I’M TOO NICE about all this, aren’t I? A great defender of memoir, I neglect to tell you just which books make me want to hurl just as much as they might make you want to hurl. No more. Something about a recent birthday changed all that. So let’s have at it, shall we? [Read more...]
Recommended Reading: “Why Be Happy When You Can be Normal?”
March 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I DON’T USUALLY require the students in my memoir class read anything in particular, including my own book on how to write memoir. But every once in a while something is published that is so to the point, so absolutely instructional – and in this case, so short – that I simply must insist. [Read more...]
Suggested Reading. New Memoir: Short, Long, Illustrated. And Dirty.
February 21, 2012 By 12 Comments
MEMOIR IS EVERYWHERE, making it ever more difficult to wade through to the good stuff. So, for you and you alone, I strapped on my waders and plunged into the memoir morass. What I came out with may surprise you. [Read more...]
Your New Best Friend:
The Deadline Calendar
GO ON, TRY my interactive calendar of emotional high holy days, regular-version high holy days and more. Hover your cursor over a cinnamon-colored date to see what pops up. Use it to start personal essays, radio pieces and op-eds to submit on deadline. How? Look three months out for radio ideas; six to twelve for magazine pieces. Pick it, write it, submit it. You’re a writer. That’s what writers do.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Apr | Jun » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5May, 5 2012Cinco de MayoIt is Cinco de Mayo, commemorating the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces in 1862. This is a great one for everything from a memoir about someone else’s cultural holidays, some food memoir perhaps, or a piece of memoir placed at celebration for the day. | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12May, 12 2012Hurricanes Finally Get Named for Men, As WellIt was on this day in 1978 that hurricanes also were named for men. Previously named only for women, this seems like justice, however late. What’s in a name? My sister has something to say about that, named as she is, for a racehorse. I told this story on NPR’s All Things Considered. Have a look. | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16May, 16 2012Fiddlehead TimeIt’s Fiddlehead time. Fiddlehead ferns that is, sold and eaten while they are still rolled up. Fiddleheads are the unfurled fronds of a young fern harvested for food consumption. Called a fiddlehead because it resembles the curled ornamentation (called a scroll) on the end of a stringed instrument, such as a fiddle, it is It is also called a crozier since it also resembles the curved staff used by bishops, which has its origins in the shepherd’s crook. Got some food memoir? I lap it up, and write it down here. | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23May, 23 2012The Father of Taxomony is BornOn this day in 1707 was the birth of Carl Linneaus, the man who created order out of chaos by creating a classification system for naming and identifying plants. I created one of those, though mine divides by people, asking if you are either a burger or a burrito. Check it out. | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27May, 27 2012Rachel Carson’s BirthdayOn this day in 1907 was the birth of Rachel Carson, one of the greatest advocates the earth will ever know. The New Yorker magazine took a chance on her, first publishing her in 1951 and in 1962 serializing Silent Spring, in which she took on the subject of the ravaging effects of pesticides. The book is still regarded as the cornerstone of the new environmentalism. She inspires me, and I might write a piece of memoir about reading that book or what she has meant to me. You? What creative inspiration does she provoke in you? |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
Writing Memoir? Read Memoir
January 22, 2012 By 3 Comments
WHILE I HAVE no required reading list for my classes, I always ask what people are reading. And, at some point, I’ll pass around a list of books that have informed my work. Would you like to see it? [Read more...]
The Best of Best-of Lists for Memoir
January 4, 2012 By 4 Comments
CHOOSING BEST MEMOIRS of any time, date, or place is difficult, so I love it when reliable sources do the work for me. But what’s a reliable source? Such a good question. [Read more...]
The Memoir Project in Washington Post. What Holiday Joy.
December 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
WHAT AN HONOR. I am delighted to see my irreverent little book on writing memoir listed at the number one spot in a Washington Post short list of new writing books. Here is is. Enjoy. And to celebrate, I’m working on a little gift for you. [Read more...]
Memoir Picks for November
November 2, 2011 By 11 Comments
ON MY WAY to the bookstore to stock up on new memoir, it occurred to me that it’s the season of sharing, and that perhaps you’d like to read the media hits that got me to place three new memoirs on my shopping list. Here you go. [Read more...]
Memoir Round-Up: Picks for September
September 28, 2011 By 2 Comments
Does it seem to you like there are more memoirs out there than ever? It does to me, and while this month I really enjoyed a brand new one, I also found myself thrilled and delighted by a few that have been around for a while. Want to hear what’s on my nightstand? [Read more...]
Memoir Round-Up: Picks for July
July 20, 2011 By 2 Comments
MEMOIR IS ALIVE and well, I’m happy to report. Despite the rumors of the death of publishing, marvelous books continue to appear all the time, many of which are not only great reads, but are also perfect primers for learning to write your own tale. Three books in particular come to mind, all of which I recently added to my suggested reading list for the classes I teach, and all of which reaffirmed for me perhaps the single most important lesson in writing what you know. Remember what that is? Come along, and I’ll remind you. [Read more...]
A Big Life for The Little Book That Could
July 14, 2011 By 2 Comments
IT’S BEEN A great time for my irreverent little book on writing. Yesterday I was on the wonderful NPR show, Talk of the Nation. I’d love you to listen it, of course, and you can via the wonders of digital recording. Want to know how? [Read more...]
