I Love Memoir, She Loves Memoir, We Talk
A beautiful conversation with Erin Swanson, founder of the For Love of Memoir podcast -- and a memoirist herself.
This week, I interviewed with Erin Swanson on For Love of Memoir, an episode that will air in August or September.
Highlights:
I tell her why I’m a reluctant memoirist. [The Self As the Highway to Our Stories: Notes from a Reluctant Memoirist, Or Why I Keep Getting Pregnant with Memoirs When I’m Really a Fiction Writer]
I say the art of memoir is that it is making meaning of a lived life through memory, imagination and reflection.
I define writing memoir as a generous act — it opens doors for readers who haven’t had those conversations with themselves. [The Sixteen Superpowers of Memoir Writers: Make These Decisions on the Front End, and All Will Go Well for You]
My revision mantra comes from George Saunders (Tenth of December, Lincoln in the Bardo) With each pass, make it “more honest and more vivid.”
I bust the myths about memoir writing, such as this one: Celebrity memoirs create a false “highlight reel” impression; true memoir is about meaning-making, not a parade of events.
Though I’m a reluctant memoirist, I love the genre, which has exploded into fascinating sub-genres over that past 25 years: research memoir, hybrid memoir, autofiction, prose/poetry blends. immersion memoir (which turns out to be what Erin is writing now! and plays to my strengths as a journalist).
Though I’m a reluctant memoirist, I am working on a new one, Dear Grace, which examines the DNA of femininity through the lens of a 2023 breast cancer diagnosis; structured as letters to my daughter Grace, my grandmother Grace, women ancestors from my Irish, Scottish and Cherokee heritage (The Sweet Cailin Walking the Lavender Hills, The Lassie on the Isle of Skye, The Girl with the Rainbow Hair) and ultimately—Eve.
What I’m doing next, a book proposal for Live Boundlessly — a self-help/spiritual nonfiction expansion of themes from Boundless, drawing on my books about mindfulness meditation, creative visualization and my deepened experience with contemplation from The Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation.
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Wondering how to get started—or finish!—your memoir? Book a free call with me here.