliness of motherhood, setting boundaries in memoir, testing ourselves, what motherhood feels like now, moving elegantly through time in memoir, surrounding yourself with talented writers, frontloading a manuscript, and her memoir One Bad Mother: A Mother’s Search for Meaning in the Police Academy.
Also in this episode:
-thinking as a form of writing
-writing community
-writing conferences
Books mentioned in this episode:
Crossing the River by Carol Smith
Starry Field by Margaret Juhae Lee
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Alliosn
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
A Well-Trained Wife by Tia Levings
Megan Williams is the author of One Bad Mother: A Mother’s Search for Meaning in the Police Academy. After graduating from Haverford College, Megan received her Ph.D. in English from Temple University and taught at Lafayette College and Santa Clara University. She has moved across the country—never landing in the middle—three times in twenty years. She now lives in Bellingham with her husband, who runs Blue Dog Bakery and keeps their teenage twins, rescued cat, horse, and mastiff full of treats.
Connect with Megan Williams:
Website: www.meganwilliamsauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1347114175
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ottoisking/
Tiktok: @one.bad.mother
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-williams-6585844a/
Get the book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/one-bad-mother-a-woman-s-search-for-meaning-in-motherhood-and-the-philadelphia-police-academy-megan-williams/20964845?ean=9781960573858
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Paul Lisicky joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how his appreciation for Joni Mitchell and love of her work shaped his life as a musician and a writer, vulnerability and uncertainty on the page, falling outside the containers of what’s expected, the singular and universal in our work, vulnerability and uncertainty in our creative process, corralling ourselves back to our 5 senses, feeling structure in our bodies, writing for the reader, developing ourselves as artists, being tenacious in pursuing our vision, writing about our idols, and his new book Song So Wild and Blue.
Also in this episode:
-image-based writing
-writing a proposal for the first time
-how structure can help liberate our work
Books/Authors mentioned in this episode:
Sigrid Nunez
Elizabeth McCracken
Sarah Manguso
Mary Gaitskill
Joy Williams
Barry Lopez
Annie Liontis
E.J. Koh
All Fours by Miranda July
Paul Lisicky is the author of seven books including Song So Wild and Blue: A Life with the Music of Joni Mitchell, Later: My Life at the Edge of the World, The Narrow Door: A Memoir of Friendship. A recipient of Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the NEA, he is a professor of English in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Rutgers University-Camden. He lives in Brooklyn.
Website: http://www.paullisicky.net/
Connect with Paul: https://bsky.app/profile/paullisicky.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paul_lisicky/
Get the book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/song-so-wild-and-blue-a-life-with-the-music-of-joni-mitchell-paul-lisicky/21517908?ean=9780063280373
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Maggie Smith returns to Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about letting imposter syndrome go, fiercely guarding your interior life, getting back to the core place where creativity thrives, rewriting a book from scratch, how writing feels in the body, swerving out of your creative lane, battling the sophomore slump, what it feels like to be watched, when ego gets in the way, fears of paralyzing failure, playing the long game, the best advice she ever got, staying agile and awake in the creative process, and her new book Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life.
Ronit’s first interview with Maggie Smith: https://ronitplank.com/2023/04/11/lets-talk-memoir-episode-38-ft-maggie-smith/
Also in this episode:
-the inner critic
-assembling a book freestyle
-tenacity and grit
Books mentioned in this episode:
Meander, Spiral, Explode by Jane Allison
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow by Steve Almond
Greywolf Press series “The Art of…” books
Maggie Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of eight books of poetry and prose, including You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir (One Signal/Atria, 2023); My Thoughts Have Wings, illustrated by Leanne Hatch (Balzer+Bray/Harperkids, 2024); Goldenrod: Poems (One Signal/Atria, 2021); Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change (One Signal/Atria, 2020); and Good Bones (Tupelo Press, 2017). Smith's next book is Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, forthcoming from One Signal/Atria in April 2025.
Her poems and essays have appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Poetry, The Nation, The Best American Poetry, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, AGNI, Ploughshares, Image, the Washington Post, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Poetry Review, The Southern Review, and many other journals and anthologies. In 2016 her poem "Good Bones" went viral internationally; since then it has been translated into nearly a dozen languages and featured on the CBS primetime drama Madam Secretary. Smith has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, the Ohio Arts Council, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Karen Kirsten joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the messy complexity of family, asking the right questions, writing about a time in history when you weren’t present in that history, utilizing and incorporating primary research, recorded interviews, archived documents, diaries, film, and photographs into memoir, writing fact-based vivid scenes, working with historians to accurately depict world-altering events, being honest with the reader and grappling with conflicting information on the page, changing the central question of your memoir, being a detective and being dogged, having a care plan and a nurturing creative community, writing about transgenerational trauma, inserting yourself into the narrative as a character, and her new memoir Irina’s Gift.
Also in this episode:
-structural changes late in the process
-delaying reveals to add suspense
-using image systems to address transgenerational trauma
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Fact of a Body by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
The Most Dangerous Book by Kevin Birmingham
The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham
Fairyland by Alysia Abbott
The Postcard by Anne Berest
The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel WIlkers
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
Leviathan by Paul Auster
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
Swimming in Paris: A Life in Three Stories by Colombe Schneck
Who I Always Was by Theresa Okokon
Karen Kirsten is the author of Irena’s Gift, a National Jewish Book Award finalist for Autobiography & Memoir, winner of Zibby Awards for Best Family Drama & Best Story of Overcoming, and an Australian Jewish Book Award finalist. Irena’s Gift is also The Australian newspaper’s’notable book’, and described by Pulitzer prize winning author Geraldine Brooks as ”a disturbing investigation into the power of secrets to harm and to haunt.”
Karen is an Australian-American writer and Holocaust educator who speaks around the world on the topics of hate and reconciliation. Karen’s essay “Searching for the Nazi Who Saved My Mother’s Life” was selected by Narratively as one of their Best Ever stories and nominated for The Best American Essays. Karen’s writing has also appeared in Salon.com, The Week, The Jerusalem Post, Huffington Post*, Boston’s National Public Radio station, The Boston Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald, and more.
Connect with Karen:
Website: https://www.karenkirsten.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/findingbabcie/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.kirsten
Book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/747811/irenas-gift-by-karen-kirsten/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Paula Delgado-Kling joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how her research and reporting on child soldiers, drug trafficking, and the revolutionary armed forces of Columbia (FARC) led her to tell the story of one woman and her family, the relationships we forge with whom we write about, allowing memoir to answer our questions, negotiating language barriers and class differences, coming to truth and understanding, grounding ourselves, hitting upon the structure a book needs, searching for humanity amidst ongoing violence, and her new book Leonor: The Story of a Lost Childhood.
Also in this episode:
-working as a journalist
-becoming embedded in the story we’re covering
-negotiating dangerous environments to gather information
Books mentioned in this episode:
Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho
It can take a really long time but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important or good.
Paula Delgado-Kling holds degrees in comparative literature/French civilizations, international affairs, and creative writing from Brown University, Columbia University, and The New School, respectively. Leonor, for which she received two grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts, is her first book. Excerpts of this book have appeared in Narrative, The Literary Review, Pacifica Literary Review, and Happano.org in Japan. Her work for the Mexican monthly news magazine Gatopardo was nominated for the Simon Bolivar Award, Colombia’s top journalism prize, and anthologized in Las Mejores Crónicas de Gatopardo (Random House Mondadori, 2006). Born in Bogota, Colombia and raised in Toronto, Canada, Delgado-Kling now splits her time between Boca Raton, FL and New York City. To learn more, please visit PaulaDelgadoKling.com or follow her on Instagram @PaulaDelgadoKling.
Connect with Paula
Website: http://pauladelgadokling.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091961238236
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ColombiaTalk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pauladelgadokling/
Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Leonor-Story-Childhood-Paula-Delgado-Kling/dp/1682194477?crid=1M4ML48WOEEV7&keywords=leonor&qid=1683308327&s=books&sprefix=leonor,stripbooks,97&sr=1-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=ongoicom-20&linkId=986106192c06afd126c43cfe6d22043d&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Diane Vonglis Parnell joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up with 9 siblings on an isolated farm under the tyranny of her abusive father and living in constant fear, homing in on the story we are called to tell, steering clear of portraying ourselves as victim or hero, not having closure, yearning for a mother, emotional absence, self-nurturing, trusting readers, the toll of secrets, changing names of family members, sharing manuscripts with siblings, writing about abusers, taking power back, and her new memoir The Taste of Anger.
Also in this episode:
-the importance of therapy to memoirists
-opting for a child narrator
-writing about emotional neglect and depression
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealey
Creep by Myriam Gurba
Diane Vonglis Parnell grew up on a remote farm in Western New York with nine siblings. Her essay Blame the Milkman was a winner in the Fish Publishing short memoir contest, and included in the Fish Anthology 2022. Vonglis Parnell is a Scrabble enthusiast, and a lover of progressive rock music. She serves as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer for abused children in her community, and lives a minimalist’s life in a 200-square-foot cottage in San Luis Obispo, California.
Connect with Diane:
Facebook.com/dianevonglisparnell
Instagram: @dianevonglisparnell
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Martha S. Jones joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being Black, white, and other in America, the origins of her family in slavery and sexual violence, anti-miscegenation laws, passing, who we call kin and why, taking up space, avoiding the Black-White binary, discovering family stories, writing in a full-throated way, leaving complexity in our work, being patient with our material, chasing threads, the duty we have to the people we write about, grappling with contradictions, leaving readers room to decide, writing and rewriting to get someplace new, the courage it takes to confront the past, and her new book The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir.
Also mentioned in this episode:
-false starts
-feeling ready to be read
-taking care of ourselves when writing
Books mentioned in this episode:
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway
Black is the Body by Emily Bernard
Thick by Tracy McMillan Cotton
Inventing the Truth by William Zissner
Martha S. Jones is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, professor of history, and a professor at the SNF Agora Institute at the Johns Hopkins University. A prizewinning author and editor of four books, her forthcoming The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir, confronts the limits of the historian’s craft in this powerful memoir of family, color, and being Black, white, and other in America. She is past copresident of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians and has contributed to the New York Times, Atlantic, and many other publications. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Connect with Martha:
Website: www.marthasjones.com
X: https://x.com/marthasjones_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marthasjones
Book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/martha-s-jones/the-trouble-of-color/9781541601000/?lens=basic-books
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Nicole Graev Lipson joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about our culture’s fascination with reducing women to readymade templates and archetypes, performing fictional versions of ourselves, finding our way back to who we are, the essay as a place where writers can grapple with confusion, working sentence by sentence, finding the most precise microscopic truth, embracing our particularities, focusing on we’re enthralled with, what it means to be a woman today, writing about children, attention as a loving act, drawing from the mess, writing as our own form of protest, how writing can be a shame eraser, and her new book Mothers and Other Fictional Characters.
Also in this episode:
-finding your genre
-the architecture of the sentence
-finding community with other writers
Books mentioned this episode:
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland
Any Person is the Only Self by Elisa Gabbert
Spilt Milk by Courtney Zoffness
The Leaving Season by Kelly McMasters
“The Seam of the Snail” essay by Cynthia Ozick
NICOLE GRAEV LIPSON is the author of the memoir-in-essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters (Chronicle Books, March 2025). Her writing has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, selected for The Best American Essays anthology, and nominated for a National Magazine Award. Her work has appeared publications such as The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, LA Review of Books, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and more. Born and raised in New York City, she lives outside of Boston with her husband and children.
Connect with Nicole:
Website: www.nicolegraevlipson.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nglipson
X: http://x.com/@NicoleGLipson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.g.lipson
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Sarah Jaffe joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about allowing ourselves to be known on the page, learning how to pivot from journalism to the very personal, processing experiences through writing, being upended by grief, taking care of ourselves when writing about violence and terror, witnessing and giving voice to other people’s hardships with integrity and respect, becoming undone on the page, how we are haunted by the losses we live through, sculpting material down during revision, and her new book From the Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire.
Also mentioned in this episode:
-documenting activism and organizing
-climate change
-the cognitive dissonance of social media
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Ghostly Matters by Avery Gordon
-Love and Borders by Anna Lukas Miller
-Who Cares by Emily Kenway
Sarah Jaffe is the author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone, which Jane McAlevey called “a multiplex in still life; a stunning critique of capitalism, a collective conversation on the meaning of life and work, and a definite contribution to the we-won’t-settle-for-less demands of the future society everyone deserves,” and of Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt, both from Bold Type Books.
She is a Type Media Center reporting fellow and an independent journalist covering the politics of power, from the workplace to the streets. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, the Guardian, the Washington Post, The New Republic, the Atlantic, and many other publications. She is the co-host, with Michelle Chen, of Dissent magazine’s Belabored podcast, as well as a columnist at The Progressive and New Labor Forum.
Sarah was formerly a staff writer at In These Times and the labor editor at AlterNet. She was a contributing editor on The 99%: How the Occupy Wall Street Movement is Changing America, from AlterNet books, as well as a contributor to the anthologies At the Tea Party and Tales of Two Cities, both from OR Books, and Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump’s America, from Picador. She was also the web director at GRITtv with Laura Flanders.
She was one of the first reporters to cover Occupy and the Fight for $15, has appeared on numerous radio and television programs to discuss topics ranging from electoral politics to Superstorm Sandy, from punk rock to public-sector unions.
She has a master’s degree in journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and a bachelor’s degree in English from Loyola University New Orleans. Sarah was born and raised in Massachusetts and has also lived in South Carolina, Louisiana, Colorado, New York and Pennsylvania.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: https://sarahljaffe.com/
X: https://x.com/sarahljaffe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahljaffe/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahjaffetrouble
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Susan Lieu joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about realizing you’re an artist later in life, becoming a multi-hyphinate storyteller, being a mother when you never knew your own, piecing together a family story, feeling plagued by structure, sticking to the throughline, writing residencies, writing down goals, deciding to stop searching for approval from loved ones and getting it for and from ourselves, accepting loved ones as they are, grief journeys, storytelling as closure, and her new memoir The Manicurist’s Daughter.
Also in this episode:
-using a book doctor
-mental health stigma and older generations
-body acceptance
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Ma and Me by Putsata Reang
SUSAN LIEU is a Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer who tells stories that refuse to be forgotten. She took her award-winning autobiographical solo show 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother on a ten-city national tour, with sold-out premieres and accolades from the Los Angeles Times, NPR, and American Theatre. Her debut memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter, is an Apple Book of the Month, Apple Book Must Listen of the Month, and has been featured on The New York Times, NPR Books, Elle Magazine, LA Times, and The Washington Post. Creator of The Vagina Monologues, V (formerly Eve Ensler) calls The Manicurist’s Daughter “a stunning, raw, brave memoir that wouldn’t let me go.” She is a proud alumnae of Harvard College, Yale School of Management, Coro, Hedgebrook, and Vashon Artist Residency. She is also the cofounder of Socola Chocolatier, an artisanal chocolate company based in San Francisco. Susan lives with her husband and son in Seattle, where they enjoy mushroom hunting, croissants, and big family gatherings. The Manicurist’s Daughter is her first book.
Connect with Susan:
Website: https://www.susanlieu.me/
Model Minority Moms Podcast: https://modelminoritymoms.com/
Instagram: @susanlieu, @celadonbooks
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanlieuofficial
TikTok: @susanlieuofficial
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanlieu/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Casey Mulligan Walsh joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the search for belonging in the wake of repeated loss, learning to live with grief alongside joy, finding a purpose for our story, homing in on the aboutness, patterns and themes in our memoir, managing flashbacks and whether or not to use them, setting up the essential question for your book, whether or not to have a prologue, landing on the structure, how our writing impacts others, tightening work, consolidating scenes, and cutting where necessary, embracing life in its messy complexity, and her new memoir The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted, Everything I Feared.
Ronit’s upcoming memoir course: https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-building a book launch team
-supporting other writers
-the challenges and benefits of critique groups
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman
Love in the Archives by Eileen Vorbach Collins
Growth by Karen Debonis
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
Seven Drafts by Allison K. Williams
The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith
Casey Mulligan Walsh writes about life at the intersection of grief and joy, embracing uncertainty, and the nature of true belonging. She has written for The New York Times, HuffPost, Next Avenue, Modern Loss, Hippocampus, Barren Magazine, and numerous other literary journals and anthologies. Her essay, “Still,” published in Split Lip, was nominated for Best of the Net. Her memoir, The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted, Everything I Feared, is forthcoming from Motina Books on February 18, 2025. She is a founding editor of In a Flash literary magazine and serves as an ambassador and Board member for the Family Heart Foundation. Casey lives in upstate New York with her husband, Kevin and too many books to count. Find Casey at www.caseymulliganwalsh.com.
Connect with Casey:
Facebook @Casey Mulligan Walsh @Casey Mulligan Walsh, Author
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/caseymulliganwalsh
X: http://x.com/@CMulliganWalsh
Threads @caseymulliganwalsh
BlueSky @caseymulliganwalsh
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-mulligan-walsh-522ba231/
Get her book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/4ZyHXNR
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-full-catastrophe-all-i-ever-wanted-everything-i-feared-casey-mulligan-walsh/21932235?ean=9798887840413
Also at your local independent bookstore and wherever books are sold.
Barrie Miskin joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the rare dissociative disorder she experienced while pregnant and her experience navigating the maternal and mental health care system, the guilt and shame so often connected to motherhood and womanhood, the sweet spot of writing a year into her full recovery, balancing memoir writing with privacy and community, owning who we are and what we need to write, helping people feel seen, protection within the writing process, letting loved ones read our work before publication, writing a memoir in three months, and her new memoir Hell Gate Bridge.
Also in this episode:
-maternal mental health crises
-cognitive behavioral therapy
-writing fast
Books mentioned in this episode
-Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness by Catherine Cho
-Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
-After the Eclipse: A Mother’s Murder, a Daughter’s Search by Sarah Perry
-Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad
Barrie Miskin's writing has appeared in Hobart, Narratively, Expat Press and elsewhere. Her interviews can be found in Write or Die magazine, where she is a regular contributor. Barrie is also a teacher in Astoria, New York, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Hell Gate Bridge is her first book.
Connect with Barrie:
Website: barriemiskin.com
Instagram: @barrie_m
X: @bmcintyre1000
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Kanya D’Almeida joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how her life changed when a manuscript by Russell "Maroon" Shoatz, a former member of the Black Panther Party and soldier in the Black Liberation Army showed up in an envelope on her doorstep in 2011, the decades he spent in the Pennsylvania prison system, how their experiences with political violence and civil war intersected, becoming his biographer and building comradeship across the bars, Sri Lanka’s history of conflict, channeling complicated feelings into dedication for writing a book, violence as the only language America knows how to speak, and her new book I Am Maroon: The True Story of an American Political Prisoner.
Ronit’s upcoming memoir course: https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-being a diasporic writer
-being a multi-genre author
-the role of self-criticism
Books mentioned in this episode:
On a Move by Mike Africa Jr.
Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
Russell "Maroon" Shoatz was a dedicated community activist, founding member of the Black Unity Council, former member of the Black Panther Party, and soldier in the Black Liberation Army.
Kanya D’Almeida won the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, becoming the first Sri Lankan and only the second Asian writer to hold the honor. She was awarded the Society of Authors’ annual short story award in 2022. Her journalism has appeared in Al Jazeera, TruthOut, and The Margins, and her fiction has appeared in Granta. She holds an MFA from Columbia University, where she studied under Victor LaValle.
Connect with Kanya:
https://twitter.com/kanyadalmeida
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/russell-shoatz/i-am-maroon/9781645030492/?lens=bold-type-books
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Sari Botton joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about editing the magazines Adventures in Journalism, Memoir Land, and Oldster, her experience publishing on Substack, editing vs. generating material, putting ourselves in our story, wrestling with what to share, creating safe boundaries, growing into the truest version of ourselves, vomit drafts, leaving the perfectionist out of the room, turning death on its head, shedding false identities, being our own best champion, and her mid-life coming of age memoir in episodes And You May Find Yourself...Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo.
Also in this episode:
-lowering standards for an early draft
-finding time for our own writing
-giving ourselves downtime to switch gears
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
-Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
-Bodywork by Melissa Febos
-The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
-All books by Abigail Thomas
Sari’s audibook is available here: https://www.audible.com/pd/And-You-May-Find-Yourself-Audiobook/B0DVMR3V2M
Sari Botton's memoir in essays, And You May Find Yourself...Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo, was chosen by Poets & Writers magazine for the 2022 edition of its annual "5 Over 50" feature. An essay from it received notable mention in The Best American Essays 2023, edited by Vivian Gornick. For five years, she was the Essays Editor at Longreads. She edited the bestselling anthologies Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving NewYork and Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York. She publishes Oldster Magazine, Memoir Land, and Adventures in Journalism. She was the Writer in Residence in the creative writing department at SUNY New Paltz for Spring, 2023.
Connect with Sari:
http://saribotton.com
https://www.facebook.com/sari.botton/
https://www.instagram.com/saribotton/
https://bsky.app/profile/saribotton.bsky.social
http://oldster.substack.com
http://memoirland.substack.com
http://adventuresinjournalism.substack.com
https://www.audible.com/pd/And-You-May-Find-Yourself-Audiobook/B0DVMR3V2M
https://bookshop.org/p/books/and-you-may-find-yourself-sari-botton/18519104
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/sari-botton/goodbye-to-all-that-revised-edition/9781541675681/?lens=seal-press
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Never-Can-Say-Goodbye/Sari-Botton/9781476784403
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Eleanor Vincent joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about trying to save her challenging high conflict marriage, autism in adults and Cassandra Syndrome, what to leave out of a book, self-revelation and honest grappling, the toll of masking autism, emotional abuse, careful framing of those we write about, using a sensitivity reader, support groups for neurodiverse spouses, our narrating personas, writing fearless first drafts, disguising identities and biographical details to protect those we write about, and her new memoir Disconnected: Portrait of a Neurodiverse Marriage.
Ronit’s upcoming memoir course: https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-complex trauma
-hyperfocus
-reading unceasingly
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
-Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello
-You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
-This American Ex-Wife by Liz Lenz
-Liars by Sarah Manguso
-Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
-22 Things a Woman Must Know If She Loves a Man with Asperger’s Syndrome by Rudy Simone
-Books by Anne Patchett
Eleanor Vincent’s new memoir Disconnected: Portrait of a Neurodiverse Marriage is forthcoming from Vine Leaves Press. It tells the story of her gradual discovery that her husband was on the autism spectrum, and of how she tried to save a challenging high-conflict marriage.
Her previous memoir, Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story (Dream of Things, 2013) has twice been on the New York Times bestseller list and was nominated for the Independent Publisher of the Year award. Her essays have appeared in anthologies by Creative Nonfiction and This I Believe, the literary magazines 580 Split and Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, as well as shorter pieces in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, and Generations Today.
She has an MFA in creative writing from Mills College and is a member of the San Francisco Writers Grotto, Left Margin Lit, and the Author’s Guild. She has taught creative nonfiction seminars at Mills College as a visiting writer and been awarded residencies at Hedgebrook, the Vermont Studio Center, and Writing Between the Vines. She lives in Walnut Creek, California.
Connect with Eleanor:
Website: https://www.eleanorvincent.com/
Book: https://vineleavespress.myshopify.com/products/disconnected-portrait-of-a-neurodiverse-marriage-by-eleanor-vincent
X: https://x.com/eleanorpvincent
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eleanor.vincent/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eleanor.vincent/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorpvincent/
Writing the real world Substack: https://eleanorvincent.substack.com/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Minelle Mahtani joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the grief, love, loss, and repair in losing her mother while finding her voice, noncolonial ways of thinking about stories, writing about her Indian, Iranian, and Canadian identities, what the sound of our voice is worth, paying attention to what we pay attention to, permission to be ourselves, having fun while trying to write precisely about grief, emotional trauma commonalities, her Canadian radio show Sense of Place, how kind we can bear to be to ourselves, listening as a political act, and her new memoir May it Have a Happy Ending.
Ronit’s upcoming 10-week online memoir course: https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Also in this episode:
-sibling approaches to grief and losing parents
-cocooning
-feminist geography
Books mentioned in this episode:
Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin
The Story Game by Shze-Hui Tjoa
Books by Julietta Singh
Minelle Mahtani is a Muslim Iranian/Indian/Canadian writer, former TV producer and radio host who teaches at University of British Columbia. Her memoir, “May It Have a Happy Ending” has been called a “magnificent and stunning debut…a gorgeous prism of stories.” She has been nominated for two national magazine awards and won a gold medal for best personal essay in th Digital Publishing Awards. She is the author of the book “Mixed Race Amnesia: Resisting the Romanticization of Multiraciality.” Her work has appeared in Geist, Maisonneuve and is forthcoming in Southeast Review.
Connect with Minelle:
Website: www.minellemahtani.com
X: https://x.com/mminelle
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minellewrites
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/minelle.mahtani/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Jarod K. Anderson joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about changing our definition of what victory is based on what we can and can’t control, understanding our own minds and contextualizing ourselves in the world, his experience with chronic major depression, the stigma around mental illness, the pain of abstraction and the concrete world, his podcast The Cryptonaturalist, privileging enthusiasm over fact, internal landscapes, the paradox of choice, large social media followings, the magic of the natural world around us, limitation as the engine for creativity, and his new memoir Something in the Woods Loves You.
Also in this episode:
-fantastical nature
-toxic masculinity
-a sense of service
More about Ronit’s UW Writing Class, MEMOIR WRITING: FINDING YOUR STORY: https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Books mentioned in this episode:
On Writing by Stephen King
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Area X by Jeff VanderMeer
JAROD K. ANDERSON is a writer, poet, and creator of The CryptoNaturalist podcast -a scripted show about real adoration for fictional wildlife. HIs new book is: SOMETHING IN THE WOODS LOVES YOU. He has built a large audience of social media followers and podcast listeners with his vibrant appreciations of nature. His previous 3 books are all best-sellers: Field Guide to the Haunted Forest, Love Notes from the Hollow Tree, and Leaf Litter. He lives in Ohio between a forest and a cemetery.
Connect with Jarod:
https://www.jarodkanderson.com/
https://www.instagram.com/cryptonaturalist/
https://x.com/CryptoNature
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBXHP2Yy5cJwg0tR9VfP8Xw
https://www.facebook.com/JarodKAnderson/
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Sarah Gormley joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about unpacking the baggage of self-doubt and imposter syndrome and moving toward self-love, shaping our memoirs into answers to the questions we have about our life, prioritizing pieces and elements of our story that help show readers transformation, the messiness of mother-daughter relationships, including partners and family in our memoir narratives, cutting big chunks of our manuscripts out, themes as blueprints for our structure, trusting our body when we land somewhere right, realizing what our book is actually about, and her new memoir The Order of Things.
Also in this episode:
-enjoying the magic of the written word
-writing as a reader
-including scenes from therapy in our memoirs
Books mentioned in this episode:
While You Were Out by Meg Kissinger
Group by Christie Tate
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by David Eggers
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
Sarah Gormley is a writer and art gallery owner living in Columbus, Ohio. Her undergraduate degree from DePauw University reinforced an early love for literature and writing, while the heavy sprinkling of liberal-arts fairy dust taught her how to analyze and articulate a clear point of view. She rounded out this foundation with concentrations in marketing and operations from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Her marketing career included work with several global brands, including IMAX, Martha Stewart, Girl Scouts of the USA, and Adobe. Gormley was honored as one of 2015’s Forty Women to Watch over 40, and she has been featured in Forbes and the CMO Club. In June 2019, she was invited to deliver the class address at her DePauw University class reunion and regrets not having her hair blown out. Today, Gormley owns a contemporary art gallery, Sarah Gormley Gallery (SGG), in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: www.sarahgormley.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scgormley/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.gormley.3726/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gormleysarah/
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Paula Whyman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about getting out of our comfort zone, her attempt to restore native meadows in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, becoming obsessed with subjects and deep diving, writing about science and nature, controlling and selecting details for impact, being attentive to what readers need, writing tangentially, the need for deadlines, when your editor calls you a meanderer, leaning into exploration and not shutting ourselves down, allowing our writing to reflect the way our minds work, and her new memoir Bad Naturalist.
