Let’s Talk Memoir – Details, episodes &amp; analysis

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Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

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115. Dismantling the Fear About Sharing Our Stories featuring Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD

Season 5 · Episode 115

jeudi 29 août 2024 • Duration 35:37

Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about dismantling the fear about sharing our stories, finding the freedom to give voice to what we experienced, recognizing when the culture is the problem not us, unexpressed anger and chronic pain, memoir as a way to help family validate our experiences, the unseen messages girls and women get, why we must always follow up on queries, building platform, believing what we have to say is important, and her new book Sexism and Sensibility.

Also in this episode:

-beyond girl power

-making sure the pain we write about is processed

-gender bias

Books mentioned in this episode:

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall

Girls and Sex by Peggy orenstein

Why Does Patriarchy Persist by Carol Gilligan

Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello

Recollections of My Nonexistence Rebecca Solnit

Girlhood by Melissa Febos

Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, a clinical psychologist, trained at Harvard University and Northwestern University and now maintains a private clinical practice rooted in an understanding of how bias, social justice, and mental health intersect. An expert blogger for Psychology Today, her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, Women’s Health, Oprah Daily, and on HuffPost and CNN. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, and Your Teen, among other publications. Dr. Finkelstein has served on the board of the Chicago Chapter of the National Organization for Women, volunteered for Planned Parenthood PAC, and was an organizer for the Chicago Women’s March. She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her family and two beloved dogs.

Connect with Jo-Ann

Website: joannfinkelstein.com

Substack: https://joannfinkelstein.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joannfinkelstein.phd/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086974203277

X: https://twitter.com/finkeljo

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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd

Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank

Newsletter sign-up: https://ronitplank.com/#signup

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Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

106. Recording and Producing Your Audiobook featuring Justin Billmeier

Episode 106

jeudi 11 juillet 2024 • Duration 30:53

Justin Billmeier joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about his experience directing and producing audiobooks for a major publishing house, recording equipment costs and considerations for the indie memoirist, audiobook coaching and guidance, and the many components that go into a successful audiobook including story delivery, posture, pacing, script-marking, background noise, enunciation and much more.

Also in this episode:

-normalizing smaller presses

-the reality about distribution and marketing

-the post production process

Justin Billmeier is a seasoned audiobook producer with over 15 years of industry experience and the founder of Narrative Waves. He has directed titles for best-selling authors and managed full post-production for numerous acclaimed works. With a background as a Silicon Valley product designer, Justin brings a unique blend of technical and creative expertise to elevate storytelling in every project.

Connect with Justin:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinbillmeier/

Website: https://narrativewaves.com/

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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd

Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank

Newsletter sign-up: https://ronitplank.com/#signup

Follow Ronit:

Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

18. Crafting a Braided Memoir featuring Jamie Gehring

Season 2 · Episode 18

mardi 29 novembre 2022 • Duration 38:52

Jamie Gehring joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her braided memoir Madman in the Woods which details her and her family’s experience living next to Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, how she incorporated and structured research, interviews, and her own memories, the challenge of organizing so much information, and why writers need to follow their instincts.

Also in this episode:

-Not losing the reader

-Getting it all onto the page

-Intimate true crime as a genre

Books mentioned in this episode:

ShadowMan: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of the FBI by Ron Franscell

When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank

Bookends by Zibby Owens

Inside Passage by Keema Watrfield

The Babysitter: My Summers with Serial Killer by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan

Knocked Down by Aileen Weintraub

Educated by Tara Westover

The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr

The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story by Anne Rule

The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie

Jamie Gehring is a Montana native who grew up sharing a backyard with Ted Kaczynski, the man widely known as the Unabomber. She was featured in Netflix’s Unabomber—In His Own Words where she discussed her family’s role in Ted’s capture.

Connect with Jamie:

Website: www.jamiegehring.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiegehringauthor/

Books: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781635768169

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Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/

Follow Ronit:

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Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

17. The Role of the Reflective Narrator featuring Lily Dunn

Season 2 · Episode 17

mardi 22 novembre 2022 • Duration 33:07

Lily Dunn joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the impact her father leaving to follow the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had on her childhood, when she knew it was time to write her memoir Sins of the Father, stepping into her role as reflective narrator, creating tension, family members in our work, and understanding as a means to healing.

Also in this episode:

-writing to find answers

-our early experiences as shadows in our lives

-staying true to your purpose

Books mentioned in this episode:

Educated by Tara Westover

Whip Smart by Meliss Febos

Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest

Busy Being Free by Emma Forrst

Lily Dunn writes fiction and nonfiction. Her literary memoir, Sins of My Father: A Daughter, A Cult, A Wild Unravelling is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (March 2022), and her novel, Shadowing the Sun, by Portobello Books (2007). She has personal essays in Granta, Litro, Hinterland, MIRonline and The Real Story, and is a regular writer for Aeon magazine. She is co-editor of A Wild and Precious Life: Recovery Anthology, with Zoe Gilbert (Unbound 2021). She teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University in the UK and co-runs London Lit Lab.

