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It took Joyce Maynard twenty-five years of reflection, distance, and understanding to write her first memoir. But when tragedy struck later in life, her second memoir came much more quickly.
Writer and artist Kristen Radtke’s debut graphic memoir, Imagine Wanting Only This, combines vivid illustrations with an unflinching investigation of loss, memory, and the construction and dissolution of the self.
Writing about trauma is sometimes called “navel-gazing,” particularly for women writers. An essayist and memoirist confronts this stigma, and calls on writers to explore their personal traumas and truths.
“I had made a bargain with myself that if I lived, I would give a book of what I learned back to the world in return—an act of gratitude and sometimes vengeance—and I made it.” —Anne Boyer, author of The Undying
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,100) and publication in the Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a short memoir. Chrissie Gittins will judge. Submit a memoir of up to 4,000 words with a €17 (approximately $19) entry fee by January 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
In our third annual installment of this series, five authors over the age of fifty who published their debut books this year—Jeanne McCulloch, A. G. Lombardo, Anne Youngson, Maw Shein Win, and Laura Esther Wolfson—share their paths to publication.
Helmed by Ann Hood, a new imprint from Akashic Books offers a home for books about grief, loss, and recovery.
A look at some of the year’s best debut literary nonfiction, including books by Sarah Viren, Nicole Chung, Shaelyn Smith, Brian Phillips, and Casey Gerald.
The first lines of a dozen new books, including Sick by Porochista Khakpour and Sons of Achilles by Nabila Lovelace.
The first lines of a dozen new books, including The Dream of Reason by Jenny George.
