Writing hard stories : celebrated memoirists who shaped art from trauma / Melanie Brooks.
Material type:
TextPublisher: Boston : Beacon Press, 2017Description: 212 pages ; 22 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780807078815 (paperback)
- 0807078816 (paperback)
- Celebrated memoirists who shaped art from trauma
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 808.0669 B873 | Available | 33111008869261 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Some of the country's most admired authors-including Andre Dubus III, Mark Doty, Marianne Leone, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Richard Blanco, Abigail Thomas, Kate Bornstein, Jerald Walker, and Kyoko Mori-describe their treks through dark memories and breakthrough moments and attest to the healing power of putting words to experience.
What does it take to write an honest memoir? And what happens to us when we embark on that journey? Melanie Brooks sought guidance from the memoirists who most moved her to answer these questions. Called an essential book for creative writers by Poets & Writers , Writing Hard Stories is a unique compilation of authentic stories about the death of a partner, parent, or child; about violence and shunning; and about the process of writing. It will serve as a tool for teachers of writing and give readers an intimate look into the lives of the authors they love.
Authors profiled in Writing Hard Stories - Andre Dubus III, Sue William Silverman, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Joan Wickersham, Kyoko Mori, Richard Hoffman, Suzanne Strempek Shea, Abigail Thomas, Monica Wood, Mark Doty, Edwidge Dantict, Marianne Leone, Jerald Walker, Kate Bornstein, Jessica Handler, Richard Blanco, Alysia Abbott, and Kim Stafford
Insights from Writing Hard Stories
"Why we endeavor collectively to write a book or paint a canvas or write a symphony...is to understand who we are as human beings, and it's that shared knowledge that somehow helps us to survive."-Richard Blanco
"Here's what you need to understand- your brothers or family or friends are going to have their own stories to tell. You don't have to tell the family story. You have to tell your story of being in that family."-Andre Dubus III
"We all need a way to express or make something out of experiences that otherwise have no meaning. If what you want is clarity and meaning, you have to break the secrets over your knee and make something of those ingredients."-Abigail Thomas
"What we remember and how we remember it really tells us how we became who we became."-Michael Patrick MacDonald
"The reason I write memoir is to be able to see the experience itself...I hardly know what I think until I write...Writing is a way to organize your life, give it a frame, give it a structure, so that you can really see what it was that happened."-Sue William Silverman
"After a while in the process, you have some distance and you start thinking of it as a story, not as your story...It was a personal grief, but no longer personal... It's something that has not just happened to me and my family, but something that's happened in the world."-Edwidge Danticat
"Tibetan Buddhists believe that eloquence is the telling of a truth in such a way that it eases suffering...The more suffering that is eased by your telling of the truth, the more eloquent you are. That's all you can really hope for-being eloquent in that fashion. All you have to do is respond to your story honestly, and that's the ideal."-Kate Bornstein
"You can never entirely redeem the experience. You can't make it not hurt anymore. But you can make it beautiful enough so that there's something to balance it in the other scale. And if you understand that word beautiful as not necessarily pretty , then you're getting close to recognizing the integrative power of restoring the balance, which is restoring the truth."-Richard Hoffman
Andre Dubus III -- Sue William Silverman -- Michael Patrick MacDonald -- Joan Wickersham -- Kyoko Mori -- Richard Hoffman -- Suzanne Strempek Shea -- Abigail Thomas -- Monica Wood -- Mark Doty -- Edwidge Danticat -- Marianne Leone -- Jerald Walker -- Kate Bornstein -- Jessica Handler -- Richard Blanco -- Alysia Abbott -- Kim Stafford.
"Acclaimed memoirists describe the process of writing their most painful memories. In her attempt to write a memoir about her father's death from a secret AIDS infection in 1985, Melanie Brooks was left with some painful questions: What does it take to write an honest memoir? And what happens to us when we embark on that journey? Would she manage it? Brooks sought guidance from the memoirists who most moved her--including Andre Dubus III, Joan Wickersham, Mark Doty, Marianne Leone, Richard Hoffman, Edwidge Danticat, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Richard Blanco, Abigail Thomas, Sue Silverman, Kate Bornstein, Jerald Walker, and Kyoko Mori--to answer these questions. Writing Hard Stories encourages all writers as they work through their challenging stories. It features some of the country's most admired writers discussing their treks through dark memories and breakthrough moments, and it demonstrates the healing power of putting words to experience. A unique compilation of authentic stories about the death of a partner, parent, or child; about violence and shunning; and about the process of writing, the book will serve as a tool for teachers of writing and give readers an intimate look into the lives of the authors they love"-- Provided by publisher.