Magical Memoir Moments
Patti Smith Memoir Wins National Book Award: Read Lanie Tankard's Beautiful Review
Yea, Patti Smith, winner of the National Book Award in nonfiction for her memoir, Just Kids! Yea Women’s Memoirs! Yea, Lanie Tankard! Women’s Memoirs is a great place for readers and writers of memoir. I have featured the work of Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett, who maintain this great site, in past posts. We share a fabulous guest reviewer–Lanie Tankard (see…
Kurtis Lamkin Will Take Your Breath Away on the Healing Power of Art
Here we are for our video one-a-day vitamin! This time, however, there’s a bonus. You will want to watch two videos, because these are amazing! I had the privilege of being the interviewer (off camera) when Kurtis told the story of how art healed him and his wife as they struggled to have a baby–and…
The Joy of Creation: Our Writer Video of the Day
Here’s your creativity vitamin for today from the Fetzer Institute Writer’s Retreat collection: Alison Leuterman, Jenifer Louden, Michael Jones, and Dianne Suess discuss making art. I agree with Alison that making things and joy are intimately connected. Take a few minutes to visit the links above if you enjoy hearing these great voices. https://youtube.com/watch?v=E2AGFrUz6AY%3Ffs%3D1%26hl%3Den_US%2522%253E%253C%252Fparam%253E%253Cparam www.youtube.com…
High Crimes Against the Memoir Form?!
Ryan Grim’s searing essay in The Huffington Post about George W. Bush’s new memoir deserves our attention. Grim claims that many of the passages of Bush’s Decision Points are taken word-for-word from accounts of other writers. Read his review here. In it Grim describes high crimes and misdemeanors in the Bush memoir. He found lots…
Mary Karr's Secret–Humility and Confidence–Interview in the Paris Review
Mary Karr has done it again. Maybe I should say that Amanda Fortini has done it–meaning that the interview Fortini published in The Paris Review with Karr as a subject is wonderful. If you haven’t read any of Karr’s poetry or her three memoirs, you will want to do so after reading the interview. If…
Smell: The Memoir Writer's Stimulus Package
“What smells trigger memory for you?” My niece Joyous Derner asked the above question on her Facebook page a few days ago. She got lots of responses, which led me to remember a wonderful book: Diane Ackerman’s A Natural History of the Senses. I read this book soon after it was published in 1990, and…
Just in Time for Halloween: A Review of Out of the Transylvania Night
Lanie Tankard, guest reviewer, is back! This time she has chosen a book that connects to an experience of her own life. I think her “bookend” intro and conclusion is as interesting as the review herself. I also think Lanie could write a great memoir some day. Perhaps this guest gig is getting her ready….
Reposting a Tribute to My Mother-in-Law: A Mini-Memoir
Note to Readers: My first blog was created on the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference site. When the site closed, I lost the web connection for this post written in 2008. I am reposting it so that others can appreciate the woman I considered a second mother–and so that one small piece of her legacy is…