Memory Into Memoir: A Writer’s Handbook by Laura Kalpakian
“The memoir is not the story of what you know, it’s the story of how you learned it,” explains author and instructor Laura Kalpakian in this guide, which won the Gold Medal for Writing/Publishing at the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Chapter topics range from navigating memoir beginnings and scenic details to rendering remembered dialogue and narrative voice. “Anyone beginning a memoir – or floundering about in the middle or even toward the end – will thank their lucky stars to get Laura Kalpakian’s guide in their hands,” praises author Priscilla Long.
Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos
National Book Critics Circle Award winner Melissa Febos examines the act of storytelling in this “mix of memoir and master class” on personal narratives. In the very first line, Febos admits, “this is not a craft book in the traditional sense.” Rather, she writes, “these essays are attempts to describe the ways that writing is integrated into the fundamental movements of my life: political, corporeal, spiritual, psychological, and social.” The book, an instant national bestseller, accrued rave reviews and blurbs from well-known memoirists, including Cheryl Strayed, who calls it “an instant classic of the how-and-why-do-we-write form.”
Write for Your Life by Anna Quindlen
Bestselling author Anna Quindlen aims to show readers “how anyone can write, and why everyone should.” Aimed at everyone, not just writers by profession, Quindlen’s book makes the case for why writing is an essential act of discovery: “Solitude can lead to a tunnel within ourselves at the end of which is a room we didn’t even know was there. Writing can help lead you to that room.” “Highly recommended for those looking for a means of coming to terms with their lives and the world around them,” writes Library Journal in a starred review.
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