Also in this episode:
-jumping from fiction to nonfiction
-talking with experts
-reading work aloud
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Leaving Season by Kelly McMasters
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl
A Buzz in the Meadow by Dave Goulson
The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard
The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy
Real Estate by Deborah Levy
Paula Whyman’s new book, Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop, is forthcoming from Timber Press/Hachette Book Group in January 2025. It’s a blend of memoir, natural history, and conservation science, a chronicle of her attempts to restore retired farmland to natural habitat and what she discovered along the way. Her first book, the linked short story collection You May See a Stranger, won praise from The New Yorker and a starred review in Publishers Weekly, and won the Towson Prize for Literature. Her stories have appeared in journals including McSweeney’s Quarterly, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, The Hudson Review, and The Southampton Review. Her fiction was selected for the anthology Writes of Passage: Coming-of-Age Stories and Memoirs from The Hudson Review. Her nonfiction has been featured on NPR, and in the Washington Post, The American Scholar, and The Rumpus. She is co-founder and editor in chief of the literary journal Scoundrel Time.
Whyman has taught in writers-in-schools programs through the Pen/Faulkner Foundation in Washington, DC, and the Hudson Review in Harlem and the Bronx, New York. Her fiction is part of the curriculum at The Young Women’s Leadership School in Harlem.
Whyman’s work has been supported by fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, The Studios of Key West, and VCCA. She was a Tennessee Williams Scholar in Fiction at the Sewanee Writers Conference. She served two terms as Vice President of the MacDowell Fellows Executive Committee.
Whyman is the recipient of grants from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. She was awarded an MSAC Creativity Grant and 2023 and 2024 Oak Spring Garden Foundation residencies and grants to support her work on Bad Naturalist.
Connect with Paula:
Website: paulawhyman.com
Instagram: @paulawhymanauthor
Bluesky: @paulawhym
Mastodon: @paulawhyman@writing.exchange
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Eiren Caffall joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her generational experience of loss, coming out of the shadows about having an ill body, how polycystic kidney disease (PKD) has shaped her and her family’s life, writing about the collapse of ecosystems in the Atlantic ocean, seamlessly weaving in narrative, historical, lyrical, scientific, and metaphorical threads, allowing our children to weigh in on stories that involve them, feeling all the places we’re still wounded, depicting mother-daughter relationships with complexity, the umpteenth draft, form as key, holding two things in mind at once, reframing and understanding family dynamics, and her new memoir The Mourner’s Bestiary.
Also in this episode:
-remembering wonder and beauty in the face of destruction
-idosyncratic craft structures
-where we are in our stories
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Shapes of Native Nonfiction Edited by Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warbuton
-Meander Spiral Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Allison
-Landmarks by Robert Mcfarlane
Eiren Caffall is a writer and musician. Her award-winning memoir, The Mourner’s Bestiary, will be published by Row House Publishing in October 2024. Her novel, All the Water in the World will be published by Saint Martin’s Press in 2025. An excerpt of her memoir will appear in Elementals: Volume IV. Fire forthcoming in 2024 from The Center for Humans and Nature. Her work on loss and nature, oceans and extinction has appeared in Guernica, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, Al Jazeera, The Rumpus, and three record albums. She received a Whiting Foundation Creative Nonfiction Grant in 2023 for The Mourner’s Bestiary, a Social Justice News Nexus fellowship in environmental journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and a Frontline: Environmental Reportage residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts. She has been awarded residencies at Millay Colony for the Arts, MacDowell Colony (waitlisted), Hedgebrook, and Ragdale. She has guest lectured at UCLA, University of Chicago, and other universities across America, taught creative writing for The Chicago Humanities Festival, taught a memoir body and place week-long masterclass for Story Studio in Chicago, and mentored graduate students at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been adapted into the award-winning short film Becoming Ocean, which screened at film festivals across the United States and in Amsterdam and Morocco.
Connect with Eiren:
Website: www.eirencaffall.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eirencaffall/
X: www.x.com/eirencaffall
Substack: https://eirencaffall.substack.com
Ronit’s Upcoming Online 10-week Memoir Course with the University of Washington:
https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Nadia Colburn joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about tuning into our bodies to discover what we need to say, creating different cultural conversations about surviving trauma, tapping into our subconscious, coming out of secrets, how poetry can help us access material, not needing to share work until we’re ready, what we learn from being in community with other writers, and her signature online course Align Your Story for Women.
Also in this episode:
-mitigating shame
-how our bodies remember
-meditation and dreamwork
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
-The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
-Trauma and Recovery by Judith Lewis Herman
-Educated by Tara Westover
-Nothing Holds Back the Night by Delphine de Vigan
-The work of Annie Ernaux
Nadia Colburn is the author of the poetry books "I Say the Sky" and "The High Shelf", and her poetry and prose have appeared in more than eighty publications, including The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, Spirituality & Health, Lion's Roar, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Yale Review. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Columbia University, is a yoga teacher and serious student of Thich Nhat Hanh and is the founder of Align Your Story Writing School, which brings traditional literary and creative writing studies together with mindfulness, embodied practices, and social and environmental engagement. The school has a community of over 30,000 mindful writers. Nadia is passionate about helping her students reclaim their stories, come out of secrets, listen to their bodies, and embrace and step into their full creative voices, on and off the page. Nadia lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband and two children. She is currently at work on a full-length memoir on pregnancy and early motherhood. Find her at nadiacolburn.com, where she offers meditations and free resources for writers.
Connect with Nadia:
Website: https://nadiacolburn.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alignyourstory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadia.colburn/
Free 5-Day Meditation & Writing Challenge: https://nadiacolburn.com/free-mindful-writing-challenge/
Free Resource Library for Writers: https://nadiacolburn.com/free-resources/
"I Say the Sky" on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Say-Sky-Poems-Contemporary-Poetry/dp/081319864X
"I Say the Sky" from Kentucky Press: https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813198637/i-say-the-sky/
7-Day "I Say the Sky" Companion Meditation and Writing Challenge (free with book order -- just input book order number): https://nadiacolburn.com/7-day-new-year-practice/
Align Your Story for Women (Nadia's signature online course): https://nadiacolburn.com/align-your-story/
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Kristen Van Nest joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how discovered who she was on a global stage and her addiction to travel, loving the growth phase of new projects, how improv and stand up improves our writing, writing funny and the architecture of a joke, having a love-hate relationship with social media and publishing, keeping your ideal reader in mind, marketing our work ourselves and hustling to get our book in front of people, hammering in the theme in our manuscripts, publishing in literary reviews, establishing publishing proofpoints, cold pitching 150 agents, selling on proposal, and her memoir Where to Nest: A Global Search for Love, Cheap Wine and a Place to Belong.
Also mentioned in this episode:
-ghost cities
-bad roommates
-feeling culturally confused
Books mentioned in this episode:
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristen Newman
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Books by David Sedaris
In her debut travel memoir Where to Nest (April 2, 2024, Rising Action Publishing Co.) Kristen Van Nest weaves an entertaining story for anyone who needs a good laugh, travel ideas, and inspiration for ways to add more joy into their lives.
After college getting her dream job in New York City, Kristen thought she had everything a modern Millennial was supposed to want: a sexy zip code, a boyfriend, and a corporate job.
But instead of feeling content, she soon realized she had no idea who she was and what made her happy. Naturally, she did what any sane person would do: hopped on a plane and spent the rest of her twenties living abroad and traveling the world in search of love, adventure, and new and exciting places to eat bread.
By stripping away the cultural norms and expectations she grew up with in the US, she rebuilt from scratch a new identity, sense of self, and life purpose that ultimately led her to move to Los Angeles to pursue comedy. Through living in Luxembourg on a Fulbright Scholarship and then in China for three years working for a wine importer, Where to Nest takes us across the globe–including nearly being murdered by a lover while skiing in Switzerland, navigating Greece during a banking crisis, and visiting Thailand during a government coup–as a woman struggles to find belonging.
Connect with Kristen:
Website: www.kristenvannest.com
On all channels @KristenVanNest
Link Order: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1990253571
YouTube channel on how to work smarter to live better: https://www.youtube.com/c/KristenVanNest
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Jennifer Lang joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about asking the right questions, understanding what home means and where it is, being sure to put your story in the narrative you’re sharing, her sense of self on and off the yoga mat, answers to mid-life questions, learning to write flash prose, putting manuscripts away for a while, being a Jewish writer living in Israel, leaning into experimental and playful prose, coping with imminent empty nests, and her new book Landed: A Yogi’s Memoir in Pieces & Poses.
Also mentioned in this episode
-self-doubt and self censoring
-reading our work aloud
-honing skills as an editor
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg
-Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krass Rosenthal
Jennifer Lang is a San Francisco Bay Area transplant in Tel Aviv. Last September, she gave birth to her first book, Places We Left Behind: a memoir-in-miniature; in October2024, she welcomes Landed: A yogi’s memoir in pieces & poses into the world. A graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, Jennifer was an Assistant Editor at Brevity. Her prize-winning essays appear in Baltimore Review, Under the Sun, Midway Journal, and elsewhere. A longtime yoga instructor, she teaches YogaProse. Findable at www.israelwriterstudio.com
Connect with Jennifer:
Website: https://israelwriterstudio.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenlangwrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenlangwrites/
Ger her book: https://vineleavespress.myshopify.com/products/landed-a-yogi-s-memoir-in-pieces-poses-by-jennifer-lang
BookShop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/landed-a-yogi-s-memoir-in-pieces-poses-jennifer-lang/21684650?ean=9783988320872
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Landed-yogis-memoir-pieces-poses/dp/3988320870/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.bd8lRm7rAOuV3k1usbF7vA.M-X19uPxbllhxbajEHxpKmH_KgcTpjocnI07C8iCSdA&qid=1723456516&sr=1-1
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Anne Cheng joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about pivoting from writing scholarly works on race and gender to writing in first person and quite personally, teaching herself how to say the things that had remained unspoken in her life, her cancer diagnosis and treatment, the rise in anti-Asian violence during the pandemic, the ways Chinese femininity dovetails with Southern femininity, what we don't know about those closest to us, sharing work about our partner with our partner, the cumulative effect of an essay collection, allowing our voice to come through in our writing, and her new book Ordinary Disasters: How I stopped Being a Model Minority.
Also in this episode:
-feeling braver in writing than in person
-thorny mother-daughter relationships
-father loss
Books mentioned in this episode:
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
Stay True by Hua Hsu
Docile by Hyeseung Song
Anne Anlin Cheng was born in Taiwan, grew up in the American South, and is author of three books on American racial politics and aesthetics. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. She is professor of English and former director of American Studies at Princeton University and lives in Princeton. She is currently Scholar-in-Residence at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Connect with Anne:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anneanlincheng
Facebook: Anne A. Cheng
Website: https://english.princeton.edu/people/anne-cheng
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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
Season 5 is coming to an end but season 6 is almost here, along with some more memoir resources and links.
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com/
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, editor, and memoirist Ronit Plank, each episode of this limited series highlights different aspects of the memoir writing experience, writing tips, and inspiration.
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 and edits memoir and is working on her next book.
Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography
Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers
David Tereshchuk joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being drawn to journalism to help him cure the matter of unanswered questions in his own life, his early years living in the rural borderlands of Scotland, how he turned to alcohol at a very early age, going from from tea and copy boy to anchorman of a nightly news program, becoming sober in his forties, his pursuit of ironclad truth, the place uncertainty holds in our lives, and his resolution to be open-hearted and honest about his life when writing his new memoir A Question of Paternity.
Also in this episode:
-the place uncertainty holds in our lives
-his work in media
-the paradox in his life and work
Books:
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
DAVID TERESHCHUK is a journalist working mainly in broadcast media but also for magazines and newspapers (New York Times, The Guardian, New Statesman). He spent two decades with British commercial television, reporting, producing, and making documentaries, before moving to the US, where he worked for ABC, CBS, CNN, Discovery, A&E and The History Channel. His earliest work included coverage of the guerrilla war in Northern Ireland, and then extended into international issues, especially in the Third World. Since 2012 he has been a producer and correspondent for PBS, concentrating on ethical issues. He broadcasts a weekly public radio dispatch of media criticism, The Media Beat, and writes an online column by the same name. A graduate of Oxford University, he has been a US citizen since 2002 and lives in New York City and Ireland. His memoir, A Question of Paternity: My Life as an Unaffiliated Reporter, was published by Envelope Books on September 19th.
Connect with David:
Website: https://www.themediabeat.us/david-tereshchuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidtereshchuk
X: https://x.com/dtereshchuk
Facebook: facebook.com/david.tereshchuk
Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Question-Paternity-Life-Unaffiliated-Reporter/dp/1915023157
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 and edits memoir and is working on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
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
Rachel Zimmerman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about rebuilding her family’s life after her husband’s death by suicide, the physical toll of grief, feeling like a doomed family, finding joy and pleasure after terrible loss, how her career in journalism informed her writing process, not tying things up in a bow, our children getting veto power about what we include in our books, when family remembers differently, getting the wise narrator present on the page to transform our experience into a story, and her memoir, Us, After: A Memoir of Love and Suicide.
Also in this episode:
-how her memoir’s title changed
-taking writing classes
-feeling like a loss freak
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
The Long Goodbye by Megan O’Rourke
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
Rachel Zimmerman is the author of Us, After: A Memoir of Love and Suicide. An award-winning journalist, Zimmerman has written about health and medicine for more than two decades. She currently contributes stories on mental health to The Washington Post and previously worked as a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal and a health reporter for WBUR, Boston’s public radio station. Her essays and reporting have been published in The New York Times; Vogue; The Cut; O, The Oprah Magazine; The Atlantic; Slate; The Huffington Post; and Brevity, among others.
Zimmerman is co-author of The Healing Power of Storytelling; and The Doula Guide to Birth. She’s been awarded residencies at Millay Arts and the Turkeyland Cove Foundation and currently lives with her family in Cambridge, Mass.
Connect with Rachel:
Website: https://www.rachelzimmerman.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachel.zimmerman13
FB: https://www.facebook.com/rachel.zimmerman.77
X: https://x.com/@zimmerman082
Get her book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1951631358/ref=sr_1_1?crid=X9DA82X3A2SP&keywords=us+after%3A+a+memoir+of+love+and+suicide&qid=1697209495&s=books&sprefix=us+after+a+memoir+of+love+and+suicide%2Cstripbooks%2C166&sr=1-1
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 and edits memoir and is working on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
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
Sarah LaBrie joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the year her mom was diagnosed with schizophrenia and the legacy of mental illness in her family, rethinking ambitions in light of tragedy and grief, releasing emotional pressure with writing, when fiction doesn’t cut it, finding company for our mental illness stories, knowing why you want to write a memoir, learning to stop punishing ourselves, being a workaholic, processing our stories through writing, and her new memoir No One Gets to Fall Apart.
Also in this episode:
-contemplating our parents’ backstory
-reading as much as you can
-ketamine therapy
Books mentioned in this episode:
Beautiful Days by Zack Williams
Heartberries by Terese Marie Mailhot
The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson
Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway
Braiding Sweetgrass and all books by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Sarah LaBrie is from Houston, TX and is the author of the memoir No One Gets to Fall Apart (HarperCollins, October 2024). She is a TV writer, memoirist, and librettist. Sarah was most recently a producer on the HBO and Starz television show, Minx. She has also written on Blindspotting (Starz), Made for Love (MAX), and Love, Victor (Hulu/Disney). Her libretti have been performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her fiction also appears in Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, Guernica, The Literary Review, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She has held residencies at Yaddo, UCross and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She holds an MFA from New York University, where she was a Writers in the Schools Fellow.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: https://www.sarahlabrielivesinlosangeles.com/
Get her book: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/no-one-gets-to-fall-apart-sarah-labrie?variant=41476933419042
IG: @itsmesarahlabrie
twitter: @sarah_labrie
tiktok: sarahlabrie62
–
Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
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, Poets & Writers, 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 teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social
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
Dorothy and Rachel Leland join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about Rachel’s battle with Lyme disease beginning at 13 years old, controversial medical diagnoses, advocating for treatment, living with chronic illness, keeping a journal, collaborating on a story, writing a memoir as a mother-daughter team and honoring both of those perspectives, taking care of ourselves when working on physically charged material, and their memoir Finding Resilience: A Teen's Journey Through Lyme Disease.
Also in this episode:
-Lyme politics
-keeping a journal
-using photographs to generate material
Books mentioned in this episode:
When Your Child Has Lyme Disease by Dorothy Leland
Educated by Tara Westover
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
Rachel became severely disabled by Lyme disease at age 13. It took years, but she's now a strong and healthy adult woman. She lives in Washington state and works in a school as a speech therapy assistant. In addition, she films and edits videos, which she posts on social media to help inspire and educate others about chronic illness.
As President of LymeDisease.org, Dorothy advocates nationally for improved diagnosis and medical treatment for Lyme disease. She has co-authored two books about Lyme disease and writes the blog "Touched by Lyme."
Connect with Dorothy and Rachel:
Website: https://resilientlyrachel.com/book/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resilientlyrachel/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dorothy.leland/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2LymeDisease.org/
Get the book: https://amzn.to/3HDqmmA
–
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
Gina Troisi joins Lets Talk Memoir for a conversation about searching for home and belonging, writing difficult stories and releasing them into the world, feeling too close to our manuscripts and taking breaks, why memoir is sometimes misunderstood, when material feels too difficult, thinking of ourselves as a character, reckoning with self-abandonment and hurting others, writing memoir as fiction first, moving from stand-alone essays to book length work, staying true to our creative vision and her memoir The Angle of Flickering Light.
Also in this episode:
-unpacking honest emotions
-self-destructive cycles
-winning writing awards
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
-Wild by Cheryl Strayed
-The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
-Lovesick by Sue William Silverman
-Abandon Me by Melissa Febos
-Memoirs by Abigail Thomas
Gina Troisi is the author of the memoir, The Angle of Flickering Light (Vine Leaves Press, 2021), which was a finalist for the 2022 Maine Literary Awards. The Angle of Flickering Light won first place for the 2021 Royal Dragonfly Book Award for Memoir, received a Silver Medal for the 2022 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), a Silver Medal for the 2021 Reader’s Favorite Book Award, and has placed in several other contests, including but not limited to the 2021 New England Book Festival Award for Non-fiction, the 2021 Paris Book Festival Award for Memoir, and the 2021 Southern California Book Festival Award for Memoir. Gina's novel-in-stories, After the Rush, was the First Place Winner for the 2023 Book Pipeline Unpublished Contest For Literary Fiction, a Semi-Finalist for Ohio State University’s 2023 Non/Fiction Collection Prize, and a Finalist for the 2023 Acacia Prize for Fiction.
Gina received an MFA in creative nonfiction from The University of Maine’s Stonecoast MFA Program in 2009. Her essays and stories have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Fourth Genre, The Gettysburg Review, Fugue, Under the Sun, Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment, and elsewhere. She teaches writing at Southern New Hampshire University, and is a mentor in the Masters of Fine Arts Creative & Professional Writing Program at Western Connecticut State University. She also offers academic tutoring as well as one-on-one coaching for creative writers.
Connect with Gina:
Website: https://gina-troisi.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gina.troisi.7/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginatroisiwriter/
X: https://x.com/troisi_gina
–
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
Jennifer Selig joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how our narratives are both unique and universal, archetypical strategies to connect with readers, writing ourselves into meaning, assuaging the fear the world might not need our memoir, following our memories and trusting order will come later, the many different structures a memoir can embody including segmented, blended, and researched, the interplay of memory, imagination, and truth, avoiding gimmicks, the memoirist as archaeologist, and her new book Deep Memoir: An Archetypal Approach to Deepen Your Story and Broaden Its Appeal.
Also in this episode:
-the vagaries of memory’s tricks and confusions
-the idea of comparative suffering
-our story as dynamic, organic, and authentic
Books mentioned in this episode:
Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
Eva and Eve by JulieMetz
The Recovering by Leslie Jamison
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Write-Minded Podcast
Jennifer Leigh Selig’s writing and teaching career spans four decades. She’s the author of dozens of newspaper articles, book reviews, essays, journal articles, short stories, screenplays, and books including in this decade "The Writer’s Block Workbook: A Psychologist’s Guide to Working With and Through Writer’s Block," and the Nautilus Gold award-winning book "Deep Creativity: Seven Ways to Spark Your Creative Spirit. "Jennifer earned her PhD in Jungian and Archetypal Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California, and went on to teach there for a dozen years. It was at Pacifica where she first began teaching memoir in a popular 9-month certificate program called “Writing Down the Soul” with her colleague Maureen Murdock. She gathered all the content she created and published it in her latest book, "Deep Memoir: An Archetypal Approach to Deepen Your Story and Broaden Its Appeal." Jennifer lives in the Bay Area in California, and owns a publishing company, Mandorla Books, where she also publishes memoir.
Connect with Jennifer:
Website: www.jenniferleighselig.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.selig.1/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferselig/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferleighselig/
Links for courses: https://www.jenniferleighselig.com/deep-dive-courses.html
Link to her book publishing company: www.mandorlabooks.com
–
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
Jay Baron Nicorvo joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about his mother’s violent rape and how that event coincided with his sexual abuse at the hands of his babysitter, the pervasiveness of sexual abuse for boys and men, how crucial scenes are in memoir and also how difficult to render, exposition to give the reader and ourselves breaks from difficult material, being a multi-genre writer, on not becoming an art monster, why it’s hard to read the publishing market, leaving an agent, outlasting crushing rejection and so many no’s, exploring and thinking deeply about our obsessions, traumatic memories and the way memoir affects them, how lies work, the experience vs. writing the experience, the impact of desertion on children and his new memoir Best Copy Available.
Also in this episode:
-writing in the second person
-needing and reaching for support
-allowing ourselves to be surprised by our material
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
My Dark Places by James Ellroy
The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson
JAY BARON NICORVO’s true-crime memoir, BEST COPY AVAILABLE, won the AWP Award selected by Geoff Dyer. His novel, THE STANDARD GRAND, landed at #8 on the Indie Next List, and his poetry collection, DEADBEAT, debuted on the Poetry Foundation bestseller list.
Connect with Jay:
Website: https://www.nicorvo.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jbnicorvo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jay.baronnicorvo
x: https://x.com/jbnicorvo
Get the book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/best-copy-available-a-true-crime-memoir-jay-baron-nicorvo/21321293?ean=9780820367361
–
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
Lilly Dancyger joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the challenges of existing in the world as a woman, approaching the writing process with a sense of exploration and curiosity, discovering what's really essential and what can we let go of, the nitty-gritty of writing an essay, getting clarity on our material, finding the container to write about what we need to write, articulating the connections we’re making, girlhood, going off the rails as a teenager, how grief and art can be inextricably linked, the tug to write about close relationships with women, living in community and caring for each other, and her book First Love: A Collection of Essays on Friendship.
Also in this episode:
-sad girls
-tending to friendships
-being open to not knowing where the story is going to go
Books mentioned in this episode:
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosio
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
The Heart and Other Monsters by Rose Anderson
Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway
Stay True by Hua Hsu
Girlhood by Melissa Febos
White Magic by Elissa Washuta
The Clean Life by CJ Hauser
Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones
Love is a Burning Thing by Nina St. Pierre
Lilly Dancyger is the author of First Love: Essays on Friendship (The Dial Press, 2024), and Negative Space (SFWP, 2021). She lives in New York City, and is a 2023 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in nonfiction from The New York Foundation for the Arts. Her writing has been published by Guernica, Literary Hub, The Rumpus, Longreads, Off Assignment, The Washington Post, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and more. She teaches creative nonfiction in MFA programs at Columbia University and Randolph College. Find her on Instagram at @lillydancyger and Substack at The Word Cave.
Connect with Lilly:
Website: https://www.lillydancyger.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lillydancyger/
X: https://twitter.com/lillydancyger
Substack: https://lillydancyger.substack.com/
Get her book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714347/first-love-by-lilly-dancyger/
Learn more about her classes: https://www.lillydancyger.com/classes
–
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
Brooke Champagne joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about rejecting and accepting identity, growing up in New Orleans and feeling bifurcated by race, language, and class, knowing you’re a writer, humor on the page, selecting work for a collection, why we write, watching ourselves continue to make the same mistakes, deciding what stories are ours, how much permission we ask, preparing for editorial work on our projects, keeping the bigger picture in mind, the many different versions of ourselves, seeing yourself as a persona, and her new book Nola Face: A Latina’s Life in the Big Easy.
Also in this episode:
-writing about trauma
-Proust
-the nature of art and truth
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
The Lifespan of a Fact by John Degoda
Hell if We Don’t Change Our Ways by Brittany Means
Brooke Champagne is the author of Nola Face: A Latina’s Life in the Big Easy, published with the Crux Series in Literary Nonfiction at the University of Georgia Press. Nola Face has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Independent Book Review. Champagne’s work has been selected as Notable in several editions of the Best American Essays anthology series, and she is the recipient of the 2023-2024 Alabama State Council on the Arts Literary Fellowship in Prose. She lives with her husband and children in Tuscaloosa, where she is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing in the MFA Program at the University of Alabama.
Connect with Brooke:
Website: https://www.brookechampagne.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuggyGirl
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/champagne_brooke/
x: https://x.com/brchampagne
Get Nola Face: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820366531/nola-face/
–
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
Deborah Kasdan joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her older sister’s schizophrenia diagnosis, the decision to commit a child, family dynamics and epigenetics, what it is to be marginalized and hidden away, writing expressively, thematic and chronological decisions, digging further and digging deeper, the conflict alive inside us, landing on a book cover, finishing her sister’s story, guilt about our loved ones and giving them a voice in our work, and her memoir Roll Back the World.
Also mentioned in this episode:
-sibling reaction to our memoirs
-experimenting and trying again
-writing the scenes that press themselves upon us
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Is There No Place for Me by Susan Sheehan
-The Eden Express by Mark Vonnegut
-The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn R. Saks
-The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok
-The Soloist by Steve Lopez
Chosen as one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Indie books of 2023, and a Foreword Reviews finalist, Deborah Kasdan’s memoir shows the impact of serious mental illness on her late sister Rachel, as well as on herself and their entire family. It also reveals the healing power of writing. Kasdan had a 35-year career writing about business and technology before retiring from corporate work and uncovering her creative side. Kasdan grew up in the Midwest and now lives in Norwalk, Connecticut with her husband. In addition to writing and making family history come alive, her times of greatest joy occur when she is reading, swimming or visiting with her four grandchildren.
Connect with Deborah:
Website: www.deborahkasdan.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debkasdan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debkasdan
X: https://x.com/debkasdan
–
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
Katya Cengel joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the three months she spent as a child in a psychosomatic ward, her career in journalism, institutionalization and treating kids with mental illness, working with case files, using the journalist persona, growing up being scapegoated, balancing the child and adult voice, reliving painful events, turning the focus on ourselves, family response to memoir, and her memoir Straitjackets and Lunch Money.
Also in this episode:
-family dynamics
-taking care of our mental health when writing memoir
-preadolescent eating disorders
Books mentioned in this episode:
-It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
-Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
-Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
-The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan
Katya Cengel is the author of four non-fiction books, including most recently Straitjackets and Lunch Money, which the San Francisco Chronicle called “incredibly affecting” and Kirkus Reviews called “harrowing but engrossing”. Cengel’s earlier titles cover everything from minor league baseball in Bluegrass Baseball to falling in love at Chernobyl in From Chernobyl with Love. She has received an Eric Hoffer Academic Press award, an Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY), and a Foreword INDIES.