Connect with Lily:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilydunnwriter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilydunnwriting/

Website: lilydunn.co.uk

London Lit Lab: londonlitlab.co.uk

UK Book Link: https://smarturl.it/SinsOfMyFatherHB

US Book Link: https://geni.us/SinsOfMyFatherUS

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Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/

Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/

Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne

Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

16. Voice First featuring Sonya Huber

Season 2 · Episode 16

mardi 15 novembre 2022 • Duration 31:39

Sonya Huber joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about structure and time in memoir, the challenge of getting to the core of who we are and facing ourselves on the page, how her perspective on “voice” has changed over time and why that drove her to write her new book Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto.

Also in this episode:

-the power of shame to silence us

-how “authentic” voice might not mean what we think

-a writing exercise to help jumpstart your work

Books mentioned in this episode:

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

The Mezzanine by Nicholas Baker

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by Jjames Agee

Writers: Andrew Monson and Peter Elbow

Sonya Huber is the author of seven books, including the new guide, Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto, and the award-winning essay collection on chronic pain, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System. Her other books include Supremely Tiny Acts: A Memoir in a Day, Opa Nobody, Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir, and The Backwards Research Guide for Writers. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, and other outlets. She teaches at Fairfield University and in the Fairfield low-residency MFA program.

Connect with Sonya:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonyahuber

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonya.huber/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonyahuber/

Website: www.sonyahuber.com

Sonya's books: https://bookshop.org/lists/sonya-huber-s-books

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Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/

Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/

Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Season 2 launching soon!

vendredi 21 octobre 2022 • Duration 02:53

Season 2 of Let’s Talk Memoir is almost here!

I’m incredibly excited to bring you all of the interviews I’ve been working on. These episodes cover voice, sharing family secrets, braided memoir, nonlinear memoir, what it’s like to move from other creative disciplines to memoir, advocating for our work, and lots more.

Season 2 of Let’s Talk Memoir will launch November 15th, that’s Tuesday, November 15th and new episodes will come out weekly.

If you have questions about memoir or about how memoirists craft their narratives, or anything at all that you would like covered on the show, there’s still time to send me a note with your question or topic suggestion.

You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook @RonitPlank and you can also message me on my website ronitplank.com.

It’s been a lot of fun to read your reviews and messages about season 1 and makes creating this podcast that much more rewarding. If you haven’t yet left a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify it’s not too late. Every review helps others find the show.

And if you know a writer or a memoir aficionado who would appreciate this podcast, please share it. Podcasts really depend on word of mouth and listener enthusiasm.

Thank you so much for being here and I just can’t wait to drop episode one on Tuesday, November 15th!

Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/

Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/

https://virginiacampbellmd.com

Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

15. Memory, Truth, and Memoir featuring Dr. Virginia Campbell

Episode 15

mardi 14 juin 2022 • Duration 30:36

Dr. Ginger Campbell joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the nature of memory and how that affects memoir writing, the phenomenon of false memories, cognitive dissonance, the slipperiness of what we can remember and how each time we do we actually recreate the memory, and why this is all good news for memoirists.

Dr. Ginger Campbell started podcasting in 2006 and was recently inducted into the Podcast Hall of Fame. Her shows include Brain Science, Books and Ideas, and Graying Rainbows: Coming Out LGBT+ Later in Life. Her most well-known show Brain Science explores how recent discoveries in neuroscience are unraveling the mystery of how our brain makes us human.

Dr. Campbell is also the author of Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty and she practices Palliative Medicine in Alabama.

Main links:

https://brainsciencepodcast.com

@docartemis on most social media

-Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir

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Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/

Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd

Follow Ronit:

https://philliplopate.com

Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

14. The Divided Self in Memoir featuring Phillip Lopate

Episode 14

mardi 7 juin 2022 • Duration 26:27

Phillip Lopate, a central figure in the revival of the American essay joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the integral role the divided self plays in memoir, striking the balance between telling and showing, how knowing your own flaws and defects helps build trust with the reader, why the intelligent narrator must be present from page one, and why having an interesting take on your story is as if not more important than the story itself.

Also in this episode:

-why memoirs aren’t for getting even

-turning yourself into a character

-narcissistic parents in memoir

Memoirs mentioned in this episode:

Borrowed Finery by Paula Fox

Memoirs of a Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy

My Father Myself by J.R. Ackerly

My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerly

Phillip Lopate is a central figure in the revival of the American essay, both through his ubiquitous edited anthology, Art of the Personal Essay, and his own essay collections, Bachelorhood, Against Joie de Vivre, Portrait of My Body and Portrait Inside My Head. He is also the author of such book-length nonfiction works as To Show and to Tell, Being with Children, Waterfront, Notes on Sontag, Rudy Burckhardt: Photographer and A Mother’s Tale. Additionally, he has written books of fiction (Confessions of Summer, The Rug Merchant, Two Marriages) and poetry (At the End of the Day). Finally, he has edited other anthologies (Writing New York and American Movie Critics), and is currently completing a three-volume historical anthology of the American essay. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a winner of Guggenheim, New York Public Library and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, he is on the faculty of Columbia University’s Graduate Writing Program, School of the Arts.

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Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/

Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd

Follow Ronit: