Magical Memoir Moments
Laughing Out Loud: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
If you too made the bedposts shake while you read Rhoda Janzen’s Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, you might enjoy this guest post over at womensmemoirs.com. The book uses seven classical elements of comedy to great effect. Thanks, Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett, for the invitation. While you are on their site, check out…
The Help: A Bestselling Novel with a Memoir Message
The Help spent 379 days in the Amazon Top 100 list. It has 1,751 reviews on Amazon.com and rates 4.5 stars. It is a novel, but, as Lanie Tankard argues, it deserves consideration from a memoir perspective. The Help by Kathryn Stockett New York: Amy Einhorn Books (Putnam), 2009. Available in hardcover, paperback, audiobook, CD,…
Laughter and Family in Memoir Writing: Guest Blogs and an Upcoming Giveaway
“What makes us laugh out loud?” is the question I am asking as I re-read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Next week I will try to answer that question for a guest post I plan to send to Matilda Butler at the great website Womensmemoirs.com. If you have not discovered this website, I recommend that you…
Black is Universal: E. Ethelbert Miller Radio Interview on Speaking of Faith
E. Ethelbert Miller spoke to Krista Tippett recently on her American Public Media program “Speaking of Faith.” Tippett described the conversation as a “jazz riff,” and I think you will agree that Miller, who is poet, spiritual seeker, memoirist, and director of the Afro-American Resource Center at Howard University, weaves together a beautiful cloth melody…
Mary Karr and Augustine: Spiritual Autobiography in the 21st Century
Edward Short’s review of Mary Karr’s Lit (which I also reviewed here), contains a few paragraphs very relevant to all memoir writers. I invite you to read the complete review here. Short’s insights are brilliant. Here are the four most relevant paragraphs to our concerns as we seek to understand the power of memoir to go…
Memoir Contest: Seven Hours Left!
Sorry that I just learned about this contest today. But if you have a memoir manuscript ready to go, it won’t matter. All you have to do is follow the guidelines at this Guide to Literary Agents website. Good luck!
Huston Smith's Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine–A Review
If you want to spring out of bed tomorrow morning, saying, “Good!” I suggest you read this book the night before. And if you want a role model for how to age with zest and enthusiasm, even to the extent of looking forward to death as the last great adventure, Huston Smith is your man….
Man on Wire: Enough Inspiration for Film, Memoir, Novel
Philippe Petit has blown me away. And so has this film about his life, focused on the day in August,1974, when he walked on a cable stretched between the South Tower and North Tower of the World Trade Center. I loved the music, graphics, and juxtapositions in this film. Petit is such a clown-like, dancer-like,…
Six-Word Memoir Contest
Have you tried to tell your life story in just six words? Smith magazine discovered a gold mine with this concept a few years ago and now has published several popular books listing these short narratives. The whole concept derives from a single story. Supposedly Ernest Hemingway was challenged to tell a story in six words and…
Want to Create Your Own Memoir Course? Here's a Syllabus to Get You Started
Melanie Springer Mock wrote a very insightful comment on my review of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. I learned that she teaches memoir writing at George Fox University, which led me to request a copy of her syllabus. She was kind enough to share it. So I include it in its entirety below. A…