As a journalist Cengel has written for New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine and Atavist Magazine among others. Her writing has taken her to Utah to search for Bigfoot (she didn’t find him) and to Mongolia to write about female street artists. Her stories have received a Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Award and a Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features Award.
Connect with Katya:
Website: www.katyacengel.com
X (Twitter): https://x.com/kcengel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katyacengel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katya.cengel/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katya-cengel-7b7b4214/
Get the book: https://www.woodhallpress.com/product-page/strait-jackets-and-lunch-money
https://bookshop.org/p/books/straitjackets-and-lunch-money-a-10-year-old-in-a-psychosomatic-ward-katya-cengal/19786290?ean=9781954907683
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1954907680/ref=x_gr_bb_amazon?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_bb_amazon-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1954907680&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2
–
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
Margaret Juhae Lee joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about searching for her family’s lost history, growing up as a first generation Korean American living in Houston, archival work and interviewing relatives, capturing family voice, why we search to understand painful things, knowing ourselves as writers, finding structure later, the time to digest material, reading historical fiction with a critical eye, generative writing workshops, curbing self-editing tendencies, what home means, not giving up, and her memoir Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History.
Also in this episode:
-conveying immediacy through present tense
-investigative journalism
-writing in community
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Situation and the Story by Vivan Gornick
-All other books by Vivian Gornick
Margaret Juhae Lee is the author of Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History (Melville House). A former editor at The Nation magazine, she received a Bunting Fellowship from Harvard University and a Korean Studies Fellowship from the Korea Foundation. Her articles have been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, The Rumpus and Writer's Digest. She lives in Oakland with her family and Brownie, a rescue dog from Korea.
Connect with Margaret:
Website: www.margaretjuhaelee.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjuhae
X: https://x.com/margaretjuhae
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margaret.lee.790
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-juhae-lee-2b95905/
Starry Field: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741044/starry-field-by-margaret-juhae-lee/
–
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
Becky Ellis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up in the shadow of a father’s war trauma, what happens when soldiers come home, the power of secrets, the divided self and why memoirists need to be clear about their psychology, strategies for creating palpable worlds, avoiding judgment in our pages, making scenes and dialogue do the work of exposition, how memoir changes lives, creating tension, letting readers into our interior worlds, and her memoir Little Avalanches.
Also in this episode:
-telling the story we need to read
-setting character stakes
-trusting the reader
Books mentioned in this episode:
Story by Robert McKee
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
This Boys Life by Tobias Wolf
The Liars Club by Mary Karr
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Authors: Tim O’Brien, Rebecca Makkai, Maggie O’Farrell
Becky Ellis is a Timberwolf Pup. The daughter of a highly decorated World War II combat sergeant, she is a veteran of a war fought at home. She earned a BA in English Literature at UC Berkeley and has over twenty years of experience in the publishing industry. She teaches writing in Portland, Oregon, where she lives, plays, and has raised three daughters. Little Avalanches is her debut memoir.
Connect with Becky:
Website: https://beckyellis.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beckyellisauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/becky.ellis.9081/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-ellis-4084149/
–
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
Jaclyn Moyer joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about excavating what remains unsolved within us, clueing the reader in early in our pages, how each draft leads to a door to the next, leaning into uncomfortable feelings, trusting the writing process, understanding more about her Punjabi heritage, her fraught relationship with her grandparents, Sonora wheat and the organic farming movement, addressing the wreckage of our food system, the intimacy of the natural world, and her new memoir On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family from Punjab to California.
Also in this episode:
-what set’s us off on our journey
-integrating different parts of ourselves in our pages
-braiding narratives
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Art of Waiting by Belle Boggs
On Immunity by Eula Biss
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Debra Gwartney
Jaclyn Moyer is the author of On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family from Punjab to California. Her essays and journalism have appeared in The Atlantic, High Country News, Salon, Guernica, Orion, Ninth Letter and other publications. She's received fellowships and support from Fishtrap, Wildbranch Writing Workshop, The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, Community of Writers, and Spring Creek Project, and was a finalist for the PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize. She has worked as a vegetable farmer, bread baker, teacher, and native seed collector. Originally from northern California’s Sierra Foothills, she currently lives in Corvallis, Oregon with her partner and two young children.
Website: www.jaclynmoyer.com
Get the book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/on-gold-hill-a-personal-history-of-wheat-farming-and-family-from-punjab-to-california-jaclyn-moyer/20221306?ean=9780807045305
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Hill-Personal-History-California/dp/0807045306
Grassroots Bookstore: https://grassrootsbookstore.com/item/VdT28uSLKvb371iRsDWG3w
—
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
Gila Pfeffer joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about outsmarting genetic destinies and her preventative double mastectomy, remembering what’s at stake in our work, tempering the serious with a satirical lens, honing humor in our work, smart book titles and SEO, advocating for our book cover, considering both the art value and marketing value in our memoirs, fostering a humor-writing community, writing about being Jewish, depicting ourselves honestly, and her new memoir Nearly Departed: Adventures in Loss, Cancer and Other Inconveniences.
Also in this episode:
-choosing how much to explain
-conveying rituals
-writing classes
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Genius and Anxiety by Norman Lebrecht
-Inheritance by Dani Shapiro
-Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
-Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
-Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Best Kalb
-My Mess is a Bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett
Gila Pfeffer is a Jewish American humor writer and personal essayist whose debut memoir, NEARLY DEPARTED: Adventures in Loss, Cancer and Other Inconveniences, is out now. Her work has appeared in McSweeney’s, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Today.com, and elsewhere. Gila’s monthly “Feel It on the First” campaign reminds women to prioritize their breast health. A mother of four grown children, she splits her time between New York City and London.
Connect with Gila:
Website: gilapfeffer.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gilapfeffer
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@gilapfeffer?xmt=AQGzcrgWO3KjUCrvxqH6-VUVEQcOffv4SUmjnKPrnIvRoeI
X: https://x.com/gilapfeffer
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gilapfeffer
Publisher site: https://theexperimentpublishing.com/catalogs/summer-2024/nearly-departed/
–
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
Jessica Buchanan joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her capture by pirates in Somalia in 2011 and how her life’s trajectory was irrevocably changed, taking back power, holding space for our stories, showing up for one another as writers, demystifying the publishing process, celebrating our wins, book branding and building platform, not being paralyzed by perfection, her boutique nontraditional press Soul Speak Press and her anthology series From Deserts to Mountaintops.
Also in this episode:
-how we have to hustle
-trusting our intuition
-being of service
Books mentioned in this episode:
Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Books by Anne Lamott
On October 25, 2011, while on a routine field mission in Somalia, working as the Education Advisor for her non-governmental organization, Jessica was abducted at gunpoint and held for ransom by a group of Somali pirates for 93 days. Forced to live outdoors in deplorable conditions, starved, and terrorized by more than two dozen gangsters, Jessica’s health steadily deteriorated until, by order of President Obama, she was rescued by the elite SEAL Team VI on January 25, 2012.
Jessica’s ordeal is detailed in her New York Times bestselling book, Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and Her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Six. Jessica has been named one of the ‘150 Women Who will Shake the World’ by Newsweek, and her story was the most highly viewed 60 Minutes episode to air, to-date. Jessica is a highly sought-after inspirational speaker and her TEDx Pearl Street
talk, ‘Change is Your Proof of Life’ has been the foundation for which she travels the world, inspiring audiences to access their resilience by identifying their own autonomy and choice in the middle of their own life changing event.
Jessica is the founder of Soul Speak Press where she supports women who are ready to share their stories through Memoirs – books that are one part memoir, one part self-help, and one part inspiration. Jessica’s upcoming anthology project, Deserts to Mountaintops: Pilgrimage of Motherhood, is currently in development and scheduled for publication in early 2025.
Jessica works as a family liaison volunteer for the non-profit organization, Hostage US, supporting former hostages and their families during captivity and eventual return, and also continues to serve as a dedicated Ambassador for the Navy SEAL Foundation, which works to support families of fallen SEALs.
Connect with Jessica:
Official Website: https://www.jessbuchanan.com/
Publishing Website: https://www.soulspeakpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicabuchananpage
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-buchanan-05ba7364/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicacbuchanan/
—
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
Myra Sack joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about losing her very young daughter Havi to Tay-Sachs, a fatal neurodegenerative disease, maternal and parental intuition, compassionate bereavement, how her new memoir is as much a story of extraordinary love as it is immense grief, when writing is cellular, the language of loss, generating work vs. revising it, the balm of rituals, inviting readers into her grief’s most intimate spaces, and her memoir Fifty-Seven Fridays.
Also in this episode:
-unconditional love
-writing fresh grief
-taking care of ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Bearing the Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore
To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Books by Rachel Naomi Remen
Myra Sack graduated with a B.A in government and All-American Honors in 2010 from Dartmouth College, where she captained the women’s varsity soccer team. She earned a post-graduate Lombard Fellowship in Granada, Nicaragua with Soccer Without Borders. Following her lifelong passion for sports and social justice, Myra joined SquashBusters, Inc., in Boston in 2013, serving as their Chief Program and Strategy Officer. Myra has an MBA in Social Impact from Boston University and is trained as a Certified Compassionate Bereavement Care provider by Dr. Joanne Cacciatore. She serves on the Board of the Courageous Parents Network and is the Founder of E-Motion, Inc., a non-profit organization with a mission to ensure community is a right for all grieving people. Her first memoir, Fifty-Seven Fridays, was released in April 2024. A writer, coach, and activist, Myra and her husband Matt, live in Boston, MA with their second daughter, Kaia, and son Ezra. Myra's oldest daughter, Havi, passed away on January 20, 2021 of Tay-Sachs disease.
E-Motion, Inc.: www.emotion-mc.org
Get Myra’s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Fifty-seven-Fridays-Losing-Daughter-Finding-ebook/dp/B0CRD4W7NV
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myra-sack/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myrasack
Twitter: https://x.com/myrasack
—
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
Geraldine DeRuiter joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how being okay with yourself has become deeply radical, the role women have in the home and culinary world, our complex personal and societal relationship with food and feminism, body unkindness and the erosion of body trust, her blog the Everywhereist.com, getting used to imperfection, working with an editor, going viral multiple times, parasocial relationships and creating boundaries, winning a James Beard Award for her writing, and her new book If You Can’t Take the Heat.
Also in this episode:
-Mario Batali and his cinnamon buns
-resisting tying everything up with a bow
-Nestle Road Pie
Books mentioned in this episode:
Keys to Great Writing by Stephen Wilburs
Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg
How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
On Writing by Stephen King
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Books by: Mindy Kaling, Phoebe Robinson, Jenny Lawson
Geraldine DeRuiter is a James Beard Award–winning blogger and bestselling author and the voice behind Everywhereist.com. She is the author of ALL OVER THE PLACE: ADVENTURES OF TRAVEL, TRUE LOVE, AND PETTY THEFT (Public Affairs, 2017) and the national bestseller IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT: TALES OF FOOD, FEMINISM, AND FURY (Crown, 2024). Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, Marie Claire, and Refinery 29. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, Rand. They are currently working on a cooking-themed video game and ordering too much takeout.
Connect with Geraldine:
Website: www.everywhereist.com
Get her book: https://www.amazon.com/If-You-Cant-Take-Heat/dp/0593444485
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@theeverywhereist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theeverywhereist/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywhereist
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Everywhereist/
—
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
Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about dismantling the fear about sharing our stories, finding the freedom to give voice to what we experienced, recognizing when the culture is the problem not us, unexpressed anger and chronic pain, memoir as a way to help family validate our experiences, the unseen messages girls and women get, why we must always follow up on queries, building platform, believing what we have to say is important, and her new book Sexism and Sensibility.
Also in this episode:
-beyond girl power
-making sure the pain we write about is processed
-gender bias
Books mentioned in this episode:
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
Girls and Sex by Peggy orenstein
Why Does Patriarchy Persist by Carol Gilligan
Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello
Recollections of My Nonexistence Rebecca Solnit
Girlhood byMelissa Febos
Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, a clinical psychologist, trained at Harvard University and Northwestern University and now maintains a private clinical practice rooted in an understanding of how bias, social justice, and mental health intersect. An expert blogger for Psychology Today, her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, Women’s Health, Oprah Daily, and on HuffPost and CNN. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, and Your Teen, among other publications. Dr. Finkelstein has served on the board of the Chicago Chapter of the National Organization for Women, volunteered for Planned Parenthood PAC, and was an organizer for the Chicago Women’s March. She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her family and two beloved dogs.
Connect with Jo-Ann
Website: joannfinkelstein.com
Substack: https://joannfinkelstein.substack.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joannfinkelstein.phd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086974203277
X: https://twitter.com/finkeljo
—
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
Susan Shapiro joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the smart way to get meaty bylines, how to think like an editor, placing small pieces, getting tough criticism and listening to it, productive writing schedules, taking care of ourselves and setting boundaries, when to bring editors into the mix, putting work away for a while, filling your cup so you can give generously, some publishing case studies, a special speed round, her popular workshops, and her books The Byline Bible and The Book Bible.
Also in this episode:
-feelings of competitiveness
-being provocative, being timely
-doing mitzvahs
Books mentioned in this episode:
-The Byline Bible by Susan Shapiro
-The Book Bible by Susan Shapiro
-Docile by Hyeseung Song
-The Chair and the Valley by Banning Lyon
-Black American Refugee by Tiffanie Drayton
-The Bosnia List by Kenan Trebincevic and Sue Shapiro
-The Queen of Gay Street by Esther Mollica
-How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell
Susan Shapiro is an award winning writing professor and the bestselling author of many books her family hates, like the memoirs Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Lighting Up and The Forgiveness Tour, out in paperback July 23. She's coauthor of Unhooked, The Bosnia List and American Shield. She's freelanced for the New York Times, WSJ, Washington Post, Newsweek, Wired, Elle, The Cut, Oprah and New Yorker magazines online. She lives in Manhattan with her scriptwriter husband and uses her publishing guides "The Byline Bible" and "The Book Bible" for the popular classes she teaches at NYU, The New School, Columbia University and now online. You can follow her on Instagram at @profsue123.
Connect with Susan:
Website: https://Susanshapiro.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanshapironet
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/profsue123/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Susanshapironet
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-shapiro-9171755/
—
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
Susan Shapiro joins Let’s Talk Memoir for part one of our conversation about the nature of forgiveness and why she wrote a memoir about it, being a multiple-memoir writer, why she’s glad her latest took 12 years to complete, starting a memoir with a question, the importance of mentors to our work and life, the nature of therapeutic relationships, overcoming addiction, avoiding kvetch-fests in our pages, working on other projects simultaneously, writing groups, and her memoir The Forgiveness Tour.
Also in this episode:
-the best way to launch a memoir
-good apologies
-father figures
Susan Shapiro is an award winning writing professor and the bestselling author of many books her family hates, like the memoirs Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Lighting Up and The Forgiveness Tour, out in paperback July 23. She's coauthor of Unhooked, The Bosnia List and American Shield. She's freelanced for the New York Times, WSJ, Washington Post, Newsweek, Wired, Elle, The Cut, Oprah and New Yorker magazines online. She lives in Manhattan with her scriptwriter husband and uses her publishing guides "The Byline Bible" and "The Book Bible" for the popular classes she teaches at NYU, The New School, Columbia University and now online. You can follow her on Instagram at @profsue123.
Connect with Susan:
Website: https://Susanshapiro.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanshapironet
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/profsue123/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Susanshapironet
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-shapiro-9171755/
—
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
Lola Milholland joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about communal living and interconnection, writing about food and its impact on our sense of home and culture, writing about loved ones with honesty, not sharing early drafts, exploring material that calls to us energetically, going directly to publishers, the role of privacy and boundaries in our lives and her new book Group Living and Other Recipes.
Also in this episode:
-food and culture
-commune cookbooks
-searching acknowledgement pages for publishers
Books mentioned in this episode:
Vibration Cooking by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor
My Picture Diary by Fujiwara Maki
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
Holy Land by DJ Waldie
Lola Milholland is a food-business owner and writer. A former editor for Edible Portland magazine, she currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and runs Umi Organic, a noodle company with a commitment to providing nutritious public school lunch. Her debut book, GROUP LIVING AND OTHER RECIPES, will be published by Spiegel & Grau in August 2024.
Connect with Lola:
Website: www.lolasbeef.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lolamilho
Get Lola’s Book: https://www.spiegelandgrau.com/group-living/
—
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
Jessica Fein joins Let’s talk Memoir for a conversation about making, loving and losing family, how we go from the desire to fix and control to understanding some things are out our hands, creating a life of meaning, memoir vs. a collection of essays, when the ending changes, being okay with revising, recognizing when our manuscripts need more work, navigating feedback, finding joy even in the context of extreme uncertainty and sadness, her podcast I Don’t Know How You Do It, living on the precipice, and her memoir Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes.
Also in this episode:
-when our story isn’t ready
-finding the beginning, middle, and end
-surviving seemingly insurmountable circumstances
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Books by Ellen Gilchrist
Jessica Fein is the author of Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes," and host of the "I Don't Know How You Do It” podcast, which features people whose lives seem unimaginable to others. She’s a seasoned media contributor, with forums including Newsweek, Psychology Today, The Boston Globe, HuffPost, Scary Mommy, and more. Jessica is a relentless warrior in the memory of her dynamic daughter whom she lost to rare disease in 2022. Her work encompasses hope and humor, grit and grace -- the tools that make up her personal survival kit. Jessica serves on the Board of Directors of MitoAction. She’s the mother of three, whom she and her husband adopted from Guatemala. They live outside of Boston with their quasi-service dog, who trained himself.
Connect with Jessica:
Website: https://www.jessicafeinstories.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.fein.92/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fein-b643b09
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feinjessica/
Book is available at the usual places: Amazon, Bookshop.org, B&N, etc.
I Don’t Know How You Do It Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-dont-know-how-you-do-it/id1668168226
—
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
Danielle M. Bryan joins me for a conversation about how she coped with cascading life adversities including multiple sclerosis and divorce, what it was like for her to share deeply emotional experiences on the page, leading with vulnerability, her decision to use a pseudonym, working with a developmental editor, using a hybrid publisher, creating the space and time for what we need personally and creatively, and her new memoir Unparalyzed: Beating an Invisible Pre-Midlife Crisis
Also in this episode:
-the toll of autoimmune disease
-reshaping our stories
-taking solo trips to create
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
-Love Sick by Cory Martin
By day, Danielle M. Bryan is a non-profit executive leader and a board member. She is a proud Jamaican-American, a wife, a mother, a daughter and an avid lover of international travel. So far, Danielle’s international travel destinations have included the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Indonesia , Jamaica, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Turkey, Italy, Belize and Canada! London and Munich are next up – this Summer, in June! Similar to her passion for traveling, Danielle developed a love for expressing herself through written words and through story-telling. She describes her debut memoir as the story that found her after life threw her a few curve balls and she decided to use her journey and the lessons she learned along the way to inspire others.
Connect with Danielle:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordbry/
Website: https://www.unparalyzedmemoir.com/
Get her book: https://a.co/d/iyqrhA3
https://www.archwaypublishing.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/856866-unparalyzed
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unparalyzed-danielle-m-bryan/1144672859?ean=9781665753326
—
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
Tia Levings joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her escape from Christian patriarchy and what she’s experienced firsthand with Christian nationalism and the Religious Right, why her story is a warning and is becoming more relevant by the day, the disempowerment and isolation of living in high control situations, trauma therapy, not exhausting readers with too much reality, comprehensive legal reviews, privacy and safety issues, composite characters, maintaining a big social media platforms as well as healthy boundaries, and her her path to publishing A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy.
Also in this episode:
-writing 13 drafts
-working with Lisa Cooper Ellison and Jane Friedman
-the querying process
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Situation and the Story by Vivan Gornick
Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro From Blank Page to Book by Allison K. Williams
On Writing by Stephen King
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
Tia Levings is a writer and content creator who educates on the abuses of Christian fundamentalism. She recently appeared in the Amazon docuseries, Shiny Happy People. Her memoir A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy, releases with St. Martin’s Press in August of 2024.
Connect with Tia:
Website: https://tialevings.com
Get her book: https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/well-trained-wife-9781250288288/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tialevingswriter/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tialevingswriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TiaLevingsWriter
—
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
Sonya Huber joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her approach to generating essays, working on many projects at once, writing as exposure therapy, how essays in a collection talk to each other, paying attention to what intrudes on us, living and working in the tangents, an accumulation of questions around a central theme, protecting people, crossing cultures and crossing classes, confronting ghosts, men and danger, being in relationship with writing, and her latest book, Love and Industry: A Midwestern Workbook
Also in this episode:
-writing backward
-questions of class
-narrative arc
Listen to Sonya Huber’s first Let’s Talk Memoir episode, #16: https://ronitplank.com/2022/11/15/lets-talk-memoir-season-2-episode-1-ft-sonya-huber/
Books mentioned in this episode:
Bird by Bird Anne Lamott
Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller
Nola Face by Brooke Champagne
Sonya Huber is the author of eight books, including the new essay collection, Love and Industry: A Midwestern Workbook as well as the writing guide, Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto, and an award-winning essay collection on chronic pain, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System. Her other books include the 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, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and other outlets. She teaches at Fairfield University and in the Fairfield low-residency MFA program.
Connect with Sonya:
Website: www.sonyahuber.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonyahuber/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonya.huber
Substack: https://sonyahuber.substack.com/
Books available here: https://bookshop.org/lists/sonya-huber-s-books
—
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
Hyeseung Song joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being raised by a “beautiful but domineering” mother, breaking free from a legacy of self-worth via external achievements, writing complicated mothers, making the switch from memoir-in-essays to linear memoir, allowing her mother to “speak” for herself, the intersection or mental health, race, and racism, intergenerational trauma and engaging with pain, gaining the distance and time necessary to tell our stories, and her memoir Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl.
Also in this episode:
-self-expansion
-a life of art-making
-forgiving yourself
Books mentioned in this episode:
Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick
They Called Us Exceptional by Prachi Gupta
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
Hyeseung Song is a first-generation Korean American writer and painter. She lives and works in New York City.
Connect with Hyeseung:
Website: www.hyeseungsong.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hyeseungs
Twitter: https://x.com/hyeseungs
Get Docile: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Docile/Hyeseung-Song/9781668003664
—
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
Justin Billmeier joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about his experience directing and producing audiobooks for a major publishing house, recording equipment costs and considerations for the indie memoirist, audiobook coaching and guidance, and the many components that go into a successful audiobook including story delivery, posture, pacing, script-marking, background noise, enunciation and much more.
Also in this episode:
-normalizing smaller presses
-the reality about distribution and marketing
-the post production process
Justin Billmeier is a seasoned audiobook producer with over 15 years of industry experience and the founder of Narrative Waves. He has directed titles for best-selling authors and managed full post-production for numerous acclaimed works. With a background as a Silicon Valley product designer, Justin brings a unique blend of technical and creative expertise to elevate storytelling in every project.
Connect with Justin:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinbillmeier/
Website: https://narrativewaves.com/
—
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
Meg Kissinger joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about losing two siblings to suicide, using her skills as a journalist on her own family, America’s failed mental health system, stripping away prejudice about people with mental illness, the toxicity of shame, being curious and nonjudgmental, growing up with a sense of anxiety and vigilance, writing about people who’ve suffered with love, and her memoir While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence.
Also in this episode:
-false starts
-forgiveness
-depicting the dualities and complexities of those we love
Books mentioned in this episode:
Educated by Tara Westover
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
Never Simple by Liz Scheier
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Meg Kissinger, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and author, will help you see and think about people with mental illness in a new light. Her engaging memoir, “While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence,” has been praised for its incisive reporting, boundless compassion and surprising humor. It was named as an editors choice by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Amazon, Goodreads and Independent Booksellers Association. Audible chose it as the Best of the Year.
Kissinger spent more than two decades traveling across the country to report on our nation’s failed mental health system, winning dozens of national awards. She is a popular speaker at universities, civic organizations and corporate events. She taught investigative reporting at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and is a trainer for the school’s Dart Center on Trauma and Journalism.
Kissinger lives in Milwaukee, Wis., along the shores of Lake Michigan, her favorite place to plunge, even on the coldest day in January.
Connect with Meg:
Website: megkissinger.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kissingermeg
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meg.kissinger
X: https://x.com/megkissinger1
Meg’s Book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250793775/whileyouwereout
—
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
Joseph Lezza joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about losing loved ones, panic disorder and the stigma around anxiety, anger, shame, and the grieving process, discovering the genre he needed while at an MFA program, lyric essay, how story dictates form, what we can’t shake, and his memoir I'm Never Fine: Scenes and Spasms on Loss.
Also in this episode:
-grief as a shapeshifter
-memoir in essays
-gathering stories
Books mentioned in this episode:
- The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights by Joan Didion
- Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
- Born to Be Public by Greg Mania
- On Looking b Lia Purpura
- The Male Gazed by Manuel Betancourt
- High Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez
- Brown Neon by Raquel Gutiérrez
- Congratulations! The Best is Over by R. Eric Thomas
- The Groom Will Keep His Name by Matt Ortile
Also, some great craft books:
- Bending Genre by Nicole Walker, Margot Singer
- The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate
- Crafting the Personal Essay by Dinty W. Moore
- Halls of Fame by John D'Agata
April 24, 2024
Joseph Lezza is a writer in New York, NY with an MFA in creative writing from The University of Texas at El Paso. His debut memoir in essays, I'm Never Fine: Scenes and Spasms on Loss (Vine Leaves Press), was a finalist for the 2021 Prize Americana in Prose and was named by Buzzfeed LGBTQ+ and Lambda Literary as a "Most Anticipated 2023 Release." His work has been featured in, among others, Longreads, Occulum, Variant Literature, The Hopper, West Trade Review, and Santa Fe Writers Project. His website is www.josephlezza.com and you can find him on all the socials @lezzdoothis.
Connect with Joseph:
Website: www.josephlezza.com
Social Media: https://linktr.ee/josephlezza
Substack: https://ladyindread.substack.com/
—
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
Deesha Dyer joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her rise in the Obama White House and how imposter syndrome followed her up the ranks, tone policing and microaggressions, how her identity as a Black woman was weaponized in the workplace, engaging her inner child to heal, finding internal freedom and forgiving ourselves, how being yourself takes a while, self-care when writing, honoring our accomplishments and ourselves, and her memoir Undiplomatic: How My Attitude Created the Best Kind of Trouble.
Also in this episode:
- hustling for our books
-recognizing our accomplishments
-the right we all have to speak our truths
Books mentioned in this episode:
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
Gal: A True Story by Ruthie Bolton
Books by bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Tarana Burke
Deesha Dyer is an award-winning community organizer, event strategist, and speaker who specializes in transforming ideas into causes that create tangible change. A 2019 Resident Fellow for the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, her career and mission reflects an unwavering passion for servant leadership and social justice. Her journey began at a community college and led to her role as Social Secretary for the Obama White House. In this role, she planned the historic visit of Pope Francis; State Dinners with leaders from around the world; and performances by Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, and more. Dyer was named one of Marie Claire’s new guard of women changing the world, the Root’s most influential African-Americans, and one of Washington DC's "Women of Excellence." Among her nonprofit enterprises is beGirl.world, which empowers teen girls through global education and travel. Her memoir UNDIPLOMATIC: HOW MY ATTITUDE CREATED THE BEST KIND OF TROUBLE is due out April 23, 2024.
Connect with Deesha:
Website: www.deeshadyer.com
Instagram: instagram.com/deedyer267
X: twitter.com/DeeshaDyer
Facebook: facebook.com/deesha34
Get Deesha’s Book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/undiplomatic-the-attitude-that-created-the-best-kind-of-trouble-deesha-dyer/20605019
—
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
Melanie Brooks joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the misinformation and fear around HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, the role of the evangelical church in her family’s history, the emotional toll of keeping secrets, her work in the growing field of narrative medicine, radical listening, revisiting our heritage and beliefs, leaning into courage, vulnerability and risk, and her memoir A Hard Silence.
