Magical Memoir Moments

Yeats, Mennonites, and Memoir

At the Mennonite/s Writing VI conference March 30-April 1, 2012, the theme of “the self” recurred often. Poet and scholar Ann Hostetler drew attention to this theme in her talk: “The Self in Mennonite Garb, or, Where Does the Writing Come From?” Hostetler has been thinking about the lyric voice ever since she put together…

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Mennonite/s Writing: A Tweet-based Conference Review

Most of you know that my memoir-in-progress is about growing up Mennonite in Lancaster County, PA, in the ’50’s and ’60’s. So what a treat it was to attend a conference at Eastern Mennonite University called Mennonite/s Writing VI: Solos and Harmonies. The organizers Kirsten Beachy of Eastern Mennonite University and poet Julia Kasdorf of…

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A Graduate-Level Spiritual Memoir Course Syllabus

Last week I met a dynamic professor from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary who told me she visited this blog several times while she was teaching a course on spiritual memoir. I was delighted to meet her and to know that she used the blog as a resource.  You know what I did, of course. I…

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Shirley Kurtz on the Difference Between Writing Memoir and Fiction

Welcome today to Shirley Kurtz, another memoirist and Mennonite. Shirley and I graduated from Eastern Mennonite College (now university) and both of us have used our English majors as writers all our lives. Shirley, however, began writing books long ago and has published one memoir, several children’s books, and now a novel. I asked her to reflect…

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Janet Oberholtzer: Because I Can

Janet Oberholtzer and I have a lot in common. We both grew up Mennonite in Pennsylvania. We are both living lives we never imagined as children. Janet’s story, as you can see from her memoir book jacket, describes her miraculous recovery from a terrible accident.  I have been gently turning down offers to read and…

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A Memoir Writer's Self-Publishing Success Story: An Interview with Mary-Ann Kirkby

Mary-Ann Kirkby, who grew up in a Canadian Hutterite colony until the age of ten, and whose memoir has been a publishing sensation in Canada, has kindly agreed to answer some questions. I chose her publishing story as the focus of my questions, and Mary-Ann gave generous answers that may surprise you. How did she…

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I Am Hutterite: A Lovely Memoir from the Canadian Prairie

I probably wouldn’t have found this book if it hadn’t been on sale at the Green Valley Book Fair, a huge book warehouse located close to Harrisonburg, VA. The hardcover price is 19.99, but at the Book Fair it was $5.00. Ach yommer, a bargain! I’m sure the author, who grew up Hutterite, would approve…

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Another Mennonite Memoir: The Steppes are the Colour of Sepia

 My fellow memoir reader Clif let me know that the review I wrote of the following book has now been published in the Mennonite Quarterly Review.It has not been posted online yet, so here it is for those of you who are Canadian, Mennonite, or just interested in good family stories. The Steppes are the…

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Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: An "Old Mennonite" Review

When I read Rhoda Janzen’s Mennonite in a Little Black Dress late at night, the bed posts shook. I had to choke back gargantuan guffaws in order not to wake my Mennonite husband. The last time that happened, I was reading Bill Bryson’s The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Before that, David Sedaris, Michael…

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