Posts Tagged ‘memoir’
retreat recap
I wrote about arriving at Faith’s Lodge on Friday, about the feeling of that place, the incredible energy there. This energy only intensified, crystallized, as the weekend progressed. The weather was perfect—in the 40s, bright sun, blue sky. (Don’t be afraid of Wisconsin in February!) As we sat in the top floor meeting room, sun…
Read Moreconnections
My mind has been buzzing these last days with thoughts about form and function in creative nonfiction, memoir as discovery, and the role writing plays in memory revision. Both of my classes are underway now, and I’m loving them. My students are so smart and engaged. I realized this week that I love teaching two…
Read Morelost and found: a memoir of mothers
I have been meaning to post about Kate St. Vincent Vogl’s Lost and Found: A Memoir of Mothers for months and months. Kate read as part of the 3rd Annual Mother Words Reading last fall at the Loft, and her lovely memoir is a story of adoption, love, and what it means to be a…
Read Morethe possibility of everything
There is nothing better than reading a book that transports you somewhere steamy and lush when outside your window the temperature has been hovering just below zero for a week. I was thrilled to be able to curl up with Hope Edelman’s new book, The Possibility of Everything, during our ridiculous cold snap a few…
Read Moreworking, living, and a note about structuring chapters
I thought I should check in about how my writing is going since the serious truncation of my work time. It’s, um, not going. I was on page 156 two weeks ago and I’m still on page 156. It’s clear I’m not going to make my December 31st deadline. I go to the coffee shop…
Read Morea nod to father writers
In preparation for my Writing Parenthood class last Saturday, I thought I should shift my gaze (at least for a few minutes) from motherhood literature to fatherhood literature. I designed Writing Parenthood, after all, because I had received a few (subdued) pleas that I include men in my Mother Words classes. But you see, I…
Read Morechange of scene
I spent the weekend at my mom’s cabin up north (which is what we natives say when we’re talking about Northern Minnesota.) The weather was perfect: sunny and warm during the day, cool in the evening. Stella played and argued and played with her cousin, and Zoë played in the sand and ate the moldy…
Read Moretwo masters
Just in case you’ve been worrying about my cough, wondering if I made it through Bernard Cooper’s reading on Friday night without hacking up a lung, I’ll tell you right away that I did. I *did not* begin to cough so hard and relentlessly that I threw up, as I did, say, earlier on Friday,…
Read Morea cough, a festival, and a few words about stories
I mentioned in my mother’s day post that Zoë was sick and that—after being on the receiving end of her croupy cough—I was getting sick, as well. Well I did get sick—head-exploding, coughing-until-I-puked sick. I had to take Zoë into the ER early Monday morning because she was barking like a seal, poor dear, and…
Read More2009 memoir festival!
I want to tell you about the 2009 Memoir Writing Festival at the Loft Literary Center, May 15 – 17. I attended the first festival two years ago, and it was amazing to be surrounded by so many talented memoirists. This year, the keynote address will be given by the fabulous Bernard Cooper, whom, of…
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