Also in this episode:
-self-care
-permission to take our time
-our integrated selves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Writing Hard Stories by Melanie Brooks
Melanie Brooks is the author of the memoir A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all (Vine Leaves Press, 2023) and Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma (Beacon Press, 2017) She teaches creative nonfiction in the M.F.A. program at Bay Path University and in the M.F.A. program at Western Connecticut State University and professional writing at Northeastern University. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast writing program and a Certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She has had numerous interviews and essays on topics ranging from loss and grief to parenting and aging published in the The Boston Globe, HuffPost, Yankee Magazine, The Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, and other notable publications. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two children (when they are home from college), and chocolate Lab.
Connect with Melanie:
Website: www.melaniebrooks.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/melanie.brooks.1690
IG: https://www.instagram.com/melaniejmbrookswriter
X: https://x.com/MelanieJMBrooks
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-brooks-504826121
—
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
Lisa Keefauver MSW and host of the popular podcast Grief is a Sneaky Bitch joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about what happens when we revisit our stories to more deeply understand what has happened in our lives, a look at ambiguous loss, the shoulds and shouldn'ts about grief we tell ourselves that can cause us unnecessary suffering, grief brain, memoir writing for insight and self-compassion, earning reader trust, deep mindfulness, pausing even when we have deadlines, and exercises to calm our nervous system from her new book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch.
Also in this episode:
-showing our full selves on the page
-soothing the nervous system
-how we speak to ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Fifty-Seven Fridays by Myra Sack
Finding the Words by Colin Campbell
What Looks Like Bravery by Laurel Braitman
When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank
Lisa Keefauver, MSW is a grief activist and the founder of Reimagining Grief. Lisa has more than two decades of professional experiences with grief and loss; working as a social worker, narrative therapist, and educator within multiple settings from non-profits to corporations and universities. Lisa's wisdom and understanding of grief is also embodied from her personal losses including the death of her husband in 2011.
Lisa's grief advocacy has inspired her to create and host the top-rated podcast, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch; serve as an adjunct professor of Loss and Grief at the University of Texas at Austin; act as an organizational consultant to facilitate grief-smart organizations; write/appear as a thought leader across media platforms. Watch her popular TEDx Talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. You can pre-order her heavily anticipated book, Grief Is A Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss now. It arrives in bookstores June 4, 2024.
Connect with Lisa:
Website: www.lisakeefauver.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisakeefauvermsw/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisakeefauvermsw/
Podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch/id1474558908
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPQt3ARzpzeRl5ckN1k-h-g
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lisakeefauvermsw
Get the book on Bookshop
Get the book on Amazon
—
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
Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers and memoir coach joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about helping memoirists become their own good editors, keeping both the vertical and linear in mind when writing our stories, the importance of breaks when working on traumatic material, how writing puts our experience in perspective, finding a writing cohort, leaving bad writing groups, what we remember vs. what really happened, why truth is complicated, and the evolution of memoir.
Also in this episode:
-her latest class offerings
-fending off the inner critic
-the promise we make to the reader
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Bluets by Maggie Nelson
-In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
-You Could Make this Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
-Wild by Cheryl Strayed
-Books by Abigail Thomas
Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers, is the author of award-winning memoirs Don't Call Me Mother and Song of the Plains, and two books on craft The Power of Memoir, & Journey of Memoir. She co-authored Breaking Ground on Your Memoir and Magic of Memoir & co-teaches Write Your Memoir in Six Months with Brooke Warner. A memoir coach for 30 years, she helps writers find their voice and get their story into the world. Linda Joy’s prize-winning first novel, The Forger of Marseille was released in 2023.
Connect with Linda:
https://www.namw.org/
http://lindajoymyersauthor.com
https://www.facebook.com/linda.j.myers
https://www.instagram.com/lindajoymyersauthor/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindajoy/
Get Linda’s Book
—
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
Hannah Sward joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how she never wanted to be a writer let alone write a memoir, attachment theory and being abandoned by her mother, creating boundaries with loved ones, compassion for the children we were, her experience writing about working in the sex trade and being addicted to crystal meth, when acceptance is a form of forgiveness, feeling overwhelmed by feedback, how structure can be confounding, reclaiming our voice, story, and agency, creating a stark narrative, and her memoir Strip.
Also in this episode:
-comparing ourselves to other writers
-writing every day
-feeling free to write the shttiest sht
-trusting ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Hannah Sward, daughter of the late poet Robert Sward, is the IAN awarding-winning author of Strip: A Memoir. Strip, Swards first book, has received the attention of authors such as Nobel Prize winner, J.M. Coetzee, Melissa Broder, and NYT Bestselling novelist Caroline Leavitt who called Sward, “One of the most moving and honest memoir writers. So eloquent, so brave.” Sward has appeared on NBC CA Live, C-SPAN BookTV, dozens of podcasts, panels, and in magazines and newspapers such as the LA Times and Recovery Today. Sward lives in Los Angeles where she coaches writers and is working on her next book. To find out more hannahsward.com
Connect with Hannah:
Website: https://www.hannahsward.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/hannahswardauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahswardauthor
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hannahswardauthor
Bookshop.org:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/strip-a-memoir-hannah-sward/18101649?ean=9781948954679
Amazon: https://a.co/d/dLQD8rP
—
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 Gudger joins Let’s Talk memoir for a conversation about loss and choosing love every day, giving grief a microphone, voice-driven writing and breaking structure rules, essays for platform-building, holding both the raw experience and the long view, the legacy of shame and becoming unstuck, shifting energy in our bodies, and the metaphysical and spiritual components of her memoir The Fifth Chamber.
Also in this episode:
-journaling as source material
-normalizing grief
-taking care ourselves when working on painful material
Books mentioned in this episode:
Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
Bluets by Maggie Nelson
Group by Christie Tate
Anne Gudger is a memoir/essay writer who writes hard and loves harder. She’s the author of THE FIFTH CHAMBER, published by Jaded Ibis Press September 2023. She's been published in multiple journals including The Rumpus, Real Simple Magazine, Tupelo Quarterly, Sweet Lit, Cutthroat, CutBank, Columbia Journal, The Normal School, Los Angeles Review, and elsewhere. She's won four essay contests and has been a Best of the Net Nominee twice. March 2020 she and her daughter founded Coffee and Grief: a community that includes a monthly reading series. Everybody grieves and when we share grief we feel less alone. She also co-created the podcast: Coffee, Grief, and Gratitude. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her beloved husband.
Connect with Anne:
Website: https://www.annegudger.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annegudger/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anne.gudger
Get Anne’s Book: https://bit.ly/3nZIvEy
Write Your Grief Out: https://writeyourgriefout.thinkific.com/courses/writeyourgriefoutOct
—
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
Sarah Weiss joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the path to her career in publishing and her role as Nonfiction Director and Ballantine, what memoir writers always need to ask themselves, her interest in memoir with purpose, the blockbuster model and the editorial decision making process, building a writing community, how many books we can realistically sell, making our work ready, and the pace of publishing these days.
Also in this episode:
-the importance of voice, platform, and hook
-selling on proposals and fulls
-how all writers need to hustle
Book mentioned in this episode:
Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
The In-Between by Hadley Vlahos R.N.
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth GIlbert
Educated by Tara Westover
Sara Weiss (she/her) is the Editorial Director for Nonfiction at Ballantine, where she focuses mostly on nonfiction, while also publishing select fiction titles. She’s been privileged to publish bestselling and critically acclaimed authors such as Linda Holmes, R. Eric Thomas, Emily Nagoski, Stephanie Foo, Hadley Vlahos, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Cody Rigsby, Hannah Gadsby, Annie Hartnett, Lilly Singh, and Lauren Graham. Her upcoming list includes NBC News reporter Yamiche Alcindor’s memoir, Don’t Forget and the novel, Blue Sisters, by Coco Mellors.
Connect with Sara:
X: https://x.com/SaraWeissWriter
Links: https://linktr.ee/SaraWeissWriter
More about Ballantine:https://www.randomhousebooks.com/imprint/ballantine-books/
—
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
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
Maureen Murdock joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how myths help excavate our stories, memoir as a way to reclaim the past, invisible primary patterns in the psyche, letting ourselves meander and reflect, using process journals to excavate fears about being vulnerable, allowing structure to emerge, a favorite prompt of hers, and her latest book Mythmaking: Self-Discovery and the Timeless Art of Memoir
Books mentioned in this episode:
- Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
- The Color of Water by James McBride
- Smile by Sarah Ruhl
- Know My Name by Chanel Miller
- Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson
- The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
Maureen Murdock, Ph.D. is the author of her new book Mythmaking: Self-Discovery and the Timeless Art of Memoir and the author of the best-selling book, The Heroine’s Journey, which explores the rich territory of the feminine psyche and has been translated into twenty languages. Maureen is also author of Unreliable Truth: On Memoir and Memory; Fathers’ Daughters: Breaking the Ties that Bind; Spinning Inward: Using Guided Imagery with Children; and The Heroine’s Journey Workbook. She is the editor of an anthology entitled Monday Morning Memoirs: Women in the Second Half of Life and teaches memoir for the International Women’s Writing Guild and in Pacifica Graduate Institute’s program, Writing Down the Soul. Maureen was Chair and Core Faculty of the M.A. Counseling Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has written pieces for the Huffington Post on criminal justice and volunteers for the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) with inmates at Lompoc Federal Prison.
Connect with Maureen:
Website: www.maureenmurdock.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murdockmaureen
Facebook: www.facebook.com/maureen.murdock/author
Get Maureen’s Book: https://www.shambhala.com/mythmaking.html
—
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
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
Vickie Rubin joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about raising a child with medical complexities and intellectual disabilities, submicroscopic chromosomal deletions, incorporating clippings, news articles, and photographs in memoir, when you feel something is wrong with your child, her career in the helping field, overcoming marriage struggles while raising children with disabilities, advocating for other families and for herself, the gift of a late diagnosis, the decision to move her daughter to a group home, and her memoir Raising Jess: A Story of Hope.
Also in this episode:
-when pediatricians don’t listen
-journal entries as resources
-raising children of siblings with disabilities
Books mentioned in this episode:
Left on Tenth Delia Ephron
The Shape of Normal by Catherine Shields
The Color of Love by Marra Gad
Vickie Schlanger Rubin, M.S Ed. is a three-time award-winning author of the inspiring memoir, Raising Jess: A Story of Hope. She is an experienced public speaker and passionate advocate for families of children with disabilities. Vickie's essays are published in Newsweek (My Turn), Buffalo News Opinion (My View), and guest blogs worldwide. She is a frequent Podcast guest sharing information about raising a child with a disability, inspiring hope, family dynamics, education, and advocacy. Her blog, Vickie's Views (www.vickierubin.com), gives a heartwarming and humorous view of everyday life.
Before writing her book, Vickie was the director of the Early Childhood Direction Center (ECDC) for Oishei Children's Hospital, Kaleida Health, a New York State Education Department grant-funded program. During her career, Vickie was a frequent guest speaker at local colleges and universities and was an adjunct teacher in the Exceptional Education Department at Buffalo State College.
Vickie holds a master's degree in Exceptional Education from SUNY Buffalo State College and resides in Western New York. She and her husband Mitch celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary, and they have three children, three grandchildren, and two very active dogs.
Connect with Vickie:
Vickie’s Views- https://vickierubin.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RaisingJessStory
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/raisingjessstory.vickierubin/
X ( Twitter)- https://twitter.com/vickierubin
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickie-rubin-aa1a09177/
Threads- https://www.threads.net/@vickierubin.author
Get Raising Jess: https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Jess-Story-Vickie-Rubin/dp/1662407416
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raising-jess-vickie-rubin/1139804006
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Raising-Jess-A-Story-of-Hope-Paperback-9781662407413/443928331
—
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
Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank
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 Almond joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the ambivalence memoirists often experience when writing about others, the story underneath the story we are telling, disrupting the negative feedback loop of writer’s block, dialing the ego down, questions of inner life, his contribution to Dear Sugars podcast, generosity and mercy in our work, performing versus storytelling, how our failures are actually are teachers, and his new book on writing, Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow.
Also in this episode:
-the contract we make with the reader
-the surrender involved in writing
-holding other people in our stories
Books mentioned in this episode:
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway
Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Truth and Beauty by Anne Patchett
We Learn Nothing by Tim Kreider
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley
Duke of Deception by Geoffrey Wolff
Pieces of My Mother by Melissa Cistero
Work by Nora Ephron and Joan Didion
Steve Almond is the author of a dozen books, including the NYT Bestsellers “Candyfreak” and “Against Football.” His novel, “All the Secrets of the World” has been optioned for TV by 20th Century Fox. His new book, “Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow” and his stories and essays have appeared in venues ranging from the New York Times Magazine to Best American Short Stories, Best American Mysteries, and Best American Erotica. He teaches at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and lives outside Boston with his family.
Connect with Steve:
Website: www.stevealmondjoy.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevealmondjoy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.almond.33
Steve’s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Truth-Arrow-Mercy-Bow-Construction/dp/1638931305
—
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
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
Acclaimed memoirist and teacher Vivian Gornick joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the origins of her approach to memoir, the crucial difference between situations and stories, why implicating ourselves in our work makes us trustworthy to our reader, clarifying our narratives, how she discovered what her story was truly about, why some writing questions are unanswerable, and her well-loved and oft-repeated advice: “In order for the drama to deepen we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”
Also in this episode:
-Autofiction
-the importance of trusted readers and editors
-seeing ourselves clearly
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Autofiction by Annie Ernaux
-The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
-Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick
-The Odd Woman and the City by Vivian Gornick
Vivian Gornick is a feminist critic, journalist, essayist, and memoirist who was born in the Bronx and grew up in a family of working-class immigrants. Meghan O’Rourke of The Yale Review describes her as having written some of the most remarkable journalism of our time. “Her career got its start in the heady days of second-wave feminism, which she wrote about for the alternative weekly The Village Voice. In her work, she cultivated a fierce and unapologetic intellectual voice that could also be intensely personal. Another way to put it: she made powerful, no-holds-barred arguments, but she was also a gifted storyteller.”
She is the recipient of a Ford Foundation grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship and her essays and articles have appeared in Bookforum, the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, the New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker, Threepenny Review, and the Women's Review of Books. She taught for many years in MFA programs all over the country, including those at the University of Houston, the University of Arizona, Sarah Lawrence College, and the New School in New York City, and in 2015 she served as the Bedell Distinguished Visiting Professor in the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program.
Some of her books include The Men In My Life, The End of the Novel of Love, Approaching Eye Level, Essays in Feminism, The Odd Woman and the City, Fierce Attachments, and The Situation and the Story.
—
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
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
Cait West joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up in and leaving Christian patriarchy, indoctrination, identifying and writing about the rifts she felt in herself and her family, gender oppression, using geology as a metaphor, moving from memoir in essays to a more linear form, ethical and legal concerns when writing about others, coming to grips with abuse, purity culture, and her memoir Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy.
Also in this episode:
-protecting anonymity in those we write about
-trauma therapy
-protecting ourselves by taking breaks when writing
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Mothers of Sparta by Dawn Davies
-Flesh and Blood by N. West Moss
-Wiving by Caityln Myer
Cait West is a writer and editor based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her work has been published in The Revealer, Religion Dispatches, Fourth Genre, and Hawai`i Pacific Review, among others. As an advocate and a survivor of the Christian patriarchy movement, she serves on the editorial board for Tears of Eden, a nonprofit providing resources for survivors of spiritual abuse, and cohosts the podcast Survivors Discuss. Her debut memoir, Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy, releases on April 30, 2024.
Connect with Cait:
Website: https://www.caitwest.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caitwestwrites
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@caitwestwrites
Substack: https://caitwest.substack.com/
Get Cait’s Book: https://www.caitwest.com/book
—
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
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
Sue William Silverman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about claiming our stories, creative nonfiction as an act of affirmation and courage, tapping into artistic masks, discovering answers along the way, the aware and the unaware voice, writing metaphorically and sensorily, the arc of reflection and the arc of action, her decades of teaching at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program and her newest book Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul.
Also mentioned in this episode:
-the revision long-haul
-our many writerly voices
-Sue’s complete reading list
Books mentioned in this episode:
-I wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl by Kelle Groom
-Sue's Reading List: https://www.suewilliamsilverman.com/click_here_to_see_sue_william_silverman_s_contemporary_creative_nonfiction_readin_71566.htm
Sue William Silverman is an award-winning author of eight works of nonfiction and poetry. Her most recent book is "Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul." Her previous book, "How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences," won the gold star in Foreword Reviews Indie Book of the Year Award and the Clara Johnson Award for Women’s Literature. Other works include "Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction," made into a Lifetime TV movie; "Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You," which won the AWP Award; and "The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew." She is faculty co-chair in the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Connect with Sue:
Website: www.SueWilliamSilverman.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SueWilliamSilverman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suewilliamsilverman/
Get Sue’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sue+william+silverman&crid=3L3XIG0XVQ21Z&sprefix=%2Caps%2C123&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recent
—
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
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
Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about listening to and putting our younger selves on the page, recognizing family codes we can no longer adhere to, place as a character in memoir, writing like nobody will ever see our work, how shame and pain can manifest as silence, sharing with readers what we may not be able to reveal to loved ones, the contracts we enter as writers of memoir, creating intimacy on the page, and her new memoir Loose of Earth.
Also mentioned in this episode:
-the toll of forever chemicals on our bodies and homes
-incorporating environmental elements
-managing our grief
Books mentioned in this episode:
-Mil Town by Kerrie Arsenault
-Full Body Burden by Kristen Iverson
-The Yellow House by Sarah Broom
-Ground Glass by Karen Savage
Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn teaches in the University of Chicago Creative Writing Program. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in Colorado Review, Guernica, Gulf Coast, Pleiades, and swamp pink, and was listed as notable in Best American Essays.
Connect with Kathleen:
Website: https://www.kdblackburn.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thequietwildlife/
Get her book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/loose-of-earth-a-memoir-kathleen-dorothy-blackburn/20690152
—
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
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
Kate Manne joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about coming of age in fatphobic culture, disentangling the threads of weight, health, and diet culture, the racism at the root of anti-fatness, writing ourselves out and then back into our work, the psycho-social consequences of fatphobia on our bodies, the shame around shame, organizing our time, writing while mothering a young child, gathering and incorporating research in our work, and her new book Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia.
Also in this episode:
-the rhetoric around dieting
-becoming self-compassionate through writing
-why we might not trust pleasure
Books mentioned in this episode:
Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings
Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun L. Harrison
Hunger by Roxanne Gay
You Just Need to Lose Weight by Aubrey Gordon
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
Fat Talk by Virginia Sole Smith
Kate Manne is an associate professor of philosophy at Cornell University, where she’s been teaching since 2013. Before that, she was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Manne did her graduate work in philosophy at MIT, and works in moral, social, and feminist philosophy. She is the author of three books, Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women, and Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia, which came out in January. You can subscribe to her substack newsletter, More to Hate, for musings on misogyny, fatphobia, their intersection, and more.
Connect with Kate:
Website: http://www.katemanne.net/
Substack: https://katemanne.substack.com/
X: https://twitter.com/kate_manne,
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kate_manne
Get “Unshrinking” here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722318/unshrinking-by-kate-manne/
Kate Manne's first interview with Ronit on The Body Myth: https://ronitplank.com/2024/03/04/the-body-myth-misogyny-fatphobia-and-the-morality-of-size-ft-dr-
About Ronit
Subscribe to Ronit's Memoir Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank?utm_source=profile-page
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
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 Jo
Suzette Mullen joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about digging to find a deeper story and the question we need to ask in memoir, discovering where to begin by getting to the end of our manuscripts, the revision process as revelatory, the effect our memoirs have on loved ones, leaning on trusted readers and writers, her work as a nonfiction book coach, and her coming of age and coming out memoir The Only Way Through is Out.
Also in this episode:
-the querying process
-working with a book coach
-finding professional purpose
Books mentioned in this episode:
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Suzette Mullen (she/her) is a memoir and nonfiction book coach, retreat leader, and the author of the memoir The Only Way Through Is Out, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, today.com, and Brevity among other outlets. As a book coach, Suzette guides writers to find their deeper stories and define their big ideas. A graduate of Harvard Law School and Wellesley College, and the mother of two young adult sons, Suzette made a big leap professionally and personally at midlife and now lives in Pennsylvania with her wife and their rescue pup.
Connect with Suzette:
Website: https://www.yourstoryfinder.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urstoryfinder/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzette-mullen-lgbtq-book-coach/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourstoryfinder
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Suzette-Mullen-Author/100063523689955/
For info about the memoir: https://www.yourstoryfinder.com/books
My free e-book: "Behind the Scenes: An Insider’s Guide to THE ONLY WAY THROUGH IS OUT https://www.yourstoryfinder.com/behindthescenes
—
About Ronit
Subscribe to Ronit's Memoir Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank?utm_source=profile-page
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
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 Jo
Mimi Zieman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about thinking of ourselves as characters, hooking readers from the beginning, playing with structure, balancing our reflective narrator, trusting your reader and not overexplaining, the true self and the invisible self, when to listen to others and when to listen to ourselves, being the only woman on a historic climbing expedition, and her memoir Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor’s Unlikely Adventure.
Also in this episode:
-growing up a child of Holocaust survivors
-pitching at live conferences
-having patience with ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Make a Scene by Jordan E. Rosenfeld
To Show and to Tell by Phillip Lopate
Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book by Allison K. Williams
Bird by Bird by Anne Lammot
Books by John Krakauer
Books by Joan Didion
Mimi Zieman MD is the author of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor’s Unlikely Adventure, and The Post-Roe Monologues, a play that has been performed in multiple cities. A board-certified OB/GYN specialized in Complex Family Planning, she has also co-authored sixteen editions of Managing Contraception. Her writing has appeared in The Sun Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Newsweek, Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, NBC News THINK, The Forward, and other publications. She’s spoken nationally and internationally and has been interviewed by major media outlets. Ranking high on her list of favorite things are a good adventure, dancing, and a rich cup of coffee.
Connect with Mimi:
Website: www.mimiziemanmd.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mimiziemanmd/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mimiziemanmd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mimiziemanmd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimi-zieman-md-44ba68b/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mimiziemanmd
Get Mimi’s Book:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/41sFEnB
Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3Rjk9kk
About Ronit
Subscribe to Ronit's Memoir Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank?utm_source=profile-page
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
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
Lisa Cooper Ellison joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about therapy vs. memoir, taking care of our nervous systems while working on charged material, writing about trauma without retraumatizing ourselves, developing a robust self-care practice, how to avoid creating victim narratives in our memoirs, what to do with gaps in our memory, putting more of ourselves on the page, and her new podcast Writing Your Resilience.
Also in this episode:
-signs of a trauma response
-learning how to be present
-neuroplasticity
Book mentioned in this episode:
Writing to Heal by James Pennebaker
Healing Trauma: Restoring the Wisdom of the Body by Peter A. Levine
Trauma and Memory by Peter A. Levine
Becoming the Love You Seek by Dr. Nicole Lepera
Stash by Laura Cathcart Robbins
Acetylene Torch Songs by Sue William Silverman
What Happened to You by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey
Hunger by Roxanne Gay
Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn
Lisa Cooper Ellison is an author, speaker, and trauma-informed writing coach with an Ed.S in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a background in mindfulness. She regularly presents and teaches courses on the use of mindfulness in writing, writing about trauma, the book proposal, and all things memoir. A regular contributor to the Jane Friedman blog, her essays and short stories have appeared in HuffPost, Hippocampus Literary Magazine, the New Guard Review, Kenyon Review Online, and Brevity, among others.
Connect with Lisa:
Website: https://lisacooperellison.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisacooperellison/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisacooperellison/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@lisacooperellison
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-ellison-b5483840/
—
About Ronit
Subscribe to Ronit's Memoir Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank?utm_source=profile-page
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
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
Paula Ramón joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about pivoting from journalism to memoir to tell the story of Venezuela’s collapse, understanding the history of her country before and after Chavez through her mother’s life, guilt, the physical and emotional losses she and her family have faced, the concept of democracy, when there’s no future in your country, emotional warfare and shrinking resources, the toll of migration on the body, and her memoir Motherland.
Also in this episode:
-working with translators
-putting human faces to the facts
-memoir as legacy
Books mentioned in this episode:
La plaça del Diamant /The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda
Paula Ramón is a Venezuelan journalist who has lived and worked in China, the United States, Brazil, and Uruguay. She is currently a correspondent for Agence France-Presse, based in Los Angeles. She has written and reported for the New York Times, National Geographic, Columbia Journalism Review, and Piauí magazine, among other outlets.
Connect with Paula:
X: https://twitter.com/paulacramon
Motherland: https://www.amazon.com/Motherland-Memoir-Paula-Ram%C3%B3n/dp/1542036909/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3J0JIIKVB05O&keywords=motherland+by+paula+ramon&qid=1689103668&sprefix=motherland+by+paula+ramon%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-1
—
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
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 Weir Casey joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about infertility and becoming the mother of one of the world’s first IVF babies in the earliest days of assisted reproductive technology, the role guilt plays in women’s lives, being part of medical and women’s history, forgiving ourselves, reproductive freedom, and her memoir Unstoppable: Forging The Path To Motherhood In The Early Days Of IVF.
Also mentioned in this episode:
-The Aspen Institute
-giving our work time to settle
-researching back in the days of microfiche
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeuer
Educated by Tara Westover
Mad Man in the Woods by Jamie Gehring
Ellen Weir Casey is the mother of one of the world's first IVF babies. Her memoir, Unstoppable:Forging The Path To Motherhood In The Early Days Of IVF, is a best seller and Zibby Book Award finalist. She speaks nationally and internationally about her unique experience in the earliest days of assisted reproductive technology.
Ellen has graduate and undergraduate degrees from Colorado College. She studied memoir writing at the Aspen Institute Summer Words program. Ellen lives in the shadow of Pike's Peak, in the foothills of Colorado Springs.
Connect with Ellen:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellen2956
Get Ellen’s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Forging-Path-Motherhood-Early/dp/1632994976
—
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
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
Karen DeBonis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the obstacles and medical gaslighting she faced trying to uncover what ailed her son, postpartum depression, writing about difficult motherhoods, learning how to deal with conflict, sharing our pages with partners, promoting our work, a happy social media story, how she overcome her people pleasing ways to become a warrior mom and her new memoir Growth: A Mother, Her Son, and the Brain Tumor They Survived.
Also in this episode:
-Munchausen by Proxy
-marketing angles and memoir
-highlighting our patterns in memoir
Books mentioned in this episode:
Raising a Rare Girl by Heather Lanier
Motherhood Exaggerated by Judith Hannan
The Opposite of Certainty by Janine Urbaniak Reid
Karen DeBonis writes about motherhood, people-pleasing, and personal growth, inspired by the experience of raising her son, Matthew. Her debut memoir Growth: A Mother, Her Son, and the Brain Tumor They Survived was released by Apprentice House Press in May 2023. Karen’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Huff Post, Today.com, Newsweek.com, and others. A happy empty-nester, Karen lives in upstate New York with her husband of forty years.
Connect with Karen:
Website: www.karendebonis.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.debonis.3
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenDeBonis
IG: https://www.instagram.com/karendeboniswriter/
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karendebonis/
Amazon purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Growth-Mother-Brain-Tumor-Survived/dp/1627204350/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1672427791&sr=8-1
Bookshop purchase link: https://bookshop.org/p/books/growth-a-mother-her-son-and-the-brain-tumor-they-survived-karen-debonis/19468474?ean=9781627204354
—
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
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
Cathy Shields joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the role guilt and grief have played in her experience parenting a unique child, how she has navigated her daughter’s diagnosis of severe cognitive disability, writing about complicated mothers and complicated mothering, protecting children in our work, critical mothers, living in the contradiction, and her memoir The Shape of Normal.
