Let’s Talk Memoir

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 stor...

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 co...

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...

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:...

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 dot...

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 ser...

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 -ne...

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. ...

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...

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...

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 -s...

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.z...

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. -Visi...

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 wo...

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...

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 Aman...

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 e...

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 cre...

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 wri...

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 ke...

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...

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 add...

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 memo...

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.   ...