Magical Memoir Moments
What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? Kind!
Poet and master teacher Jack Ridl tells a story about an encounter with a boss that shaped his whole life. Again, from the 2010 Writer’s Retreat at the Fetzer Institute. The Dalai Lama has said, “My religion is kindness.” A few years ago, I wrote an essay about the desire of a young Amish boy…
Creative Beginnings Video with Michael Jones and Conrad Hilberry: From A Head Nodder
For Canadian pianist and writer Michael Jones, one of the participants in the April 2010 writer’s retreat at the Fetzer Institute, music and words brought him joy from an early age. Kalamazoo College professor emeritus Conrad Hilberry developed his artistic talents a little later in life. This video reminds me that one can listen deeply…
Paulus Berensohn: Why We Create
Paulus Behrenson was another remarkable participant in last April’s Writer’s Retreat at the Fetzer Institute. He has created within so many art forms, he may have lost track of some of them. He’s not counting, anyway. But he’s an ecologist, potter, poet, dancer, and philosopher. He was interviewed on ABC in 2003. I highly recommend…
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…
A Letter to Mary Karr
When Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Beecher Stowe met for the first time, the President allegedly said, “So you’re the little lady who started this great war!” When it comes to 21’st century memoir, one can make the case that Mary Karr started the publishing phenom we now refer to as “the age of memoir.” Her The…
Two Memoir Course Syllabi from Poet and Professor Jeff Gundy
Melanie Springer Mock contributed our first course syllabus, and now, I am happy to say, we have two more from Professor Jeff Gundy of Bluffton University. Jeff has published numerous books and poems. His latest collecton on Amazon is Spoken among the Trees, which you can check out by clicking on the book cover. Jeff’s…
The One-Hundredth Name for God: A Foreword to A Hundred Camels
Now that Dr. Gerald L. Miller’s memoir, A Hundred Camels: A Mission Doctor’s Sojourn & Murder Trial in Somalia, has been published, and you can buy it at Amazon.com, I will share with you the foreword I contributed to the book which I hope can do double duty as a book review. This book contains…
Memoir Clusters: A Guest Blog Post
Today’s guest blogger is writer and editor Lanie Tankard who is a long-time friend. My husband Stuart enjoys taking credit for Lanie’s romance and marriage to Jim Tankard, a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, because Stuart suggested that Lanie contact Jim about a summer program–back in 1972. This picture of…
Mini-Memoir: How Long Have I Been Teaching Memoir?
How long have I been teaching memoir writing? On its face, the answer is, “not very,” but I can also truthfully say “about 40 years.” How can both be true? The recent teaching comes in the form of workshops I have blogged about previously– three sessions at the Fetzer Institute and two about workshops given…
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