Also in this episode:
-not giving up
-social anxiety
-forgiving ourselves
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan DIdion
Educated by Tara Westover
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Raising a Rare Girl by Heather Lanier
To Siri with Love by Judith Newman
Catherine (Cathy) Shields, M.S. Ed., is a retired early childhood teacher. She writes about parenting, disabilities, and self-discovery. In her debut memoir, The Shape of Normal, Cathy explores the truths and lies parents tell themselves. Her stories and essays have appeared in NBC Today, Newsweek, Bacopa Literary Review, Grown, and Flown,
Brevity Blog, Write City Magazine, The Manifest-Station, and elsewhere. Cathy lives in Miami, Florida. In her free time, Cathy likes to hike, kayak, and explore the Everglades National Park with her husband, to whom she’s been married forever.
Connect with Cathy:
Website: https://www.cathyshieldswriter.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathyshieldswriter
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cathy-shields-88487711b
X: https://twitter.com/Catshields1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cathy.p.shields.3
Substack: https://cathyshieldswriter.substack.com/
Get Cathy’s Book: https://www.vineleavespress.com/the-shape-of-normal-by-catherine-shields.html
—
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
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
Joelle Tamraz joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about yoga cults and self-declared spiritual gurus, searching for something outside ourselves, mind control, transcendental meditation, capturing the emotional vulnerability of our memoir characters, the many drafts in our manuscripts, and the story of how she pried her way out of the decades-long spiritual emotional, financial, and physical abuse she writes about in her new memoir The Secret Practice: Eighteen Years on the Dark Side of Yoga.
Also in this episode:
-critique groups
-standing by our story
-writing as a relationship with ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Writing Hard Stories by Melanie Brooks
Love Sick by Sue William SIlveman
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank
Joelle is a memoir and life writer who's been putting thoughts to paper ever since she learned about journaling in her eighth-grade English class. Before pivoting to writing full-time, she held senior roles in technology companies for over two decades and owned a yoga studio for ten years. She earned an Honors BA degree in social studies from Harvard and an MBA from INSEAD. She is also a certified life coach and a youth mentor. She has lived in the US and France and now resides in the UK with her husband and two dogs. The Secret Practice: Eighteen Years on the Dark Side of Yoga is her debut memoir.
Connect with Joelle:
Website: https://joelletamraz.com
X: https://twitter.com/joelletamraz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelletamraz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joelletamraz1
Get the book: https://books2read.com/joelletamraz
—
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
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
Rona Maynard joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about allowing ourselves to get lost in our writing, realizing you've actually been writing your book, observing our animal companions keenly, embracing surprises in our work, discovering joyful moments, looking for a narrative arc, using Scrivener, going more deeply, writing from the heart, and her memoir Starter Dog.
Also in this episode:
-taking in the world around us
-photographs as writing aids
-learning who we are
Books mentioned in this episode:
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
What Comes Next and How to Like It by Abigail Thomas
Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchet
In the Key of New York by Rebecca McClanahan
Rona Maynard found happiness at 65—a story she tells in her new memoir Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging and Loving This World. She first broke into print at 14 with a short story about bullying and still receives fan mail from teens who are reading it in class. Rona capped a stellar career in magazines with a decade at the helm of Chatelaine, Canada’s leading magazine for women. Her editor’s column garnered a loyal following. When she disclosed a struggle with depression, she helped kickstart a national conversation about mental health. When Rona stepped away from corporate life, she had to learn to unwind. Her best teacher was a rescue mutt who had received his basic training in a prison. She has been married more than 50 years to her best friend, tech advisor and driver on a cross continental art adventure that took them to 49 museums in five weeks. Rona says road trips go better with a dog in the back seat.
Connect with Rona:
Website: https://ronamaynard.com/
Medium: https://ronamaynard.medium.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rona.maynard/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronamaynard3278/?hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronamaynard/
Get Rona’s book:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Starter-Dog-Belonging-Loving-World/dp/1770417230/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1690986860&sr=8-1
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/starter-dog-my-path-to-joy-belonging-and-loving-this-world/18908036?ean=9781770417236&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fronamaynard.com%2F&source=IndieBound&title=Starter+Dog%3A+My+Path+to+Joy%2C+Belonging+and+Loving+This+World
—
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
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
Ann Batchelder joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about using myth as a jumping point for interpreting ourselves, trusting intuition, the idea of mother failure, regret and letting go, addiction and recovery in loved ones, mental health stigma, deciding when to show loved ones the manuscript, and her memoir Craving Spring: A Mother’s Quest, a Daughter’s Depression, and the Greek Myth that Brought Them Together.
Also in this episode:
-how stories save us
-Alanon
-mother guilt
Books mentioned in this episode:
Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Eating in the Light of the Moon by Dr. Anita Johnston
Work by Pema Chodron
Work by Tara Brach
Ann Batchelder is the author of Craving Spring: A Mother’s Quest, a Daughter’s Depression, and the Greek Myth that Brought Them Together. She served as Editor of FIBERARTS Magazine, was guest curator for the Asheville Art Museum where she designed and developed three major contemporary art exhibitions featuring artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Ann Hamilton, Sally Mann, Maya Lin, and Laurie Anderson, and was Director of Special Events for the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Ann earned an MSW in psychotherapy and is the mother of two adult children.
Connect with Ann:
Website: https://www.annbatchelder.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/ann.batchelder.9
Instagram: https://instagram.com/annbatchelder
—
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
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
Brooke Warner joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about nontraditional publishing, the massive sea change we’re seeing in memoir, how for authors visibility and marketing work is never done, protecting our memoir worlds, accountability groups, what all memoirs require, the genesis of She Writes Press, balancing her multiple roles, the project she is working on now and the many resources she offers memoirists.
Also in this episode:
-when creativity merges with our working life
-carving out time to write
-Substack and content-creation
Books mentioned in this episode:
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress, president of Warner Coaching Inc., and author of Write On, Sisters!, Green-light Your Book, What’s Your Book?, and three books on memoir. Brooke is a TEDx speaker and the former Executive Editor of Seal Press. She’s the current Board Chair of the Bay Area Book Festival, and sits on the Board of the National Association of Memoir Writers. She writes a weekly Substack newsletter @brookewarner, and a regular column for Publishers Weekly.
Connect with Brooke:
Website: www.brookewarner.com
She Writes Press: www.shewritespress.com
SparkPress: https://gosparkpress.com
Brooke’s memoir courses:
www.writeyourmemoirinsixmonths.com
www.magicofmemoir.com
About Ronit
Subscribe to Ronit's Memoir Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank?utm_source=profile-page
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
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
Joni B. Cole joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about following our creative hunches, what to look for in workshop groups and writing teachers, the power of positive reinforcement, the magic of revision, the right to tell our stories, her approach to teaching, the writer’s center she founded in White River Junction, Vermont and her new book of essays Party Like It’s 2044: Finding the Funny in Life and Death.
Also in this episode:
-connecting with other writers
-checking in on our expectations
-celebrating ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Growing Up by Russell Baker
One Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora Welty
Spare by Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Shrill by Lindy West
Joni B. Cole is the author of seven books, including the new release "Party Like It’s 2044: Finding the Funny in Life and Death," and two acclaimed writing guides: "Good Naked: How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier" (listed as a “Best Books for Writers” by Poets & Writers magazine) and "Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive" ("I can't imagine a better guide to writing's rewards and perils than this fine book,” American Book Review). For over twenty-five years she has taught creative writing to adults through her own writer’s center in White River Junction, Vermont, through the Dartmouth Writer’s Society, and at a diversity of academic and nonprofit programs across the country. She is a contributor to The Writer magazine and Jane Friedman blog, and hosts the podcast “Author, Can I Ask You?”
Connect with Joni:
Website: www.jonibcole.com
The Writer’s Center of WRJ: www.thewriterscenterwrj.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joni.b.colewriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joni.cole.9
—
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
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
Jane Wong joins Let’s Talk memoir for a conversation about the challenge of reflection in memoir, writing that teems with the specific and particular, capturing the experience of being a chinese american woman on the page, writing about exes and domestic violence, keeping ourselves safe while creating, constellations in our lives, avoiding sentimentality, and her new memoir which she calls a love song to her mother, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City.
Also in this episode:
-how she’s never funny in poems
-the super secret Jane Wong’s been keeping
-finding your people
Books mentioned in this episode:
Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow
Tastes like War by Grace M. Cho
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
The Grave on the Wall by Brandon Shimoda
Jane Wong is the author of the debut memoir, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, out now from Tin House (2023). She is also the author of two books of poetry: How to Not Be Afraid of Everything from Alice James (2021) and Overpour from Action Books (2016).
She holds an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Western Washington University. Her poems can be found in places such as Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019, Best American Poetry 2015, The New York Times, American Poetry Review, POETRY, The Kenyon Review, New England Review, and others. Her essays have appeared in places such as McSweeney's, Black Warrior Review, Ecotone, The Common, The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, and Want: Women Writing About Desire (Catapult).
A Kundiman fellow, she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Artist Trust, Harvard’s Woodberry Poetry Room, 4Culture, the Fine Arts Work Center, Bread Loaf, Hedgebrook, Willapa Bay, the Jentel Foundation, UCross, Mineral School, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Loghaven, and others. She grew up in a Chinese American restaurant on the Jersey shore and lives in Seattle.
Connect with Jane:
Website: https://janewongwriter.com/
Get Jane’s Book: https://tinhouse.com/book/meet-me-tonight-in-atlantic-city/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paradeofcats
—
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
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
Lisa Niver joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about disagreeing and then agreeing with your agent, her career in travel, accountability groups, working with developmental editors and book and proposal coaches, divorce, all the non-writerly jobs being a published memoirist requires, and her new book Brave-ish: One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.
Also in this episode:
-taking time to rest
-switching where our memoirs begin
-asking for help
Books mentioned in this episode:
Getting Stones with the Savages by Maarten Troost
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
Super Survivors by David B, Feldman and Lee Daniel Kravetz
Group by Christie Tate
BFF by Christie Tate
Maybe You Should Talk With Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Lisa Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries on six continents. This University of Pennsylvania graduate sailed across the seas for seven years with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Renaissance Cruises and spent three years backpacking across Asia. Discover her articles in publications from AARP: The Magazine and AAA Explorer to WIRED and Wharton Magazine, as well as her site WeSaidGoTravel.
On her award nominated global podcast, Make Your Own Map, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors, and as a journalist has been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and two National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty-two times.
Named a #3 travel influencer for 2023, Niver talks travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, her YouTube channel with over 2 million views, and in her memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.
Connect with Lisa:
Website: https://lisaniver.com/braveish/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaniver
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lisaniver
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisaniver
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.niver
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/wesaidgotravel/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaellenniver/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LisaNiver
We Said Go Travel: http://wesaidgotravel.com/
Lisa’s Series of articles:
- Navigating Book Promotion: Expert Tips from PR Pros
https://www.wesaidgotravel.com/book-promotion/
- Unlocking Book Promotion Success: Insider Strategies from PR Experts (Part 2)
https://www.wesaidgotravel.com/book-promotion-2/
- Mastering Book Promotion Strategies: Proven Insights from PR Experts (Part 3)
https://www.wesaidgotravel.com/book-promotion-3/
—
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
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
Rosa Lowinger joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up in Cuba, her storied career in art restoration, taking a closer look at the complicated and evolving relationship she’s had with her mother, sending manuscripts to family and exes before they go to press, protecting loved ones in our work, how much metaphor is too much, and her new memoir Dwell Time.
Also in this episode:
-finding community
-working with book coaches
-approaching writing like a job
Books mentioned in this episode:
Educated by Tara Westover
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangelo
Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart
The Year of Magical Thinking by Jon Didion
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald
Liar by Rob Roberge
The Distance Between Us by Rayna Grande
Avid Reader by Robert Gottlieb
When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank
Rosa Lowinger is a Cuban-born American art conservator and founder of RLA Conservation of
Art + Architecture, LLC. (www.rlaconservation.com), the U.S.’s largest woman-owned materials
conservation practice. She is also a published author, most well-known for Tropicana Nights:
The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub (Harcourt, 2005), a book on Havana’s
pre-Castro nightclub era. Other fictional works by Rosa include The Encanto File, a play produced off-Broadway by the Women’s Project and Productions and published in Rowing to America and Sixteen Other Short Plays, edited by Julia Miles (Smith & Kraus, 2002), and The Empress of the Waves, a short story published in the anthology Island in the Light/Isla en la Luz (Trapublishing, 2019).
Rosa’s academic and professional distinctions include the 2008-09 Rome Prize at the American Academy in Rome, where she researched the history of vandalism, graffiti, and street art; and Fellow status in the American Institute for Conservation and the Association for Preservation Technology. She holds an M.A. in Art History and Conservation from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, lectures regularly at numerous universities around the country, and serves on the boards of the Amigos of the Cuban Heritage Collection at University of Miami, Florida Association of Museums, the Partnership for Sacred Places, and the Florida Association of Public Art Professionals. Rosa co-curated the exhibits Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure American Seduction (Wolfsonian Museum, 2016) and Concrete Paradise: Miami Marine Stadium (Coral Gables Museum, 2013). She writes regularly for academic and popular media about conservation, the arts, and Cuba. Her 1999 cover story on Havana for Preservation spawned a career in cultural travel that has taken her to Cuba over 100 times since 1992. She lives in Los Angeles and Miami and is married to Todd Kessler.
Connect with Rosa:
Rosa’s Website:www.rosalowinger.com
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/rosa_Lowinger
RLA Conservation’s Website: www.rlaconservation.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rlaconservation
Purchase Dwell Time: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dwell-time-rosa-lowinger/1143192800
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Dwell-Time/Rosa-Lowinger/9781955905275
—
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
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
Eileen Vorbach Collins joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about losing her young daughter to suicide and the essays she wrote as she contended with her loss, the role of reflection, change, and growth in memoir, calling yourself a writer, finding your people, choosing what stays in essay collections and what goes, and her memoir Love in the Archives.
Also in this episode:
-bad writing groups
-titling our work
-finding homes for our essays in literary magazines
Books mentioned in this episode:
Broken in the Best Possible Way by Jenny Lawson
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Eileen Vorbach Collins writes true stories she wishes were fiction and fairy tales she wishes were true. Her essays have been widely published and received several prestigious awards. Two have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Eileen's essay collection, Love in the Archives: A Patchwork of True Stories About Suicide Loss, is forthcoming with Apprentice House Press in October.
Connect with Eileen:
Website: https://www.eileenvorbachcollins.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EileenVorbachCollins/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evorbachcollins/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/evorbachcollins
—
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
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
Kelly McMasters joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the elusiveness of “home”, creating space for our children in our art, questions as writing tools, letting go of what we thought our lives would be, falling in love with narcissists, the critical distance necessary to our work, writing about exes, landscape as a foil, and her memoir in essays The Leaving Season.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir
-Take the Let's Talk Memoir survey: https://forms.gle/mctvsv9MGvzDRn8D6
Help shape upcoming Let’s Talk Memoir content - a brief survey: https://forms.gle/ueQVu8YyaHNKui2Z9
Also in this episode:
-stealing with intention
-curiosity and self-reflection in memoir
-approaching an essay
Books mentioned in this episode:
Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris
The Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray
Soil:The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille Dungy
Omega Farm by Martha Mcphee
The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order by Joan Wickersham
History of Suicide: My Sister's Unfinished Life by Jill Bialosky
Kelly McMasters is an essayist, professor, mother, and former bookshop owner. She is the author of the Zibby Book Club pick The Leaving Season: A Memoir-in-Essays (WW Norton, 2023) and co-editor of the ABA national bestseller Wanting: Women Writing About Desire (Catapult, 2023). Her first book, Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town, was listed as one of Oprah's top 5 summer memoirs and is the basis for the documentary film ‘The Atomic States of America,’ a 2012 Sundance selection, and the anthology she co-edited with Margot Kahn, This Is the Place: Women Writing About Home (Seal Press, 2017), was a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Her essays, reviews, and articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post Magazine, The Paris Review, The American Scholar, River Teeth: A Journal of Narrative Nonfiction, Tin House, Newsday, and Time Out New York, among others. She holds a BA from Vassar College and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia's School of the Arts and is the recipient of a Pushcart nomination and an Orion Book Award nomination. Kelly has spoken about creative nonfiction at TEDx, authors@google, and more, and has taught at mediabistro.com, Franklin & Marshall College, and in the undergraduate writing program and Journalism Graduate School at Columbia University, among others. She is currently an Associate Professor of English and Director of Publishing Studies at Hofstra University in NY.
Connect with Kelly:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelly_mc_masters
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelly.mcmasters.3/
Website: www.kellymcmasters.com
—
About Ronit
Subscribe to Ronit's Memoir Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank?utm_source=profile-page
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
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
Jamie Brickhouse joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing and teaching memoir, performing and telling stories, alcoholism and life as a sober artist, being a 5-time Moth StorySLAM winner, his Texas tornado of a mother, why we don't need good a memory to write a memoir, and his memoir Dangerous When Wet.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir
-Take the Let's Talk Memoir survey: https://forms.gle/mctvsv9MGvzDRn8D6
Help shape upcoming Let’s Talk Memoir content - a brief survey: https://forms.gle/ueQVu8YyaHNKui2Z9
Also in this episode:
-why we share stories
-the generosity of wondering
-what all memoirs are ultimately about
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
Cherry by Mary Karr
Lit by Mary Karr
Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas
The Night of the Gun by David Carr
The Situation and the Story by VIvian Gornick
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss by Jessica Handler
Called a natural raconteur by the Washington Post, Jamie Brickhouse is a writer, comedic storyteller, TikTok sensation, podcast host, and public speaker. He’s the author of the critically acclaimed Dangerous When Wet: A Memoir of Booze Sex and My Mother (St. Martin's Press). It’s “Required Reading” in Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir; an Amazon Editors’ Pick (Biographies & Memoirs), an Amazon “Best Book of May 2015,” and a Book Chase “2015 Nonfiction Top 10.” His essays and articles have been published in the New York Times (multiple times), International Herald Tribune, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Salon, Interview, Out, Huffington Post, POZ, Amtrak’s Arrive, Lambda Literary Review, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. His recent HuffPost Personal essay, adapted from his memoir in progress, I Favor My Daddy: A Tale of Two Sissies, has over 500,000 views, and Merriam-Webster featured a sentence from the piece in its “Word of the Day” as a perfect usage example of the word effulgence.
Brickhouse’s daily TikTok #storiesinheels videos in which he tells a true story have over 5 million views, nearly a million likes, and over 75,000 followers. He is the host of the weekly podcast, Sober Podcast, part of Sober Network, and is an award-winning storyteller who tours two solo shows based on his memoirs, Dangerous When Wet and I Favor My Daddy.
Brickhouse has taught memoir, personal essay, creativity, and book marketing at the Columbia Publishing Course (17 years), San Miguel Writers’ Conference (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico), HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference, the Northern California Writers’ StoryTellers Conference & Expo, and Cape Cod Writers’ Conference.
Connect with Jamie:
Website: https://www.jamiebrickhouse.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamie_brickhouse
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiebrickhouse
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamieBrickhouseRedBrickAgency
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jamiebrickhouse
Dangerous When Wet: A Memoir of Booze, Sex, and My Mother Ebook & audiobook read by the author: https://amzn.to/2YxvMNl
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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
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
Morgan Baker joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about motherhood and identity, giving back to ourselves and creating boundaries, confronting depression, worrying about our memoir’s structure later, juggling our jobs as writers, why we write about hard things, and her new memoir Emptying the Nest.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir
-Take the Let's Talk Memoir survey: https://forms.gle/mctvsv9MGvzDRn8D6
Help shape upcoming Let’s Talk Memoir content - a brief survey: https://forms.gle/ueQVu8YyaHNKui2Z9
Also in this episode:
-perceiving ourselves in new ways
-the gifts of teaching
-letting go
Books mentioned in this episode:
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
Growing Up by Russell Baker
By the Iowa Sea by Joe Blair
In Love by Amy Bloom
The Suicide Index byJoan Wickersham
How to Make a Slave by Jerald Walker
Surviving the White Gaze by Rebecca Carroll
Morgan Baker is an award-winning writer and professor at Emerson College. Her work is featured in The New York Times Magazine, The Boston Globe Magazine, The Brevity Blog, Talking Writing, The Boston Parents’ Paper, The Martha’s Vineyard Times, The Bark, Modern Dog, Cognoscenti, and Hippocampus, among many regional and national publications. She is managing editor of The Bucket. She is the mother of two adult daughters and lives with her husband and two dogs in Cambridge, where she also quilts and bakes. Visit her at bymorganbaker.com.
Connect with Morgan:
Website: https://www.bymorganbaker.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mmorgbb
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morgan.baker.737/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-baker-01446aa/
Get her book here: https://www.ten16press.com/shop
Write Your Way with Morgan will be starting two 8-week workshops
—
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
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
Gretchen Cherington joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about complicated family legacies and processing sexual abuse, confronting the public view of a loved one we’re writing about, protecting manuscripts before we have book contracts, corralling information and organizing heaps of material, reading broadly, building relationships and being above board with sources, and her true crime, investigative, family memoir The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir
-Take the Let's Talk Memoir survey: https://forms.gle/mctvsv9MGvzDRn8D6
Help shape upcoming Let’s Talk Memoir content - a brief survey: https://forms.gle/ueQVu8YyaHNKui2Z9
Also in this episode:
-discovering an organizing principle
-knowing what material to cut
-reading like a memoirist
Books mentioned in this episode:
Searching for Mercy Street by Linda Gray Sexton
Home Before Dark by Susan Cheever
Small Fry by Lisa Jobs
Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson
Are You My Mother by Alison Bechdel
Queen of Snails: A Graphic Memoir by Maureen Burdock
Gretchen Cherington grew up the daughter of Pulitzer Prize–winning and U.S. poet laureate, Richard Eberhart. Her childhood homes were filled with literary greats from Robert Frost to Anne Sexton to James Dickey, a life she captured in her award-winning memoir, Poetic License. But like the paternal grandfather she never knew, Cherington chose a career in business where she coached hundreds of powerful men on how to change their companies and themselves. Her second book, The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy – a true crime, investigative, family memoir – is an exploration of the first twenty years of the meatpacking giant, Hormel Foods, as she pieces together her grandfather’s role—if he had one?—in a national embezzlement scandal that nearly brought the company to its knees in 1921. Cherington served as adjunct faculty in executive programs at Harvard, Dartmouth, and Columbia and on twenty boards of directors including a multibillion-dollar B-corporation bank. Cherington’s essays have appeared widely, in Huffington Post, Covey Club, Lit Hub, The Millions, Yankee, Electric Lit, Hippocampus, Quartz, and others. Her essay “Maine Roustabout” was nominated for a 2012 Pushcart Prize. Gretchen splits her time between Portland, Maine, and an eighty-year old cottage on Penobscot Bay.
Connect with Gretchen:
Website: www.gretchencherington.com
X: https://twitter.com/ge_cherington
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gretchencheringtonauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchencheringtonauthor/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-cherington-612b3b7/
Get Gretchen’s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Butcher-Embezzler-Fall-Guy-Industry/dp/1647420830/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QYT2DHA753BP&keywords=the+butcher%2C+the+embezzler%2C+and+the+fall+guy&qid=1673298988&sprefix=The+Butcher%2C+the+Embezz%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1
Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/richard-eberhart-father-me-too_n_64068645e4b0c78bb74484e6
—
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
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
Dina Gachman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about ambiguous loss, taking risks on the page, writing about family, connecting with and pursuing editors, her approach to building bylines and writing book proposals, pushing past our fear of judgment in service of our stories, and her new memoir So Sorry for Your Loss.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir-Take the Let's Talk Memoir survey: https://forms.gle/mctvsv9MGvzDRn8D6 Also in this episode:
-her work as a ghostwriter
-narrative reporting in memoir
-pushing past fear
Books mentioned in this episode:
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing by Lauren Hough
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
Here For It by R. Eric Thomas
Dina Gachman is a Pulitzer Center Grantee, an award winning journalist, and a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Vox, Texas Monthly, Teen Vogue and more. She also writes a monthly movie column for The New York Times. She’s a bestselling ghostwriter, and her first book, BROKENOMICS, was published by Hachette/Seal Press. Her new book of essays about grief, SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS, was published April 2023 by Union Square & Co.
She spent three years as head copywriter on Clio award winning content for UPROXX Studios.
She has appeared on ABC's 20/20, CBS We are Austin, Chicago’s WGN and Texas Standard. She’s written two comic books for Bluewater Comics, about legendary superheroes Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. She lives near Austin, Texas, with her husband and son.
Connect with Dina:
Website: https://www.dinagachmanwrites.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dgachman/
X: https://twitter.com/dinagachman
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dina-gachman-10abb018/
Get SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS: https://www.unionsquareandco.com/9781454947608/so-sorry-for-your-loss-by-dina-gachman/
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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
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
Pamela Petro joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the stories landscapes hold, why she resisted memoir and how she ultimately put herself on the page despite trying hard not to, pushing ourselves to keep asking questions, writing a braided memoir and the responsibility of incorporating research, deep time, the presence of absence, and her newest book The Long Field.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir-Take the Let's Talk Memoir survey: https://forms.gle/mctvsv9MGvzDRn8D6Also in this episode:
-the best way to learn writing
-how language holds mysteries
-revising for meaning
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Architecture of Desire: Beauty and danger in the Stanford White Family by Suzannah Lessard
Pamela Petro is an author, artist, and educator living in Northampton, MA, with her partner, Marguerite, and Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Topaz. She has written four books of creative nonfiction including her latest, The Long Field – Wales and the Presence of Absence, a Memoir, as well as Travels in an Old Tongue, also about Wales; Sitting up with the Dead, about the American South; and The Slow Breath of Stone, about Southwest France. Her articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, The Atlantic, Granta, Guernica, The Paris Review, and others. The Long Field was shortlisted for The Wales Book of the Year Award and was named to Top Ten Travel Book lists by The Financial Times and The Sunday Telegraph. Pamela teaches creative writing at Smith College and on Lesley University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program, and is co-Director of the Dylan Thomas Summer School at the University of Wales, Trinity St Davids, where she is also a Fellow. She has widely exhibited her photography and has also created an artist book, AfterShadows - A Grand Canyon Narrative, and a graphic script, Under Paradise Valley.
Connect with Pamela:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/petropamela
www.pamelapetro.com
Email: ppetro@smith.edu
Course links:
Lesley MFA in Creative Writing Program: https://lesley.edu/academics/graduate/creative-writing/
Dylan Thomas Summer School in Creative Writing, University of Wales: https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/dylanthomas/summerschool/
Arcade Book: https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781956763676/the-long-field/
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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
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
Thank you for such a great year! Very grateful for your kind words, downloads, and reviews.
You are cordially invited to share your feedback.
Help shape upcoming Let’s Talk Memoir content - a brief survey: https://forms.gle/ueQVu8YyaHNKui2Z9
Victoria Buitron joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the power of flash and lyric creative nonfiction, when chronology doesn’t work, accountability partners and writing mentors, the trauma of being a women in the world, knowing our writing will be there for us even when we stop for a while, and her memoir in essays A Body Across Two Hemispheres.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir-Take the Let's Talk Memoir survey: https://forms.gle/mctvsv9MGvzDRn8D6 Also in this episode:
-writer work-life balance
-considering autofiction and fiction
-lit mags like Brevity and The CItron Review
Books mentioned in this episode:
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
My Mother’s Funeral by Adriana Paramo
Into Thin Air by John Krakauer
Victoria Buitron is an award-winning writer who hails from Ecuador and resides in Connecticut. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from Fairfield University. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Normal School, SmokeLong en Español, Southwest Review, The Acentos Review, and other literary magazines. A VONA fellow, her work has been selected for 2022’s Best Small Fictions and Wigleaf’s Top 50. Her debut memoir-in-essays, A Body Across Two Hemispheres, is the 2021 Fairfield Book Prize winner and available wherever books are sold.
