Magical Memoir Moments
The Power of Narrative: Another Memoir Class Syllabus
Since my own book order is due to the bookstore by April 15, I need to start thinking hard about my own choices for the course I’ll be teaching in the fall. So here is one more syllabus to study. Every time I look at a syllabus created by Richard Gilbert I want to sign…
Who Wants to Take a Memoir Class? Tantalizing Syllabi from Pro Teachers
I’ve been a teacher since the age of three. That’s when I became a big sister. Ready or not, poor Henry got to pitch me softballs while I learned to bat. He was the first pupil in my classroom and the Watson to my Sherlock. Next fall I will be teaching again, and I’m excited….
Spiritual Practices and the Memoir Writing Process: An Interview with Karen Horneffer-Ginter
Do you ever feel someone else’s words rattle around in your brain? I’ve been thinking all week about these words by Richard Gilbert from last week’s post. Richard makes the case, eloquently as always, that the craft of writing may be less important than the spiritual sources of writing, but it has one great advantage:…
What Makes a Memoir "Too Personal"? What Makes it Good?
Richard Gilbert asks and answers an intriguing question today: What gives memoirists the right to share their stories? As you read it, I invite you to compare your own experience as a reader and writer and then to comment at the end. What gives memoirists the right to share their stories? By Richard Gilbert For,…
Train Up a Child: The Legacy of My Great-Grandma Snyder
My Great-Grandma Snyder was a widow from March 15, 1924, until her own death forty years later. She reared four children to adulthood and managed a farm and then a house in the town of Lititz until she was no longer able to do so. Then she rotated among her children, living in a…
Valentine's Day — A Perfect Day to Show and Tell
The artifact today is a 1957 Valentine preserved in the scrapbook that starred in Episode One of Show and Tell, the video series that will run in this blog space once or twice a month, depending on the response it gets from viewers like you. The valentine in the video could use a little more…
57 Varieties of Wisdom: Sooner or Later, We All Quote Our Mothers (and Fathers)
As I intimated in my last post, the response to my Facebook query asking for examples of sayings from parents was amazing. Fifty-seven responses in all, counting multiple entries and conversations about entries. Then my Facebook friend Linda Hoye posted a Mary Englebreit painting featuring these words: “Sooner or Later, We All Quote Our Mothers.”…
Who Else Wants Simplicity? April Yamasaki's Sacred Pauses Offers a Way
We all know about the value of silence, taking breaks, and breathing deeply. We know we’re supposed to do these things. But then we get completely involved in our work. And we forget. April Yamasaki, a Mennonite minister from Abbottsford, British Columbia, has written a book to help us remember: Sacred Pauses: Spiritual Practices for…