#164 Writing the Restorative Memoir: Finding Meaning in the Messy Middle of Recovery with Mallary Tenore Tarpley

What if the truest recovery story isn't about redemption—but restoration? What if healing means learning to live inside the messy middle?

Estelle Erasmus talks with journalist and professor Mallary Tenore Tarpley, author of SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery. Mallary shares how she wrote from the in-between—the liminal space between illness and full recovery—crafting a narrative that honors imperfection and progress.

Content note: This episode discusses eating disorders, treatment, and grief.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/89CdVDqkx0Q

In this episode:

• Restorative vs. redemptive narratives: why "progress, not finish lines" can create a more truthful frame and recovery arc.

• Structure and symbolism: how Mallary used split chapters, recurring motifs, and dual timelines to mirror healing's nonlinear path.

• Researching and weaving 175 interviews and scientific studies into scene-driven narrative.

• Ethical revisitation: returning to treatment centers and old journals without re-engaging harmful behaviors.

• Craft tools for memory: timelines, sensory anchors, and interviews with loved ones and clinicians as tools for depth and accuracy.

Mallary Tenore Tarpley is a journalism and writing professor at the University of Texas at Austin's Moody College of Communication and McCombs School of Business. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Time, and Teen Vogue, among other publications. She is the recipient of a prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant, which helped support her research and writing. Mallary graduated from Providence College and has a Master of Fine Arts in nonfiction writing from Goucher College. She lives outside of Austin, Texas, with her husband and two children. Slip is her first book.

Connect with Mallary

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallary-tenore-tarpley-6719484/

Weekly Substack newsletter: mallary.substack.com

Get More from Estelle:

NYU (Zoom), 6-week course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — https://www.sps.nyu.edu/courses/WRIT1-CE9800-writing-about-your-life-through-memoir-essays-and-articles.html

Private small-group memoir class: January sold out in 4 days. The next 6-week session starts March 2026 and enrollment is open now. Email freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com for details.

New Substack post: Why Every Memoir Needs the "Echo Effect". https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/why-every-memoir-needs-the-echo-effect

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About Estelle:

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, author of Writing That Gets Noticed (named a "Best Book for Writers" by Poets & Writers), and host of Freelance Writing Direct—2025 Podcast of the Year (Education), American Writing Awards. A Contributing Editor for Writer's Digest and adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP: The Magazine. She's served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

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