Connect with Victoria:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vic_toriawrites/
Website: https://victoriabuitron.com
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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
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
Maya Golden joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about extensive complex childhood trauma and the repercussions of sexual abuse, recovering from addiction, approaching memoir writing with authenticity and vulnerability, the effect of religious and societal pressure on women, telling a story from the safety of adulthood, and her memoir The Return Trip.
Help shape upcoming Let’s Talk Memoir content - a brief survey: https://forms.gle/ueQVu8YyaHNKui2Z9
Also in this episode:
-setting boundaries
-self-care and taking breaks
-protecting early drafts
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
What my Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
Heartberries by Terese Marie Mailhot
Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming
Maya Golden is an Associated Press-winning and Emmy-nominated multimedia journalist. She is the winner of the Excellence in My Market Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the founder of the 1 in 3 Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides recovery and counseling resources to survivors of sexual trauma with little to no income in East Texas. Maya has been featured on Bally Sports, Fox Sports College, ESPN 2 and 3 and other broadcast mediums including Blackgirlnerds.com, Salon and Insider. She speaks as a survivor for organizations such as the Children’s Advocacy Center, Court Appointed Special Advocates and Kids Aspiring to Dream. The Texas A&M alum’s career includes experience as a sports anchor/reporter and television production editor, newscast writer, field producer and print writer. She is a member of the Writer’s League of Texas, Women’s Fiction Writers Association and the East Texas Writers Guild.
Connect with Maya:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Maya_Golden
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodasgolden
Facebook: facebook.com/MGBWrites
Website: www.goodasgolden.com
Get Maya’s Book:
Amazon: https://a.co/d/gXivHue
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-return-trip-maya-golden/1143537245?ean=9781990253669
Blackstone Publishing: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-return-trip-maya-golden/1143537245?ean=9781990253669
BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-return-trip-a-memoir-maya-golden/20099457?ean=9781990253669
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 and the Housatonic Book 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 and the Page Turner Award for Short Stories. 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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Sherry Sidoti joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about memoir in present tense, reckoning with the complexities of transgenerational trauma, dysfunctional families, the effect writing memoir can have on our significant others, mother-daughter-sister relationships, self-care practices and engaging with our bodies while working on charged material, vulnerability hangovers, and her memoir A Smoke and a Song.
Also in this episode:
-broken backstories
-making material digestible
-reprocessing our lives through the act of writing
Books mentioned in this episode:
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T. Kira Madden
All of This by Rebecca Woolf
Clarity by DIana Estill
When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank
Sherry Sidoti is an author and the founder and lead director of FLY Yoga School, a yoga teacher training program, and FLY Outreach, a not-for-profit that offers yoga and meditation for trauma recovery on Martha’s Vineyard. A certified Labor Doula, Addiction Recovery Coach, and Somatic Attachment Therapy Program graduate, she leads spiritual courses, teacher training, and retreats globally. Her musings, infused by twenty years of practicing and teaching yoga, healing arts, and mysticism have been published by The Martha’s Vineyard Times, Heart & Soul Magazine, Elephant Journal, and Anthropology and Humanism Quarterly. Her essay “Mosaics” is featured in the 2022 She Writes Anthology: Art in Times of Unbearable Crisis. Sherry is most devoted to her greatest teacher, her son Miles, whose love, sensitivity, humor, and wisdom illuminate her path. A Smoke and a Song is Sherry’s first book. She currently resides on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Connect with Sherry:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherry.sidoti/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherrysidoti/
Website: https://www.sherrysidoti.com
A Smoke and a Song: https://www.amazon.com/Smoke-Song-Memoir-Sherry-Sidoti/dp/1647425093/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1691880496&sr=8-1
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Estelle Erasmus brings her 30 years of experience to Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about what it takes to break through submission slushpiles, the key to exemplary essays, honing our writer’s voice and giving editors what they need, pitching story vs. topic, the art of companion pieces, conveying our passion and investment, and her new book Writing That Gets Noticed.
Also in this episode:
-podcasts as a way to reach readers
-the pace of online outlets
-researching before you pitch
Books mentioned in this episode:
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
The Situation and the Story by VIvian Gornick
When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank
Estelle Erasmus, author of Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published(June 2023), is a professor of writing at New York University, the host of the Freelance Writing Direct podcast, and former “All About the Pitch” columnist for Writer’s Digest where she also teaches classes on pitching, personal essay writing, and getting started in writing.She has written about a variety of subjects (health, beauty, fitness, publishing, business, travel) for numerous publications. Her articles for the New York Times and Washington Post have gone globally viral (with more than 500 comments on her New York Times piece, “How to Bullyproof Your Child”). She has appeared on Good Morning America and has had her articles discussed on The View. She has also taught, coached, and mentored many writers who have gone on to be widely published in top publications. She received the 2023 NYU School of Professional Studies Teaching Excellence Award, is an American Society of Journalists and Authors award winner, and was a cast member in the inaugural New York City production of the Listen to Your Mother storytelling show. Learn more at www.EstelleSErasmus.com and register for her latest classes. Also, follow Estelle on Instagram, TikTok, and X, and sign up for her Substack
Connect with Estelle:
Author of WRITING THAT GETS NOTICED Available to order now.
www.estelleserasmus.com (sign up for her newsletter)
Sign up for her substack
Adjunct Instructor, NYU (Sign up for my latest classes)
Recipient 2023 NYU SPS Teaching Excellence Award
Freelance Writing Direct Podcast (iTunes) (She speaks to Cheryl Strayed, Ann Hood, Noah Michelson, Alan Henry, and more)
Freelance Writing Direct Podcast (YouTube)
Follow me: Twitter, Instagram, TikTok
Writer's Digest: What to Do to Maximize Your Launch Week And Get Your Book Noticed
https://estelleserasmus.com
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Lena Lee joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about unresolved grief and permission to acknowledge our losses, sibling relationships over time, how memoir can bring us closer to loved ones, emotional distance in our narratives, taking care of ourselves when writing, and her memoir Girl Uprooted.
Also in this episode:
-writing into vulnerability
-paternal estrangement
-connecting the dots in out stories
Books mentioned in this episode:
Crying in the H Mart by Rachel Zauner
Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park
A Dutiful Boy by Mohsin Zaidi
Lena Lee was born in South Korea but grew up moving countries every three years. As a Third Culture Kid, she has lived in Seoul, Paris, Oslo, Kuala Lumpur and New Jersey. After studying Human Sciences at Oxford University, Lena has been working in finance. Girl Uprooted is her first book. She lives in London, a place she now calls home(ish).
Connect with Lena
Website: thelenalee.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelenalee
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelenalee
Get Girl Uprooted: https://mybook.to/girluprooted
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Martina Clark joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her personal journey with HIV, the toll shame can take, the difference each of us can make, writing a braided memoir, staying a step ahead of the reader, keeping the material that matters, and her memoir My Unexpected Life.
Also in this episode:
-getting everything onto the page
-surviving two dangerous viruses
-living a life of service
Books mentioned in this episode:
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Iluo
You Don’t Look Like Anyone by Heather Sellers
Madman in the Woods by Jamie Gehring
Hell and Other Destinations by Madeline Albright
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall
Self-Portrait in Black and White by Thomas Chatterton Williams
Martina Clark (mar-tee-nah clah-rk), she/her, is the author of My Unexpected Life: An International Memoir of Two Pandemics, HIV and COVID-19. She worked for more than 20 years for the United Nations system and now teaches writing and critical reading for CUNY. She’s been living with HIV for more than half her life – 30 years and counting – and survived COVID-19 in 2020. Martina has traveled to more than 90 countries and conducted condom demonstrations in at least 50 of them. She's traveled by boat, bus, and plane, but never by elephant or camel. My Unexpected Life is her first book.
Connect with Martina:
Website: martina-clark.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MartinaClarkWriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MartinaClarkWriter
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@martinaclarkwriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MartinaClarkPen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martina-clark-2735719/
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Priscilla Gilman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about parentification and hypervigilance in children, toggling between the child character and adult narrator, confronting and capturing the complexity of parents on the page, negotiating our inner critic, and her new memoir The Critic’s Daughter.
Also in this episode:
-writing about close family members
-good writing is rewriting
-negotiating feedback and reviews
Books mentioned in this episode:
Faith, Sex, Mystery by Richard Gilman
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Priscilla Gilman is the author of two memoirs, The Anti-Romantic Child (Harper, 2011) and The Critic’s Daughter(Norton, 2023) and a former professor of English literature at Yale University and Vassar College. The Anti-Romantic Child received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist, was selected as one the Best Books of 2011 by the Leonard Lopate Show and The Chicago Tribune, and was one of five nominees for a Books for a Better Life Award for Best First Book. Nick Hornby called The Critic’s Daughter “beautiful: honest, raw, careful, soulful, brave and incredibly readable," and Kiese Laymon declared: “The Critic’s Daughter is an exquisite and rare example of how the memoir needs as much inventiveness in scope and form as our most lush fiction and poetry…I’ve read few books in my life as skillfully executed and willfully conceived as The Critic’s Daughter.” Gilman’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Slate, REAL SIMPLE, the Washington Post, O, the Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City.
Connect with Priscilla:
Website: www.priscillagilman.com
X: www.twitter.com/priscillagilman
Facebook: www.facebook.com/priscillagilmanauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/priscilla.gilman/
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Laura Carney joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about pluck, endurance, and being the biggest advocate for your book, writing about unresolved grief, what to do to reclaim memory, the truth about marketing your memoir including pitching early, befriending reporters, and building community, how to engage on social media, preparing for your book launch, and her new memoir My Father’s List.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir
Also in this episode:
-transforming trauma
-making a person’s death part of our story
-letting go of the book
Books mentioned in this episode:
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield
Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates
Running Home by Katie Arnold
Laura Carney is a writer and copy editor in New York. She's been published by the Washington Post, the Associated Press, The Hill, Runner's World, People magazine, Guideposts, Good Housekeeping, The Fix, Upworthy, Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper and other places, and her book My Father’s List: How Living My Dad’s Dreams Set Me Free is being published by Post Hill Press in June 2023. Her work as a copy editor has been primarily in magazines, for 20 years, including Good Housekeeping, People, Guideposts, Vanity Fair, and GQ. My Father's List is Laura's story about completing the 54-item bucket list of her late father, who was killed in a car crash when she was 25, in six years.
Connect with Laura:
Website: bylauracarney.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myfatherslist
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myfatherslist
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lac30
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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
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
Leslie Ferguson joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about surviving childhood trauma and her mother’s psychosis, approaching her manuscript through an editorial lens, the toll of insecure attachment, how writing the story that forged her helped her shed some of the pain she carried, and her approach to choosing scenes that stayed in her memoir When I Was Her Daughter.
Also in this episode:
-the toll of abandonment
-EMDR therapy
-Reparenting the self
Books mentioned in this episode:
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Grand by Sarah Schaefer
Blackout by Sarah Hepola
Love Sick by Sue William Silverman
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Leslie Ferguson enjoyed a career as a high school English teacher and college writing instructor for two decades before relocating to San Diego to pursue work in the publishing industry. She holds an MFA in creative writing and an MA in English literature from Chapman University. Currently, Leslie sits on the Board of Directors of the International Memoir Writers Association, and she loves performing original stories and poems, which often center on hope and the consequences of trauma. As an editor and book doctor, one of Leslie’s passions is helping other writers tell their own stories with courage and emotional honesty. Her multi-award-winning debut memoir, When I Was Her Daughter, tells her story of madness, loss, and survival as a foster kid in the 1980s.
Connect with Leslie:
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/leslie.ferguson.42/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Lesliefergusonauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moreleslief/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-ferguson-221a1890/
Website: LeslieFergusonAuthor.com
Buy When I Was Her Daughter:
Amazon :https://amzn.to/3SphWmY
https://www.amazon.com/When-I-Was-Her-Daughter/dp/195211277X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=when+i+was+her+daughter&qid=1638573773&sr=8-1
Barnes and noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-i-was-her-daughter-leslie-ferguson/1140422898?ean=9781952112775
Applebooks:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/when-i-was-her-daughter/id1592175515
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/when-i-was-her-daughter
BOOKSHOP.ORG: https://bookshop.org/books/when-i-was-her-daughter/9781952112782
Warwick’s: https://www.warwicks.com/book/9781952112775
Diesel books: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/book/9781952112775
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Adiba Nelson joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about putting humor in our work, the importance of voice, not worrying what people think, writing about mother-daughter relationships, raising teenagers, when you feel like you have nothing left, emotional labor and choosing when to educate others about her daughter’s disability, being a multi-genre writer, MFA programs, and her memoir Ain't That a Mother.
Also in this episode:
-Child loss
-Imposter syndrome
-Finding hope
Books mentioned in this episode:
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
Adiba Nelson is the author of Ain’t That A Mother; the memoir that Essence, Bustle, Ms. magazine and Shondaland all hailed as a “must read”, and subject of the Emmy winning documentary, The Full Nelson. She is also a disability rights activist, Executive Producer and Creative Consultant on the tv series based on her memoir (currently in development), a freelance journalist, semi-retired burlesque performer and very tired mom!
In 2013 she self-published her first children’s book Meet ClaraBelle Blue after not being able to find a book that adequately and appropriately represented her daughter (disabled, Black). Since then Adiba has led numerous workshops and given keynote addresses around the country for parents and educators focusing on DEIA from a disability perspective.
In 2017 Adiba delivered her TEDx talk (Skating Downhill: The Art of Claiming Your Life) to a sold out crowd, and has since joined the NPR affiliate Arizona Public Media as a regular contributor on Arizona Spotlight, and was a featured speaker at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture. Her children’s book, “Oshun & Me” (MacMillan/Feiwel & Friends)will be available Winter 2024, and her next book, “Hazel’s Best Day!” will be available Winter 2026.
Connect with Adiba:
Website: www.thefullnelson.net
Instagram: www.instagram.com/adibanelson
Twitter: www.twitter.com/adibanelson
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AdibaNelsonWriter
Ain't That A Mother: https://www.amazon.com/Aint-That-Mother-Postpartum-Everything/dp/B0BMKG3M9M/ref=zg_bsnr_271583011_sccl_5/135-8794494-4325615?psc=1
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Jennifer Lang joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about compressing prose and chopping manuscripts, leaning into the experimental, distilling material, staying nimble-minded, her husband and her becoming characters on the page, founding Israel Writers Studio, and her new memoir Places We Left Behind.
Also in this episode:
-remembering to play on the page
-the scarcity of poetry as guide
-searching for home
Books mentioned in this episode:
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly
Belonging by Nora Krug
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Devotion by Dani Shapiro
Connect with Jennifer:
Author website: https://israelwriterstudio.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jennifer.f.lang.9/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/israelwriterstudio/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/jenlangwrites/
Good Reads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/142425302-places-we-left-behind
Classes: https://israelwriterstudio.com/classes/
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
The Witches of Pitches are Aileen Weintraub and Megan Margulies here to share their advice about slowing scenes down, remembering that dialogue gives your memoir depth and flavor, finding the other story in your story, creative querying, what building a platform can mean, the power in companion pieces, honing your pitch, and stalking editors.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir
Also in this episode:
-kvetch sessions
-writing as a business
-being patient
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Magie Smith
Aileen Weintraub and Megan Margulies have formed a partnership from the modern love story playbook of online writing sessions. They have workshopped numerous articles, essays, and book proposals, helping writers produce top-notch material and are the Witches of Pitches.
Aileen Weintraub is an award-winning author, journalist, and editor. She began her career as a copy editor and then as a developmental editor working for both children’s and adult publishing companies. As a freelance editor she has worked with clients to help develop their books, proposals, pitches, articles, and essays.
She has written for The Washington Post, BBC, Oprah Daily, Parents, NBC, Al Jazeera, AARP, Glamour, InStyle, and other publications.
Aileen is also the author of over fifty children’s books including the middle-grade social justice book WE GOT GAME! 35 Female Athletes Who Changed the World, which was honored as A Mighty Girl’s Best Book of the Year, and the best-selling Never Too Young: 50 Unstoppable Kids Who Made a Difference, a Parents’ Choice Award recipient.
Her latest book Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir, is about marriage, motherhood, and the risks we take. The Erma Bombeck Workshop named Aileen Humor Writer of the Month for Knocked Down and Publishers Weekly says, “…there’s beauty on every page.”
Aileen has also created a series on marketing and platform building in collaboration with Writers’ Digest. She lives in New York but her heart is in Seville. You can learn more atwww.aileenweintraub.com.
Megan Margulies is an MFA recipient, memoirist, journalist, and a 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist for her book, My Captain America. Her essays and reported articles focus on motherhood and navigating life and healthcare as a woman. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Vogue Magazine, The Cut, Good Housekeeping, Elle Magazine, Parent’s Magazine, Oprah Daily, and more.
Before entering the world of journalism, Megan worked for almost ten years as an editorial assistant at Harvard University where she edited countless articles, profiles, and promotional materials for various departments and professors. It’s where she first fell in love with the Chicago Manual of Style.
She’s a native New Yorker, but splits her time between Boston and Vermont with her husband and two daughters. You can learn more atwww.meganmargulies.com.
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Jill Christman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how our deepest stories can save our lives, approaching trauma-writing as a process of discovery, practical tips for working on difficult material, allowing ourselves as much time as our essays need, finding the truest truth in our work, her role as senior editor at River Teeth, and her new memoir in essays If This Were Fiction.
-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir
Also in this episode:
-how writing and publishing are not the same thing
-when authors flinch
-going really deep
Essay Daily article by Jill Christman http://www.essaydaily.org/2017/12/dec-22-jill-christman-on-essays-to-pry.html
Books mentioned in this episode:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes
Childhood by Natalie Sarraute
All Over But the Shouting by Rick Bragg
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
Cherry by Mary Karr
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
A Fish Growing Lungs Alysia Sawchyn
Hell If We Don’t Change Our Ways byBrittany Means
In the Dream House byCarmen Maria Machado
Men We Reaped Jesmyn Ward
The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken
Owner of a Lonely Heart byBeth Nguyen
Stealing Buddha’s Dinner byBeth Nguyen
Jill Christman is the author of If This Were Fiction: A Love Story in Essays (University of Nebraska Press, 2022) and two memoirs, Darkroom: A Family Exposure (winner of AWP Prize for CNF) and Borrowed Babies: Apprenticing for Motherhood. A 2020 NEA Literature Fellow and winner of the AWP Creative Nonfiction Prize, she is a professor in the Creative Writing Program at Ball State University, senior editor of River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative, and executive producer of the podcast Indelible: Campus Sexual Violence.
Connect with Jill:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jill_christman
Website: jillchristman.com
Writing sexual trauma: http://www.essaydaily.org/2018/12/dec-13-jill-christman-on-writing-sexual.html
Essays to pry open doors: http://www.essaydaily.org/2017/12/dec-22-jill-christman-on-essays-to-pry.html
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Kate Evans joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being a bit of a wandering writer yet finding the patterns that can emerge from chaos, leaning into momentum while generating work, having her life partner as first reader, her traveling life, the writing retreat she is hosting in April 2024, and her new book Wanderland.
Also in this episode:
-incorporating spiritual teachings in our work
-using books as writing teachers
-having your partner as your first reader
Books mentioned in this episode:
My Life in France by Julia Child
Memoirs by Maya Angelou
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave by Frederick Douglas
The Land of Lost Borders by Kate Harris
Kate Evans is the author of eight books, including Call It Wonder: An Odyssey of Love, Sex, Spirit & Travel, winner of the Bisexual Book Award for Best Memoir, which is the prequel to Wanderland: Living the Traveling Life. Her essays, stories, and poems have appeared widely in such publications as HuffPost, Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping, Zyzzyva, and Santa Monica Review. A recipient of a PhD in Education from the University of Washington, she also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San Jose State University, where she is Emeritus Faculty. She lives half the year in Mexico and the other half she travels. www.kateevanswriter.com
Connect with Kate:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KateEvansWriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katenomadicwriter/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateevansauthor/
Website: www.kateevanswriter.com
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Approaching Traumatic Material with Complexity and Compassion featuring Brittany Means
Brittany Means joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up vagrant, writing about child sexual abuse, how she started with the scenes that haunted her, depicting traumatic material with complexity and compassion, leaning into her narrative voice, when she felt like a writer with a capital “W”, and her new memoir Hell If We Don’t Change Our Ways.
Also in this episode:
-reconnecting with your body when writing traumatic material
-asking yourself really hard questions
-why our stories matter
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Darkroom by Jill Christman
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Brittany Means is a Chicana writer and editor living in Albuquerque, NM. A graduate of Iowa's MFA Nonfiction Writing Program, Means has worked with Inara Verzemnieks and Kiese Laymon. She has received several awards for her work, including the Magdalena Award, Geneva Fellowship, and Grace Paley Fellowship at Under the Volcano.
Connect with Brittany Means:
Website: www.brittanymeans.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BrittanyMeansIt/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BrittanyMeansIt/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/BrittanyMeansIt/
Get Brittany’s book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/hell-if-we-don-t-change-our-ways-a-memoir-brittany-means/19712130?ean=9798985282894
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
LL Kirchner joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about compressing material and managing timelines, writing about addiction and recovery, radical compassion, polyamory, yoga scandals and sex cults, and her new memoir Blissful Thinking.
Also in this episode:
-The toll of internalized misogyny
-Finding teachers who energize you
-Writing groups
Books mentioned in this episode:
Cultish Amanda Montei
Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Blackout Sarah Hepola
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Wild Cheryl Strayed
The Liars Club by Mary Karr
Lit by Mary Karr
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
memoirs by Alexandra Fuller
When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank
L.L. Kirchner is an award-winning screenwriter and author. Her second memoir, Blissful Thinking: A Memoir of Overcoming the Wellness Revolution (Motina Books, 9/26/23), reveals how the chase for 'wellness' made her sicker until she discovered she'd been asking the wrong questions. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, BOMB Magazine, and The Rumpus. She's currently working on her first novel, Florida Girls. Find her on socials @LLKirchner_ or her website, llkirchner.com. There you can sign up for her monthly newsletter, Notable—inspiration from the creative front line—and get a sneak peek at her new book.
Connect with LL:
Website: https://llkirchner.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/llkirchner_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llkirchner_/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@llkirchner
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LLKirchner/
Free Course: Unlock Your Story, A 5-Day Challenge: https://llkirchner.podia.com/5-days-to-get-to-the-heart-of-your-story/buy
New book to pre-order: https://www.amazon.com/Blissful-Thinking-Overcoming-Wellness-Revolution-ebook/dp/B0BZTDCPT3
Free workshop for pre-orders: https://llkirchner.involve.me/pre-order-workshop
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Heather Lanier joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about finding the psychic distance and narrative voice your memoir needs, writing about our children, defying the tyranny of normal, personal narratives for social change, excavating our own ableism, blogs vs. literary essays, avoiding self-pity, and Raising a Rare Girl, her memoir of parenting a child with a rare syndrome.
Also in this episode:
-Revealing the ‘ugly’ side of ourselves on the page
-The right we have to tell our stories
-How narratives begin with voice
Books mentioned in this episode:
Stranger Care by Sarah Sentilles
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Heather Lanier is the author of the poetry collection, Psalms of Unknowing (Monkfish Publishing 2023) as well as the memoir, Raising a Rare Girl (Penguin Press 2020), a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. Her work has appeared in Salon, The Sun, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Longreads, McSweeney’s, TIME, and elsewhere. She works as an assistant professor of creative writing at Rowan University, and her TED talk has been viewed three million times and translated into 18 languages.
Connect with Heather:
Twitter: twitter.com/heatherklanier
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherklanier/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherkirnlanier
Website: https://heatherlanierwriter.com
Heather’s new poetry book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/psalms-of-unknowing-poems/19664834?ean=9781958972069
Heather’s Memoir: https://bookshop.org/p/books/raising-a-rare-girl-heather-lanier/13330911?ean=9780525559658
"Rules for Writing about Fiona." https://starinhereye.wordpress.com/2016/08/12/rules-for-writing-about-fiona/
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Care/of: Get 50% off your first order when you use promo code "Memoir50"
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Patty Lin joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her former career in television and how she knew she was done with show business, naming names in memoir manuscripts and legal reviews, mother-daughter narratives, sensory details that put the reader in the room, and her new memoir End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood.
Also in this episode:
-trusting our instincts
-protecting our creative life
-putting it all out there
Books mentioned in this episode:
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young
Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Patty Lin is a former TV writer and producer whose credits include "Freaks and Geeks," "Friends," "Desperate Housewives," and "Breaking Bad." She has also written pilots for Fox, CBS, and Nickelodeon. Her "Breaking Bad" episode was nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Outstanding Script of 2008. She is the author of END CREDITS: HOW I BROKE UP WITH HOLLYWOOD, a memoir about her television career. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
Connect with Patty:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virtualpattylin/
Website: www.pattylin.com
Get End Credits: How I Broke Up with Hollywood: https://www.amazon.com/End-Credits-How-Broke-Hollywood/dp/B0BVDM5T4R/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=17Q217DYJRSQ2&keywords=end+credits+patty+lin&qid=1681751036&sprefix=end+credits+patty+lin%2Caps%2C210&sr=8-1-fkmr0
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Clare Frank joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing a female-career-centered memoir, letting structure dictate content, when an agent really loves your voice but doesn’t think they can sell your book, the lifelong relationship she’s had with fire, and her new memoir Burnt.
Also in this episode:
-using NaNoRiMo to draft your book
-embracing the suck
-when your sibling is also writing a memoir
Book mentioned in this episode:
Books by Caitlin Doughty
Ambulance Driver by Kevin Hazard
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
Clare Frank served as the State of California’s first and only female Chief of Fire Protection. She began firefighting at age 17 and worked her way through the ranks, handling all types of fire and rescue emergencies and major disasters in both urban and rural settings. Along the way, she earned a bachelor’s in fire administration, a law degree and bar card, and a master’s in creative writing. Most recently, she is the author of BURNT: A Memoir of Fighting Fire. She lives near Lake Tahoe with her husband and always a dog or two
Connect with Clare:
Book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/burnt-a-memoir-of-fighting-fire-clare-frank/18699323?ean=9781419763908
Website: https://www.therealclarefrank.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firewriter1/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009533621822
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-frank-64a2a2236/
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Ronit’s writing has been featured 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 both the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards and 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 was named winner of Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and Finalist in the 2023 Page Turner Awards. 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 is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
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
Dinty W. Moore joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about his 25 years as Editor-in-Chief of Brevity Magazine, elements that set submissions apart, landing on a writer’s voice, generating work in play mode yet being relentless in revision, resisting the urge to explain, allowing ourselves to be peculiar, and what rejection really means.
Also in this episode:
-the stories in our lives we keep coming back to.
-the gift of 750 words.
-giving readers room to interpret.
Authors mentioned in this episode:
James Baldwin
Joan Didian
Cheryl Strayed
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Maggie Nelson
Leslie Jamison
Dinty W. Moore worked as a journalist, a documentary filmmaker, a zookeeper, a modern dancer, and a Greenwich Village waiter before realizing he wanted to be a writer. He is author of the memoirs To Hell With It and Between Panic & Desire, winner of the Grub Street Nonfiction Book Prize, The Accidental Buddhist: Mindfulness, Enlightenment, and Sitting Still, the writing guide Crafting the Personal Essay, and is editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction, among many other books. He has published essays and stories in The Georgia Review, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, Creative Nonfiction, and elsewhere. He is founding editor of Brevity, the journal of flash nonfiction, and teaches master classes and workshops across the United States as well as in Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, and Mexico. He is deathly afraid of polar bears.
