Memoir opens doors we could never ordinarily walk through--into the
lives of Olympians, queens, victims of war and other tragedies, teenage
rock stars, former streetwalkers or geishas--along with the doors to the
lives of extraordinary/ordinary people. The best memoirs are maps of the
heart and mind, and Marjorie Simmins invites you to explore the map of
your own life. Here are the probing questions and dynamic writing ideas,
coupled with inspirational interviews with best-selling memoirists, to
light your own imagination afire. How do you access the details of your
earliest memories, make them immediate and dramatic? How do you drive
the story forward? How do you make a stranger care about your life?
Memoir: Conversations and Craft is intended for any reader or writer
who is fascinated by the renegade memoir form--personal life stories
that demand to be read, refuse to be forgotten. Whether you wish to
compile memories from childhood to share with grandchildren, or whether
you burn with the makings of a literary memoir, this reflection on
writing can galvanize you.
Donna Morrissey, Linden MacIntyre, Plum Johnson, Lawrence Hill, Edmund
Metatawabin, Diane Schoemperlen, and Claire Mowat--some of Canada's top
fiction and non-fiction writers--speak with candour, humour, and
compassion about their journeys to memoir. Often touching, always
helpful and frank, the interviews cover a broad spectrum of the writing
experience. The time to write a memoir is always now--and the benefits
are transformative.