Connect with Dinty:
Books: https://dintywmoore.com/category/books/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dintywmoore/
X: https://twitter.com/brevitymag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dintyw/
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Ronit’s writing has been featured 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 both the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards and 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 was named winner of Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and Finalist in the 2023 Page Turner Awards. 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 is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
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
Abigail Thomas joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the importance of curiosity, honesty, and vulnerability in our work, making our own rules on the page, her approach to writing and revision, the story she wasn’t sure how she’d tell, and her newest memoir Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing.
Also in this episode:
-the magic of third person
-writing to see what we mean
-how our work changes over time
Books mentioned in this episode:
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell and other books in the trilogy
Abigail Thomas has 4 children, 12 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren, 8 books, and a high school education. She has written three works of fiction, four memoirs, three children's books, a little book of poems, and a book about writing memoir. Her most recent book is the memoir Still Life At Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing. She lives in Woodstock with her two dogs.
Connect with Abigail Thomas:
Website: https://www.abigailthomas.net
Books: https://www.abigailthomas.net/books/
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Care/of: Get 50% off your first order when you use promo code "Memoir50"
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Ronit’s writing has been featured 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 both the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards and 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 was named winner of Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and Finalist in the 2023 Page Turner Awards. 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 is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
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
Season 3 is almost here with fresh interviews on voice, finding structures that work, revision tools, the ethics and legalities of writing about others, what it’s like to move from other creative disciplines to memoir, advocating for our work, and lots more. Season 3 of Let’s Talk Memoir will launch Tuesday, September 5th, and new episodes will come out weekly through Spring 2024.
You can find additional Let’s Talk Memoir resources @RonitPlank on Instagram, Threads, X, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
And if you know a writer or memoir aficionado who would appreciate this podcast, share away! You can also rate and review Let’s Talk Memoir on your favorite podcast so other memoir lovers can find the show. Thank you for being a listener!
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Ronit’s writing has been featured 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 both the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards and 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 was named winner of Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and Finalist in the 2023 Page Turner Awards. 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 is at work on her next book.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
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
In this episode of Let’s Talk Memoir, reflections on a few most-asked memoir questions, information on Season 3, and where to find Let’s Talk Memoir writing resources and updates while the show is on Summer hiatus. Thank you to Season 2’s generous guests for your insight and clarity, and to the listeners who make this show so rewarding to make. Grateful for your incredible support!
Links to memoir-writing articles mentioned in this episode: https://ronitplank.com/published-works/
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Reed Harkness joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about a mother who goes missing, intergenerational trauma, moving into discomfort in service of truth-telling, what’s ours to tell, masculinity and brotherhood, the hero’s journey as a template for story arc, and what he’s learned about vulnerability from documenting 25 years of his family’s story in his new deeply personal film Sam Now.
Also in this episode:
-blended families
-sibling language
-when our work takes on a life of its own
Books mentioned in this episode:
An Abbreviated Life by Ariel Leve
Reed attended film school in his backyard and garage. At age 18, he began making a series of short films starring his younger brother Sam. This was the beginning of a project two decades in the making: Sam Now, a coming-of-age film that follows his brother from age 11 to 36. The film was selected by ITVS Open Call and is now in post-production. Reed previously directed the award-winning 30-minute documentary Forest on Fire about the 2017 wildfire in the Columbia River Gorge started by a teen who threw a lit firecracker off a hiking trail–stranding more than 150 hikers–and how, much like wildfire, a news story can spin out of control. He created House on Fire for Topic Studios, a series of short documentaries where people are given the spontaneous prompt that their house is on fire and told they have only two minutes to save just one thing. Reed recently participated in Gotham Week’s Project Market: Spotlight On Documentaries and was selected as a Film Independent Fellow. He was also awarded the Oregon Media Fellowship for 2021.
Connect with Sam:
Website: https://samnowmovie.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samnowmovie/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/samnowmovie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamNowMovie/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@samnowmovie
--
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Gayle Brandeis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about losing her mother to suicide and finding a way to write about it, her work across genres, leaning into what makes us unique on the page, trusting ourselves to discover what our work wants to become, why there is no better time to write than now, editing for connection with readers, the importance of play in our work, and her new collection Drawing Breath: Essays on Writing, the Body, and Loss.
Also in this episode:
-speculative nonfiction
-organizing principles in essays
-choosing the right container for our work
Books mentioned in this episode:
Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses
A Constellation of Ghosts by Laraine Herring
We Were Witches by Ariel Gore
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
The Suicide Index by Joan Wickersham
Gayle Brandeis is the author, most recently, of the essay collection Drawing Breath: Essays on Writing, the Body, and Loss (Overcup Press). Earlier books include the memoir The Art of Misdiagnosis (Beacon Press), the novel in poems, Many Restless Concerns (Black Lawrence Press), shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award, the poetry collection The Selfless Bliss of the Body (Finishing Line Press), the craft book Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write (HarperOne) and the novels The Book of Dead Birds (HarperCollins), which won the PEN/Bellwether Prize, Self Storage (Ballantine), Delta Girls (Ballantine), and My Life with the Lincolns (Henry Holt BYR), chosen as a state-wide read in Wisconsin. Gayle's essays, poetry, and short fiction have been published in places such as The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, O (The Oprah Magazine), The Rumpus, Salon, and more, and have received numerous honors, including the Columbia Journal Nonfiction Award, a Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Award, Notable Essays in Best American Essays 2016, 2019, and 2020, the QPB/Story Magazine Short Story Award and the 2018 Multi Genre Maverick Writer Award. She was named A Writer Who Makes a Difference by The Writer Magazine, and served as Inlandia Literary Laureate from 2012-2014, with a focus on bringing writing workshops to underserved communities. She teaches in the MFA programs at Antioch University and University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe.
Connect with Gayle:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gaylebrandeis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gaylebrandeis/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gayle.brandeis
Website: www.gaylebrandeis.com
--
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Jennifer Lunden joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her experience with ME/CFS and her new braided memoir American Breakdown: Our Ailing Nation, My Body's Revolt, and the Nineteenth-Century Woman Who Brought Me Back to Life, writing about trauma, the long-term effects of adverse childhood experiences on health, misogyny in medicine, using imagery to ground our readers, how she found the right publisher, and what it takes to be a working, published writer.
Also in this episode:
-capitalism and grind culture
-epigenetics
-destigmatizing ME/CFS and other autoimmune diseases
Books mentioned in this episode:
Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso
The Ladies Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness by Sarah Ramsey
Notes from No Man’s Land by Eula Biss
A Good Country: My LIfe in Twelve Towns and the Devastating Battle for a White America by Sofia Ali-Khan
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
Jennifer Lunden is the author of American Breakdown: Our Ailing Nation, My Body's Revolt, and the Nineteenth-Century Woman Who Brought Me Back to Life. Her writing has been selected for a Pushcart Prize, listed as Notable in Best American Essays, and supported by grants from the Maine Arts Commission, the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Her essays have been published in Creative Nonfiction, Orion, River Teeth, DIAGRAM, Longreads, and other journals. She has received fellowships from Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Hewnoaks Artist Residency, Hedgebrook, Monson Arts, and the Dora Maar House in the South of France, and was the 2016 recipient of the Bread Loaf - Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholarship in Nonfiction.
A licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and former therapist, she provides individual and group supervision to other therapists and has also taught social work online for Simmons University and the University of New England. In 2012 she was named Maine’s Social Worker of the Year for her campaign to prevent cuts to Maine’s Medicaid program. She and her husband live in a little house in Portland, Maine, where they keep several backyard chickens, two cats, and some gloriously untamed gardens.
Connect with Jennifer:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.lunden
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jleelunden/
Website: https://jenniferlunden.com/
Links for book purchase are on this page: https://jenniferlunden.com/american-breakdown/
--
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Camille T. Dungy joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about who speaks about the natural world and how, erasure in life and in art, the white gaze, reviewing the cannon of environmental literature with a critical eye, writing about motherhood, manuscript-cutting, leaning into humor and nuance in our work, and her new book Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.
Also in this episode:
-memoir that’s so braided it’s woven
-creating work during a pandemic
-interrogating ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Deep Creek by Pam Houston
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
Motherhood So White by Nerfertiti Austin
The Inland Island: A Year in Nature by Josephine Johnson
Camille T. Dungy is the author of the essay collection Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood, and History, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has edited three anthologies, including Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry. Her honors include the 2021 Academy of American Poets Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an and an American Book Award. She is a University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University and the author of SOIL: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.
Connect with Camille:
Website: https://camilledungy.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camilledungy/
Get Camille’s Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Soil/Camille-T-Dungy/9781982195304
–
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Sarah Birnbach joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about grief and the wished-for mother, how Jewish prayer anchored her as she mourned the father she adored, birth order and responsibility, how spirituality has shaped her life, deciding how much to share about her painful relationship with her mother, and publishing her memoir A Daughter’s Kaddish later in life.
Also in this episode:
-not throwing those we have conflict with under the bus
-feminism in Judaism
-community as a balm for grief
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
The Florist's Daughter by Patricia Hampl
The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer
Inheritance by Dani Shapiro
Sarah Birnbach spent 35 years as a human resource management consultant helping organizations to achieve peak performance, and was a sought-after speaker at conferences across multiple industries. As a licensed clinical social worker, she worked as a family therapist in a juvenile and domestic relations court, and became a certified journal facilitator in 2010.
In her “encore career” as a writer and author, Sarah is a six-time award winner in the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition, and her articles have appeared in numerous literary magazines and journals, as well as the Washington Jewish Week and the Jerusalem Post. Her memoir, A Daughter’s Kaddish, follows her journey through the year after her father’s death.
She lives outside Washington, D.C. with her husband and enjoys traveling and being Grandma to her seven grandchildren.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: www.sarahbirnbach.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarah_birnbach
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarahBirnbachWriterAuthor/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahsheilabirnbach/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.birnbach/
–
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Candace Cahill joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about placing her newborn son for adoption and meeting him as an adult shortly before his death, writing for clarity, negotiating guilt, finding compassion for yourself, writing as a process for grieving, and her memoir Goodbye Again.
Also in this episode:
-child relinquishment
-extending grace to parents who fell short
-the benefits of writing groups
Books mentioned in this episode:
All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
When I Was Her Daughter by Leslie Ferguson
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Educated by Tara Westover
The Burning Light of Two Stars by Laura Davis
Candace Cahill is a multi-disciplinary artist from Denali, Alaska, and the author of Goodbye Again, a memoir about losing her son twice. A life-long learner, she utilizes traumatic experiences from her life to provide insights into self-compassion and healing. Known for her ability to engage diverse audiences, her stories are tragic yet uplifting. She delights and inspires audiences with her storytelling expertise through speaking engagements, written work, songwriting, and as a seasonal National Park Ranger. When Candace is not telling stories, you can find her walking in the woods, playing her guitar, and reading books.
Connect with Candace:
Website: candacecahill.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/candace_cahill_
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candace.cahill.16
–
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Maggie Smith joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about having and holding boundaries in our work and in our lives, trusting our instincts as writers, taking risks, telling the truth as we know it, allowing our material to dictate form, how our work changes over time, and her highly anticipated memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful.
Also in this episode:
-protecting our children in our work
-poetry’s possibilities
-why we can only speak for ourselves
Books mentioned in this episode:
Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso
The Chronology of Water by Kidia Yuknavitch
Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas
Maggie Smith is the award-winning author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Good Bones, The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, Lamp of the Body, and the national bestsellers Goldenrod and Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change. A 2011 recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Smith has also received several Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council, two Academy of American Poets Prizes, a Pushcart Prize, and fellowships from the Sustainable Arts Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She has been widely published, appearing in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Best American Poetry, and more.
Connect with Maggie:
Website: https://maggiesmithpoet.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiesmithpoet/
Get You Can Make This Place Beautiful: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/You-Could-Make-This-Place-Beautiful/Maggie-Smith/9781982185855
--
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Erika Bornman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her experience escaping from KwaSizabantu and her participation in News24’s exposé that alleging this strict Christian mission is a cult is a cult riddled with abuse, the compassion she found writing about loved ones with whom she has longstanding conflict, how she approached crafting emotionally difficult passages, the legal advice she got about including controversial material in her memoir Mission of Malice, and why our voice matters.
Also in this episode:
-the importance of therapy for memoirists
-working with hard deadlines
-building empathy through stories
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Choice by Dr Edith Eger
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
The Witness Wore Red by Rebecca Musser
Lost Boy by Brent Jeffs and Maia Szalavitz
Wholly Unravelled by Keele Burgin
Unfollow by Meghan Phelps-Roper
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Always Another Country by Sisonke Msimang
Boy on the Run by Welcome Mandla Lishivha
Killing Karoline by Sara-Jayne King
Mad Bad Love by Sara-Jayne Makwala King
Erika Bornman has carved a career for herself in magazine publishing as a writer and editor, despite her lack of formal training. Her memoir is her first book and an important element in her quest to make the world a safer place for children. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with her two cats.
About her memoir Mission of Malice:
When Erika Bornman was nine years old, her family joined, and ultimately moved to, KwaSizabantu, a Christian mission in South Africa – a place touted as a nirvana, founded on egalitarian values. But something sinister lurks below the veneer of piousness here.
Life at KwaSizabantu is hard. Christianity is used to justify harsh punishments and congregants are forced to repent for their sins. Threats of physical violence ensure adherence to stringent rules. Parents are pitted against children. Friendships are discouraged. Isolated and alone, Erika lives in constant fear of eternal damnation.
At 17, her grooming at the hands of a senior mission counsellor begins. For the next five years, KwaSizabantu wages emotional, psychological and sexual warfare on her, until, finally, she manages to break free and walk away at the age of 21.
Escaping a restrictive religious community is difficult, but rehabilitation into ‘normal’ life after a decade of ritual humiliation, brainwashing and abuse is much more painful, as Erika soon discovers. She cannot ignore her knowledge of the grievous human-rights abuses being committed at KwaSizabantu, and so she embarks on a quest to expose the atrocities. With her help, News24 launches a seven-month investigation, culminating in a podcast that will go on to win the internationally renowned One World Media Award for Radio and Podcast in 2021.
In Mission of Malice: My Exodus from KwaSizabantu, Erika chronicles her journey from a fearful young girl to a fierce activist determined to do whatever it takes to save future generations and find personal redemption and self-acceptance.
Connect with Erika:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ebee40
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikabornman/
Website: www.erikabornman.com
Get Erika’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Malice-My-exodus-KwaSizabantu-ebook/dp/B09B45VMP6
--
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Sandi Wisenberg joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about finding home, the structure our books need, her career as a journalist, negotiating a legacy of woman shame and Jewish shame, writing what you have to, and her new collection of memoiristic essays, The Wandering Womb.
Also in this episode:
-looking for home
-not wrapping our writing up too neatly
-a closer look at “the wandering Jew” trope
Further reading about The Wandering Jew trope from rootsmetals.com:
https://www.rootsmetals.com/blogs/news/the-wandering-jew-trope
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood
The Company She Keeps by Mary McCarthy
A Chorus of Stones by Susan Griffin
Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her by Susan Griffin
Books by Phillip Lopate
S.L. Wisenberg is the author of the forthcoming book, The Wandering Womb: Essays in Search of Home, winner of the Juniper Prize in creative nonfiction. It will be published March 31, 2023, by the University of Massachusetts Press. She's also the author of a short-story collection, The Sweetheart Is In; an essay collection, Holocaust Girls: History, Memory, & Other Obsessions; and a nonfiction chronicle, The Adventures of Cancer Bitch. She is a fourth-generation native Texan who lives in Chicago and edits Another Chicago Magazine. She has an MFA in fiction from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop and a BSJ from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She was a feature writer for the Miami Herald and has published prose and poetry in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Narrative, Prairie Schooner, New England Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Colorado Review, and many other places. Her anthologized work is in Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction, Creating Nonfiction: A Guide and Anthology, Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, Life is Short--Art is Shorter, and a number of other books. For ten years she was co-director of Northwestern's then-MA/MFA in Creative Writing program and was a graduate faculty recipient of a Distinguished Teacher Award. She has been the literary editor of TriQuarterly, the creative nonfiction editor of Another Chicago Magazine. and is now the editor of ACM. She's received a Pushcart Prize, and fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. She was the Coal Royalty Chair for a semester at the University of Alabama, teaching in the MFA program. Wisenberg has read her work and lectured at many universities and colleges, including Brown, Creighton, Minnesota State, Texas A&M, University of Tampa, Ripon, and Lafayette. Besides Northwestern, she has taught at DePaul, Roosevelt, Western Michigan, North Park University, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is working on a collection of short stories that are pre- and post-Holocaust and have a connection to old movies and Houston. One of these was runner-up in Narrative Magazine's Fall 2021 contest, and another won Narrative's Spring 22 contest.
Connect with Sandi:
https://www.facebook.com/sandi.wisenberg
Sandi Wisenberg @SLWisenberg
slwisenberg.com
Sandi’s first three books: https://bookshop.org/books?keywords=wisenberg
Sandi’s forthcoming book: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781625347350 or Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wandering-womb-s-l-wisenberg/1142599024?ean=9781625347350
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Stacey Freeman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how her husband’s infidelity became the impetus for her writing career, single parenthood and the shock of dating after divorce, getting comfortable sharing after a lifetime of keeping the personal under wraps, cutting her manuscript by half, and the blog that became her memoir I Bought My Husband’s Mistress Lingerie.
Also in this episode:
-making a living from writing
-finding peace with an ex
-pivoting careers after children
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Maid by Stephanie Land
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy
If I Knew Then by Amy Fisher
Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver
No One Asked For This by Cazzie David
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
Stacey Freeman is a writer and journalist and the founder of Write On Track LLC, a full-service consultancy dedicated to providing high-quality content and strategy to individuals and businesses. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily (published by The Washington Post), Forbes, Entrepreneur, MarketWatch, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, Town & Country, InStyle, PBS’ Next Avenue, AARP, SheKnows, Yahoo!, MSN, HuffPost, POPSUGAR, Your Teen, Grown & Flown, Scary Mommy, CafeMom, MariaShriver.com, and dozens of other well-known platforms worldwide. She lives in New Jersey with her three children.
Connect with Stacey:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staceyfreemanwriter/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staceyfreemanwriter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StaceyFreemanJD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoHeCheated
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyfreemanwriter/
Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22449933.Stacey_Freeman
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/staceyfreemanwriter/
Website: staceyfreeman.com
Website: writeontrackllc.com
Get her book: https://www.amazon.com/Bought-My-Husbands-Mistress-Lingerie/dp/1956692401/ref=sr_1_2?crid=G644U5E8GTU7&keywords=stacey+freeman&qid=1666283013&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjQ2IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=stacey+freeman%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-2
--
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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Jasmin Faulk-Dickerson joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up in Saudi Arabia under an oppressive regime, what being a woman of color does and doesn’t mean to her, invisible identities, writing about ethnicity, race, and culture, her advocacy work, and how she navigated the socio-political in her memoir The Last Sandstorm.
Also in this episode:
-Recognizing our privilege as we write
-Knowing what to leave out of our manuscripts
-How hyper liberalism has impacted her
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Home by Julie Andrews
Jasmin is a social & behavioral researcher, writer, speaker, and cultural identity advocate. She draws motivation from her personal story as well as her education to advocate and promote social justice and understanding. Born in the Middle East to an Italian mother and Arabian father, she immigrated to the United States in 1999 and pursued her education in Wyoming and Washington State in writing, equity, diversity, and leadership.
Jasmin’s areas of expertise are: DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion), ethical leadership, cultural diversity and social identity, women’s issues, and oppression.
Jasmin is also versed in issues regarding: Arab women, Arab culture, social/cultural oppression, religious oppression, and The Middle East,
In her memoir, The Last Sandstorm, Jasmin highlights the colorful and challenging experiences of her upbringing in Saudi Arabia, which led to her harrowing escape in her 20s.
Jasmin is also the host of the podcast “I Want You To Meet”, where she engages with artists and activists in inspiring and educational conversations. She also guest lectures and guest speaks at events, colleges, and retreats and works at The Evergreen State College in Washington State.
Connect with Jasmin:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasmin.faulk.dickerson/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082512111864&ref=page_internal
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmin-faulk-dickerson-mpa-00324a117/
Website: https://www.jasminfaulkdickerson.com/
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Debbie Weiss joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about widowhood and capturing grief and loneliness in ways that keep readers invested, starting scenes in the middle, finding themes in your story, how her blog was a stepping stone to watching her writing take off, and her new memoir Available As Is.
Also in this episode:
-writing about the character-you from the narrator-you lens
-the online dating scene after 50
-structuring a memoir with lots of material
Books Mentioned in this episode:
Consider the Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher
The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher
Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin
Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir by Lisa Dale Norton
Educated by Tara Westover
Debbie Weiss is a former attorney who earned her MFA in creative nonfiction from Saint Mary’s College of California in 2020. A native of the Bay Area, she turned to writing after George, her husband and partner of more than three decades, died of cancer in April 2013, and she found herself single and living alone for the first time in her life. Weiss’s essays have been published in The New York Times's “Modern Love” column, HuffPost, Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, Elle Décor, and Reader’s Digest, among other publications. She lives in Benicia, CA with het second life partner, Randal.
Connect with Debi:
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/debbieweissauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbie_weiss_author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DWeissWriter
Website: https://thehungoverwidow.com/
Purchase “Available As Is”:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1324017.Debbie_Weiss
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Available-As-Midlife-Widows-Search/dp/164742237X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JLADG9KGH13C&keywords=available+as+is+debbie+weiss&qid=1665773224&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjkxIiwicXNhIjoiMC4zNiIsInFzcCI6IjAuNTEifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=available+as+is%2Caps%2C255&sr=8-1
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Laura Cathcart Robbins joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing Stash, her new memoir that delves into addiction, privilege, and race, what self-care looked like for her while she tackled traumatic material, why she had to let go of controlling the narrative to better serve her story, and depicting the physical impact of addiction on the page.
Also in this episode:
-Laura’s wildly popular podcast The Only One in the Room
-the importance of journals
-sharing a manuscript with family and exes
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamont
Dry by Augustus Burrows
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
California Soul by Keith Corbin
Educated by Tara Westover
Laura Cathcart Robbin is the host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, and author of the forthcoming Atria/Simon & Schuster memoir, STASH (due out in spring of 2023). She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice. Her recent articles in Huffpo and The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a LA Moth StorySlam winner and currently sits on the advisory boards of the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival. Find out more about her on her website, or you can look for her on Facebook, on Instagram, and follow her on Twitter.
Connect with Laura:
Laura's Podcast: https://theonlyonepod.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHRtdMgfXBbfvb6YkJr2qQw
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theonlyoneintheroom/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theonlyoneintheroom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheOnlyOnePodc1
Laura's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauracathcartrobbins/
Huffpost Profile: https://www.huffpost.com/author/laura-cathcart-robbins
Laura's Website: http://www.lauracathcartrobbins.com/
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Suzanne Roberts joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the difficulty of being in a human body - especially a woman’s, the male gaze, deciding how to approach our work, writing about loss, grief, death, and desire, reading widely and deeply, being an employee to our art, and Animal Bodies, her memoir made of lyrical essays, narrative pieces, and prose poems.
Also in this episode:
-when the body becomes political
-how poetry has informed her work
-a tool to get yourself to write even material that you most fear sharing
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith
Guidebook to Relative Strangers by Camile Dungy
Soil: A Black Mother’s Garden by Camille Dungy
What You Have Heard is True by Caroline Forche
The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Lying by Lauren Slater
Constellations: Reflections from Life by Sinead Gleeson
Drawing Breath by Gayle Brandeis
Burnt: A Memoir of Fighting Fire by Claire Frank
The Abacus of Loss by Sholeh Wolpé
Trespass by Amy Irvine
Trailed by Kathryn Miles
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Suzanne Roberts is the author of the award-winning essay collection Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties (March 2022), the award-winning travel memoir in essays Bad Tourist: Misadventures in Love and Travel (2020), and the memoir Almost Somewhere: Twenty-Eight Days on the John Muir Trail (Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award), as well as four books of poems. Named "The Next Great Travel Writer" by National Geographic's Traveler, Suzanne's work has been listed as notable in Best American Essays and included in The Best Women's Travel Writing. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, The Rumpus, Hippocampus, The Normal School, River Teeth, and elsewhere. She holds a doctorate in literature and the environment from the University of Nevada-Reno, teaches in the low residency MFA program in creative writing at UNR-Tahoe, and splits her time between South Lake Tahoe, California and an old green van named Shrek.
Connect with Suzanne:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzanneroberts28/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.roberts.798
Website: https://www.suzanneroberts.net/
Animal Bodies: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496231024/#:~:text=About%20the%20Book&text=In%20Animal%20Bodies%20Suzanne%20Roberts,taboo%20desires%20and%20our%20grief.
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Felicia Thai Heath joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up on the run to help keep her father, a notorious Vietnamese kingpin, safe from capture, the power of dialogue to tell our stories, beginning scenes in the middle, orienting the reader in time and space, and making the decision to share the family history she once tried to hide.
Also in this episode:
-Crafting interludes to give readers a break
-Writing the most emotional scenes first
-Depicting fraught relationships
Books mentioned in this episode:
On Writing by Stephen King
The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
Felicia Heath is a triple-board-certified critical care anesthesiologist, blogger, and debut author. She spent a month alone in a studio in the heart of Philadelphia to write the original manuscript of Spirit of a Hummingbird: Memories from a Childhood on the Run, just seventy-two hours after delivering her third child. This left her husband with their two-year-old, one-year-old, and newborn as she drank pinot noir and wrote for days on end. All of it was his idea, which is exactly why she tattooed his name across her shoulder and eloped with him on a South African safari six years ago. Felicia now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and four children. She practices medicine as she anticipates a shift in the universe with the release of her memoir.
Connect with Felicia:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/felicia.heath.161
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinforhappiness_md/
Website: https://www.mixedfeelingsmama.com
Find Spirit of a Hummingbird on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Hummingbird-Memories-Childhood-Run/dp/1632995700
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of artistic partnership, Vincent Paterson and Amy Tofte join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation on their experience collaborating on their new book Icons and Instincts, Vincent’s experience working with Madonna, Robin Williams, and other stars, the 6-step process Amy relied on during the writing process, the fight against artistic erasure, and allowing manuscripts to tell us what they need to be.
Also in this episode:
-How all of what we do as artists informs our creativity
-Why time alone is essential
-Separating artists from their behavior
Books mentioned in this episode:
On Writing by Stephen King
Vincent Paterson is a world-renowned director and choreographer in film, theatre, Broadway, concert tours, opera, television, music videos and commercials. His iconic works include Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal and the famous “lean” as well as Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour. He directed the opera Manon with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon, Cirque de Soleil’s VIVA! ELVIS and Berlin's first original production of CABARET—the longest running play in Berlin's history. Film choreographies include The Birdcage, Dancer in the Dark, Evita and Hook. He resides in California with his husband, Rene Lamontagne.
Amy Tofte is an award-winning writer and storyteller. She won a prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2015. She has been a regular contributor to the award-winning LA STAGE Times and other online publications with more than 100 feature articles profiling Emmy winners, Oscar- and Pulitzer-nominated writers as well as nationally recognized theater artists. Tofte’s critically acclaimed stage plays have been produced throughout the U.S., the U.K., Australia and at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. She lives in Los Angeles.
Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Icons-Instincts-Choreographing-Directing-Entertainments/dp/1644282631/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1L41A3TOO0J68&keywords=Vincent+paterson&qid=1659550841&sprefix=vincent+paterson%2Caps%2C245&sr=8-1
Connect with Vincent:
Website: http://www.vincentpaterson.com/www.vincentpaterson.com/HOME.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vincent.paterson.5
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vlpla/
Connect with Amy:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-tofte-1712334/
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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
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/
More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: 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
Maria Giura joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about which stories define us, avoiding the self-pity trap, the importance of allowing the reader to make decisions about the characters in our memoir for themselves, how we frame childhood and family dynamics, writing about the very early versions of ourselves after we’ve changed so much, and what challenges she faced writing Celibate in which she explores her relationship with the priest she fell in love with and how that experience helped her discover the life she wanted to live.
Also in this episode:
-shutting out the voices that tell you not to share your story
-gaining the perspective our narratives need
-how The Church and her faith guide her
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard
Limbo by A. Manette Ansay
The Art of Slow Writing by Louise DeSalvo
Maria Giura is the author of Celibate: A Memoir, which won a First Place Independent Press Award, and What My Father Taught Me, which was a Paterson Poetry Book Prize finalist. Her writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in several journals including New York Quarterly, Prime Number, Vita Poetica, Presence, Italian Americana, Lips, and Tiferet. An Academy of American Poets winner, Giura has taught writing at multiple universities including Binghamton University where she received her PhD in English. She currently teaches memoir workshops for Casa Belvedere Cultural Foundation. Follow her on Instagram @marigiurawrites, on Fb and at mariagiura.com
Connect with Maria:
Website: mariagiura.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariagiurawrites/
Facebook:: facebook.com/maria.giura.3975/
Courses:
casa-belvedere.org/product/virtual-writing-workshop-writing-your-memories-gifts-given-and-received/
Purchase Maria’s book, Celibate:
amazon.com/gp/product/1627202145?pf_rd_r=CQE6RA5DTDTWKAJ82YT9&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee
barnesandnoble.com/w/celibate-maria-giura/1131505200?ean=9781627202145
shop.aer.io/apprenticehouse/p/Celibate_A_Memoir/9781627202145-4208?collection=/0
bookshop.org/books/celibate-a-memoir/9781627202145
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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
Buick Audra joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her new album and companion memoir in essays Conversations with My Other Voice, the importance of protecting our work from judgment, being an abuse survivor, how she views regret, and the tool she used when deciding which details to share about others and which to leave out.
Also in this episode:
-why writing about the abuse she suffered does not retraumatize her
-how misogyny has impacted her art and career
-a closer look at why sharing our voice matters
Books mentioned in this episode:
To Throw Away Unopened by Viv Albertine
The Part That Burns by Jeannine Ouellette
What Do We Need Men For by E. Jean Carroll
I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
Buick Audra is a Grammy-award-winning musician and writer living in Nashville, TN. She is the guitarist and primary songwriter and vocalist in the melodic heavy duo, Friendship Commanders. Her new album, Conversations with My Other Voice, was released on September 23rd, 2022. The album is accompanied by a memoir in essays by the same name.
Connect with Buick:
Website: https://www.buickaudra.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buickaudra/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buickaudramusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/buickaudra
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs25KbPeA2MD8z3sTUTCMRw
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buickaudra
Listen to Buick:
https://buickaudra.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/349pAReW5Ad2bzV5nnGxjO?si=Cl-UJarYRV2lR-2F7AgbAQ
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62698973-conversations-with-my-other-voice
Buy the album & book together:
https://buickaudra.bandcamp.com/album/conversations-with-my-other-voice
Buy the book:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/conversations-with-my-other-voice-buick-audra/1142389645?ean=9798218066574
https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Conversations-My-Other-Voice/Buick-Audra/9798218066574?id=8650666689319
https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-My-Other-Voice-Essays/dp/B0BGSNTQTB/ref=sr_1_23
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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
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.
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/
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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
Lori L. Tharps join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about why memoirs are not an indulgence, the importance of finding your memoir’s theme, deciding where your book should begin, having a writing life that feeds you and also keeps you fed, and systemic racism in the U.S. and how her Black and Spanish children were the impetus for her to uncover Spain’s hidden Black history and write her memoir Kinky Gazpacho.
Also in this episode:
-the multiple memoirs we have within us
-how memoirs are healing medicine
-the many ways to live a creative writing life
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
The Color of Water by James McBride
Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernadine Evaristo
Will by Will Smith
From Scratch by Tembi Locke
Lori L. Tharps is a journalist and author whose work lands at the intersection of race and popular culture. She is the author of three critically acclaimed non-fiction books that deal with race, culture and identity; Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America (St. Martin’s), Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain (Atria), and her most recent, Same Family Different Colors: Confronting Colorism in America’s Diverse Families (Beacon). Lori is also the author of the novel, Substitute Me (Atria),
A former associate professor of journalism at Temple University, Lori has won awards and accolades for her teaching in both academic and creative workshop settings. In addition to teaching at Temple, Tharps has also taught at numerous writing festivals and writing centers across the United States, including, Blue Stoop Philly and Gotham Writer’s Workshop.
In addition to her books, Lori’s work can be read in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Essence, Glamour, and Entertainment Weekly magazines. Originally from Wisconsin, Lori now makes her home in the south of Spain.
Connect with Lori:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loriltharps/
Website: https://www.readwriteandcreate.com/
Link for Kinky Gazpacho, her memoir: https://amzn.to/3yKPvb9
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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
Literary Citizen of the Year Allison K Williams joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the importance of plot, structure, and dramatic arc in memoir, the elements that make a story a story, insuring your memoir has a reader takeaway, what being in the circus taught her about writing, why she calls herself the unkind editor, and how she really feels about memoir.
Also in this episode:
-Allison’s editor origin story
-what being a “real” writer actually means
-tips for working with an editor
Books mentioned in this episode:
Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
To Hell by Dinty W. Moore
Broken in the Best Possible Way by Jenny Lawson
The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova
Allison K Williams is the author of Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book. She has edited and coached writers to deals with Penguin Random House, Knopf, Mantle, Spencer Hill, St. Martin’s and independent presses. She’s guided essayists to publication in the New Yorker, Time, the Guardian, the New York Times, McSweeney’s and TED Talks. As Social Media Editor for Brevity, she inspires thousands of writers with blogs on craft and the writing life.
A former circus performer, Allison has written for NPR, CBC, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Creative Nonfiction, McSweeney’s, Kenyon Review Online and Travelers’ Tales. Her plays, including Mark Twain Award winner Hamlette and London Fringe Best of Fringe Winner TRUE STORY, have been produced worldwide.
Connect with Allison:
Twitter: twitter.com/guerillamemoir
Instagram: instagram.com/guerillamemoir
Website: www.allisonkwilliams.com
Linktree: www.linktree.com/guerillamemoir
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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, 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
Kathy Curto joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about accepting imperfection in our writing, the effect of time and distance in our work, finding beauty even in the painful, what she’s learned through teaching writing to a broad range of students, and her memoir in micro essays Not for Nothing: Glimpse into a Jersey Girlhood.
Also in this episode:
-the importance of a writing community no matter how small
-the potency of the flash form
-how voice is always changing
Books mentioned in this episode:
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz
The memoirs and poetry of Mary Karr
Kathy Curto teaches at Sarah Lawrence College/The Writing Institute, Montclair State University and The Writers Circle as well as several nonprofit organizations and community centers in the metropolitan area. She is the author of Not for Nothing-Glimpses into a Jersey Girlhood. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, on NPR, in the anthology Listen to Your Mother: What She Said Then, What We’re Saying Now, and in Oh, Reader, Barrelhouse, The Mom Egg Review, Drift and Talking Writing, among others. Kathy pens a Write or Die Tribe biweekly column, Words on the Street, Revisited, where she explores everyday language and the writing practice. Her micro-memoir, “Still Cooking Side by Side” considered a “Modern Love in miniature” by The New York Times, was included in The Best of Tiny Love Stories in August 2021. Kathy lives with her family in the Hudson Valley. Please visit: www.kathycurto.com.
Connect with Kathy Curto:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathy.curto/
Facebook: Kathy Curto-Writer https://www.facebook.com/kathy.curto26
Website: https://www.kathycurto.com/
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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
Celebrated author and memoir teacher Laura Davis joins Let’sTalk Memoir for a special holiday episode for a conversation about writing her memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars: A Mother-Daughter Story andhow she reconciled with the mother who betrayed her and came to care for her in her final days. In this episode Laura also shares her tips for writing about traumatic experiences, where the boundaries are when writing about family experiences, and what all memoir writing needs.
Laura Davis is the author of The Burning Light of Two Stars, the riveting memoir about her tumultuous yet loving relationship with her mother, and six other non-fiction books, including The Courage to Heal, Allies in Healing, I Thought We‘d Never Speak Again, and Becoming the Parent You Want to Be. Her groundbreaking books have been translated into 11 languages and sold 1.8 million copies. In addition to writing books that inspire and change people’s lives, the work of Laura’s heart is to teach. For more than twenty years, she’s helped people find their voices, tell their stories, and hone their craft. Laura loves creating supportive, intimate writing communities online, in person, and internationally. You can learn about Laura’s books and workshops, read the first five chapters of her memoir, and receive a free ebook: Writing Through Courage: A 30-Day Practice at www.lauradavis.net.
For Let’s Talk Memoir Listeners, you can also read the opening chapters for free here: http://www.lauradavis.net/chapters
Direct links to buy The Burning Light of Two Stars:
Audiobook version of The Burning Light of Two Stars (Laura is the narrator):
On Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Audiobook/B09G8WJQP7
And on Libro.fm for independent stores: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781950144471
Independent Bookstores:
Get Signed Copies Through Bookshop Santa Cruz: https://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/burning-light-two-stars-get-it-signed
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-burning-light-of-two-stars-a-mother-daughter-story-9781954854161/9781954854161
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954854161
Want to Order Internationally with Free Worldwide Delivery?
https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Laura-Davis/9781954854161
Attention Writers:
If you’re a writer or want to use writing as a tool for healing or self-discovery, you can learn about Laura’s online writing workshops and in-person domestic and international retreats here: www.lauradavis.net
And if you want to go on a magical creative vacation to Tuscany with Laura in June of 2022, check out some serious eye candy here!
Connect with Laura Davis:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewritersjourney
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurasaridavis/
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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
Keema and Tekla Waterfield join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being raised by a young single mother in Southeast Alaska after their father left the family. With very little money but a passion for music and art, their mother moved them frequently in pursuit of her education, gigs, and new relationships. As the sisters grew, art and their at-times traumatic childhood led each of the sisters on different paths. Keema wrote Inside Passage, a memoir about her nomadic Alaskan childhood, the toll her upbringing took on her, and the effect it had on her relationship with her mother. Tekla became a singer-songwriter whose most recent release, "New Skies" landed in the NACC Top 30 Folk Album Charts in October of 2021. In this special holiday episode they share their perspective on their childhood, how each of them grappled with their father leaving, and why art has always been central in their lives.
Keema Waterfield
Keema Waterfield is the author of Inside Passage, a nomadic childhood memoir set along the wild coast of Southeast Alaska. Other work has appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, Brevity, Redivider, and others. She resides in Missoula, Montana, with her husband, two children, a bunch of extra instruments she doesn’t know how to play, and a revolving cast of quirky animals. She lives and writes on Séliš and Qlispé land. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @keemasaurusrex
Website:
https://keemawaterfield.com
Link to Keema’s memoir Inside Passage: https://bookshop.org/books/inside-passage-a-memoir/9781950584567
Ronit’s review of Inside Passage: https://therumpus.net/2021/08/inside-passage-by-keema-waterfield/
Tekla Waterfield:
2020 & 2021 Doe Bay Resort & Retreat Artist Resident recipient, 2019 Jack Straw Cultural Center recording grant recipient, and 2018 Allied Arts Listen Up! Women in Music grant recipient, Alaskan born Seattle based singer/songwriter Tekla Waterfield incorporates elements of folk, country, roots, rock and soul creating a wide-ranging sound unified by dynamic vocals, compelling stage presence and point-of-view storytelling. Waterfield's music has been heard on radio stations throughout the US, on NPR's World Cafe, in the UK, Scotland, Wales, Australia, England & Korea and has been described as "poignant and emotionally soaring" by No Depression Magazine. Waterfield's most recent release, "New Skies" landed in the NACC Top 30 Folk Album Charts in October of 2021.
Website: www.teklawaterfield.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teklawaterfieldmusic/
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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
John Ross Bowie joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about working in Hollywood, mental health, the patterns we discover in our lives and write about, grappling with shame, coming to terms with who his father really was, and his new memoir No Job for a Man.
Also in this episode:
-distress in the body
-New York City in the 80s
-What it’ like to voice your loved ones for an audiobook
Books mentioned in this episode:
Life’s Work by David Milch
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggars
Darkness Visible by William Styron
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
John Ross Bowie is perhaps best known for playing recurring villain and fan favorite Barry Kripke on the international hit television show The Big Bang Theory. He also recently co-starred as Minnie Driver’s husband, Jimmy DiMeo, on ABC’s “Speechless.” John has been appeared on the television shows Veep, Fresh off the Boat, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Brooklyn 99, CSI, and Glee, among many others, and in movies such as Road Trip, The Heat, He’s Just Not That Into You, The Santa Clause 3, Jumanji: The Next Level, and the cult hit What The Bleep Do We Know? Prior to his acting career, John was a contributing writer for the New York Press and has since written and developed television scripts at Fox, CBS, and Amazon. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jamie Denbo and their two children.
Connect with John Ross Bowie:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnrossbowie/
Website: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/No-Job-for-a-Man/John-Ross-Bowie/9781639362462
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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
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/
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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
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 Unibomber 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
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
Season 2 of Let’s Talk Memoir is almost here!
I’m incredibly excited to bring you all of the interviews I’ve been working on. These episodes cover voice, sharing family secrets, braided memoir, nonlinear memoir, what it’s like to move from other creative disciplines to memoir, advocating for our work, and lots more.
Season 2 of Let’s Talk Memoir will launch November 15th, that’s Tuesday, November 15th and new episodes will come out weekly.
If you have questions about memoir or about how memoirists craft their narratives, or anything at all that you would like covered on the show, there’s still time to send me a note with your question or topic suggestion.
You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook @RonitPlank and you can also message me on my website ronitplank.com.
It’s been a lot of fun to read your reviews and messages about season 1 and makes creating this podcast that much more rewarding. If you haven’t yet left a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify it’s not too late. Every review helps others find the show.
And if you know a writer or a memoir aficionado who would appreciate this podcast, please share it. Podcasts really depend on word of mouth and listener enthusiasm.
Thank you so much for being here and I just can’t wait to drop episode one on Tuesday, November 15th!
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
Dr. Ginger Campbell joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the nature of memory and how that affects memoir writing, the phenomenon of false memories, cognitive dissonance, the slipperiness of what we can remember and how each time we do we actually recreate the memory, and why this is all good news for memoirists.
Dr. Ginger Campbell started podcasting in 2006 and was recently inducted into the Podcast Hall of Fame. Her shows include Brain Science, Books and Ideas, and Graying Rainbows: Coming Out LGBT+ Later in Life. Her most well-known show Brain Science explores how recent discoveries in neuroscience are unraveling the mystery of how our brain makes us human.
Dr. Campbell is also the author of Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty and she practices Palliative Medicine in Alabama.
Main links:
https://virginiacampbellmd.com
https://brainsciencepodcast.com
@docartemis on most social media
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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
Phillip Lopate, a central figure in the revival of the American essay joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the integral role the divided self plays in memoir, striking the balance between telling and showing, how knowing your own flaws and defects helps build trust with the reader, why the intelligent narrator must be present from page one, and why having an interesting take on your story is as if not more important than the story itself.
Also in this episode:
-why memoirs aren’t for getting even
-turning yourself into a character
-narcissistic parents in memoir
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Borrowed Finery by Paula Fox
Memoirs of a Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy
My Father Myself by J.R. Ackerly
My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerly
Phillip Lopate is a central figure in the revival of the American essay, both through his ubiquitous edited anthology, Art of the Personal Essay, and his own essay collections, Bachelorhood, Against Joie de Vivre, Portrait of My Body and Portrait Inside My Head. He is also the author of such book-length nonfiction works as To Show and to Tell, Being with Children, Waterfront, Notes on Sontag, Rudy Burckhardt: Photographer and A Mother’s Tale. Additionally, he has written books of fiction (Confessions of Summer, The Rug Merchant, Two Marriages) and poetry (At the End of the Day). Finally, he has edited other anthologies (Writing New York and American Movie Critics), and is currently completing a three-volume historical anthology of the American essay. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a winner of Guggenheim, New York Public Library and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, he is on the faculty of Columbia University’s Graduate Writing Program, School of the Arts.
https://philliplopate.com
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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
Judy Bolton-Fasman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation on how writing about complicated relationships with generosity creates stories and characters that stay with readers, the case for speculative nonfiction, the impact fellowships have had on her writing, negotiating family members who appear in memoir, and don’t-miss-encouragement for all artists.
Also in this episode:
-how seeds of her memoir began in fiction
-what blew her work open
-Ronit mispronounces illustrative
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Knocked Down by AIleen Weintraub
Priestdaddy: A Memoir by Patricia Lockwood
How to Forget: A Daughter's Memoir by Kate Mulgrew
Bio: Judy Bolton-Fasman is the author of ASYLUM: A Memoir of Family Secrets from Mandel Vilar Press. Her essays and reviews have appeared in major newspapers including the New York Times and Boston Globe, essay anthologies, and literary magazines. She is the recipient of numerous writing fellowships, including the Alonzo G. Davis Fellowship for Latinx writers at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. She is a four-time winner of the Rockower Award from the American Jewish Press Association and a two-time Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. She recently received an honorable mention in Tiferet’s Creative Nonfiction Essay Writing Contest.
Website: judyboltonfasman.com
Amazon link to buy ASYLUM: https://www.amazon.com/Asylum-Memoir-Family-Secrets-Bolton-Fasman/dp/1942134770/ref=sr_1_1?crid=12OPHYITO9LWO&keywords=asylum+judy+bolton+fasman&qid=1649088222&sprefix=bolton-fasman%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1
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
Laura Davis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about creating tension, writing for ourselves versus an audience, moving from the personal to the universal, trusting your reader, and the gift of self-discovery on the page.
Also in this episode:
-self-care when writing about trauma
-using correspondence in manuscripts
-the power of beta readers
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Expecting Adam by Martha Beck
Half the House by Richard Hoffman
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Laura Davis is the author of The Burning Light of Two Stars, the riveting memoir about her tumultuous yet loving relationship with her mother, and six other non-fiction books, including The Courage to Heal, Allies in Healing, I Thought We‘d Never Speak Again, and Becoming the Parent You Want to Be. Her groundbreaking books have been translated into 11 languages and sold 1.8 million copies. In addition to writing books that inspire and change people’s lives, the work of Laura’s heart is to teach. For more than twenty years, she’s helped people find their voices, tell their stories, and hone their craft. Laura loves creating supportive, intimate writing communities online, in person, and internationally. You can learn about Laura’s books and workshops, read the first five chapters of her memoir, and receive a free ebook: Writing Through Courage: A 30-Day Practice at www.lauradavis.net.
For Let’s Talk Memoir Listeners:
You can also read the opening chapters for free here: http://www.lauradavis.net/chapters
Direct links to buy The Burning Light of Two Stars:
Audiobook version of The Burning Light of Two Stars (Laura is the narrator):
On Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Audiobook/B09G8WJQP7
And on Libro.fm for independent stores: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781950144471
Independent Bookstores:
Get Signed Copies Through Bookshop Santa Cruz:
https://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/burning-light-two-stars-get-it-signed)
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-burning-light-of-two-stars-a-mother-daughter-story-9781954854161/9781954854161
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954854161
amzn.com/B08XZMFH46
Want to Order Internationally with Free Worldwide Delivery?
https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Laura-Davis/9781954854161
Attention Writers:
If you’re a writer or want to use writing as a tool for healing or self-discovery, you can learn about Laura’s online writing workshops and in-person domestic and international retreats here: www.lauradavis.net
And if you want to go on a magical creative vacation to Tuscany with Laura in June of 2022, check out some serious eye candy here!
Social media links:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/thewritersjourney
IG: https://www.instagram.com/laurasaridavis
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurasaridavis
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/laurasaridavis/
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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
Paulette Perhach joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about why it’s okay to see writing as a business, balancing both grace and accountability in our work, the importance of a writing community, overcoming imposter syndrome, nurturing ourselves, and what happened when her essay “The F*ck Off Fund" went super viral.
Also in this episode:
-balancing both pay and appeal in writing jobs
-getting paid well for memoir essays
-financial safety for writers
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Crying in the H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Night by Elie Wiesel
“A Story of a F*ck Off Fund” by Paulette Perhach https://www.thebillfold.com/2019/02/classic-billfold-a-story-of-a-fuck-off-fund/
Paulette Perhach’s writing has been published in the New York Times, Elle, Slate, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Yoga Journal, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and Vice. She’s worked for Health and Coastal Living magazines, as well as various newspapers. Hugo House, a nationally recognized writing center in Seattle, awarded her the Made at Hugo House fellowship in 2013. In 2016, she was nominated for the BlogHer Voices of the Year award for her essay, “A Story of a Fuck Off Fund,” which is anthologized in The Future is Feminist from Chronicle Books, along with work by Roxane Gay, Mindy Kaling, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Caitlin Moran, and Audre Lorde.
She became interested in adult education while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in South America, and in 2015 she created the Writer’s Welcome Kit, an online course for writers that includes a 55,000-word workbook. Her book, inspired by the course, was published in August 2018 by Sasquatch Books, part of the Penguin Random House publishing family. Welcome to the Writer's Life was selected as one of Poets & Writers' Best Books for Writers. She blogs about a writer’s craft, business, personal finance, and joy at welcometothewriterslife.com and keeps a casual podcast called Can We Talk About Money?
http://www.pauletteperhach.com
https://welcometothewriterslife.com
Twitter: @pauletteperhach
Instagram: @paulettejperhach
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulette.perhach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauletteperhach/
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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
Kelly Sundberg joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about sharing her story of domestic violence with the world, depicting trauma and triggering events in memoir, the alchemical value of PTSD, navigating the privacy of others, and incorporating essays in manuscripts.
Also in this episode:
-using direct address in memoir
-the publisher’s vision vs. the writer’s
-lyric essays and poetry for memoirists
Books and articles mentioned in this episode:
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
A Fortune for your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqub
Bluets by Maggie Nelson
“It Will Look Like a Sunset” https://www.guernicamag.com/it-will-look-like-a-sunset/
“Ritchie County Mall” https://gay.medium.com/ritchie-county-mall-7b30b96731f6
“Every Line is a Scream” https://gay.medium.com/every-line-is-a-scream-3ed54c727619
Kelly Sundberg's memoir, Goodbye, Sweet Girl, was published by HarperCollins in 2018. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times Modern Love, Alaska Quarterly Review, Guernica, Gulf Coast, The Rumpus, Denver Quarterly, Slice, and many other literary and commercial magazines. Her essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset” was selected for inclusion in The Best American Essays 2015, and other essays have been listed as notables in The Best American Essays 2013, 2016, and 2018. She has a PhD in creative nonfiction from Ohio University and has been the recipient of fellowships or grants from Vermont Studio Center, A Room of Her Own Foundation, Dickinson House, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She was recently awarded a 2021 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, and she is an Assistant Professor of English at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.
Links: https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Sweet-Girl-Domestic-Violence/dp/0062497685/ref=sr_1_1?crid=TOX8R2VUN9S2&keywords=goodbye%2C+sweet+girl&qid=1648689563&sprefix=goodbye%2C+sweet+girl%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-1
https://kellysundberg.com/
https://twitter.com/K_O_Sundberg
https://www.instagram.com/ksundber/
--
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
Debi Lewis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation on best practices for writing about our children, navigating the medical memoir, positioning books to make them appealing to publishers, and how she broke into The New York Times and sold her book during a global pandemic.
Also in this episode:
-rewriting drafts from scratch
-using texts and messages as manuscript material
-discovering a memoir’s structuring principle
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After by Heather Harphan
BIO: Debi Lewis is the author of Kitchen Medicine: How I Fed My Daughter out of Failure to Thrive and has written for outlets including The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Huffington Post, Romper, Wired, and more. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and two teenaged daughters. You can learn more about her at http://www.debilewis.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @growthesunshine.
PURCHASE LINKS FOR KITCHEN MEDICINE:
BOOKSHOP.ORG: https://bookshop.org/books/kitchen-medicine-how-i-fed-my-daughter-out-of-failure-to-thrive/9781538156650
AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1538156652/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_583S4P8V9N7BXANH6SGE
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD:
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538156667/Kitchen-Medicine-How-I-Fed-My-Daughter-out-of-Failure-to-Thrive
Instagram and Twitter @growthesunshine
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
Jane Friedman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the most common craft issues she sees in memoir manuscripts, what writers often misunderstand about the industry, The Big Five, how to write memoir query letters, ways the publishing landscape has changed for memoirs, and so much more in this do-not-miss episode.
Also in this episode:
-the lowdown on platform
-protecting identities in memoir
-Jane Friedman’s why
Books mentioned in this episode:
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Swing by Ashleigh Renard
Links to articles mentioned in this episode:
How to Use Real People in Your Writing Without Ending Up in Court:
https://helensedwick.com/how-to-use-real-people-in-your-writing/
Law & Authors: a conversation with Jacqui Lipton
https://youtu.be/GDydK3Z4aOI
How to and (Especially) How Not to Write About Family
https://www.janefriedman.com/write-about-family-memoir/
A Big Shitty Party: Six Parables of Writing About Other People
Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, ‘It’s Unreliable.’
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/books/social-media-following-book-publishing.html
Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in digital media strategy for authors and publishers. She is the publisher of The Hot Sheet, the essential newsletter on the publishing industry for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2019.
In addition to being a columnist for Publishers Weekly, Jane is a professor with The Great Courses, which released her 24-lecture series, How to Publish Your Book. Her book for creative writers, The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), received a starred review from Library Journal.
Jane speaks regularly at conferences and industry events such as BookExpo America, Digital Book World, and the AWP Conference, and has served on panels with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund. Find out more.
www.janefriedman.com
https://www.instagram.com/janefriedman/
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 Finger
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
Meg Weber joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about knowing when the right time is to tell your story, approaching loved ones about scenes in your memoir featuring graphic sex and kink, why compartmentalizing on the page doesn’t work, and writing with a broken heart.
Also in this episode:
-real names and pen names
-asking your family’s permission
-why there can never be enough memoirs
Memoirs mentioned in this episode:
The End of Eve by Ariel Gore
Refuge by Terry Tempest Williiams
Abandon Me by Melissa Febos
Whip Smart by Melissa Febos
The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
Group by Christie Tate
Bio: Meg Weber writes memoir about sex, grief, love, family, therapy, and tangled relationships. She is a queer writer and a mental health therapist who specializes in gender and sexuality. Her debut memoir, A Year of Mr. Lucky, launched in February of 2021, and she is at work on her second memoir. She lives in a suburb of Portland, Oregon with her wife, her teenager, a therapy labradoodle named Portland, and two cats.
Connect with Meg:
https://www.megweberwriter.com/a-year-of-mr-lucky
Purchase A Year of Mr. Lucky from Bookshop
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
Andrea Ross joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about battling memoir imposter syndrome, choosing scene over exposition, doing whatever it takes to get yourself to write, and how she used the wilderness to help tell her story and convey the particular brand of loneliness that adopted people experience.
Also in this episode:
-what new writers sometimes forget
-promoting your book
-publishing with a small press
Memoirs in this episode:
Unnatural Selection by Andrea Ross
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
The Mistress's Daughter by A.M. Homes
Bio:
Andrea Ross's memoir, Unnatural Selection, about her years as a wilderness guide searching for her biological family, was published by CavanKerry Press in 2021. Her writing has appeared in Ploughshares, The Huffington Post, Terrain The Conversation, Mountain Gazette, and many other outlets. During the 1980s and 1990s, Andrea worked throughout the American West as a wilderness guide, a National Park Service Ranger, and a backcountry Search and Rescue leader. She is a faculty member in the University Writing Program at UC Davis.
Links:
website: andrearosswriter.com
link to buy book: https://www.cavankerrypress.org/product/unnatural-selection/
twitter: https://twitter.com/Andrea_M_Ross
insta: https://www.instagram.com/andrearosswriter/
facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/rossandream
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.
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