Memoir Nation
Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner
Memoir Nation: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is an extension of the Memoir Nation community hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner, two friends and colleagues who bring a community-minded sensibility to the writing journey. Originally launched as Write-minded in 2018, this is a weekly writing podcast that focuses on memoir and personal writing, as well as industry trends and tips and resources for writers and authors. Memoir Nation features a segment called Book Alley at the end of each episode to talk about recent memoirs that authors have sent Brooke and Grant, or memoirs they've discovered that are thought provoking or have sparked inspiration. Brooke and Grant bring to this weekly podcast their deeply held belief that everyone is a writer, and everyone’s story matters. Discover more about Memoir Nation at memoirnation.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 18, 2022 • 37min
Straddling Lusciousness and Social Consciousness in Romance, featuring Angelina Lopez
Romance often gets the short-shrift for being not a serious genre, or for being a guilty pleasure—and yet, it’s the best-selling genre there is. Which is why Grant and Brooke chose to explore with Angelina Lopez, touching upon the sexiness of romance, yes, but also the fact that it’s so much more than that. Romance can be socially conscious, and importantly—there’s romance out there for every kind of reader. Listen in to open your horizons to new reading experiences, or if you’re already a big romance lover, to be nodding your head, knowing you’ve been on the money all along. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 11, 2022 • 31min
Executing Funny in Memoir with One of the Most Celebrated Cartoonists of Our Time, featuring David Sipress
Do you have to be a comedian or a humorist to execute funny in memoir? We don’t think so—and this episode tackles how humor shows up in the everyday, in universal experiences, and through the journey of looking inward. Guest David Sipress, whose New Yorker cartoons are recognizable worldwide, talks about his own insecurities in approaching memoir and how he worked through them, how he mines for funny, and shares with us some insight about his cartoonist brain. You’re in for a treat—and Grant is holding out for a cartoon portrait to arrive in his mail any day now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 4, 2022 • 36min
Genre-Blending and Bending, featuring Barbara Graham
We’re having fun this holiday week talking about genre-blending and bending, and why it’s fun and freeing, but also often problematic from an industry standpoint when stories are not easily categorized. Join Brooke and Grant this week in their conversation with Barbara Graham, a long-time nonfiction writer who breaks the mold with her debut novel, and shares about how intuitive her process was, and how and why she was compelled to write the story that became her book, What Jonah Knew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 27, 2022 • 38min
Making and Finding Meaning, featuring Kathryn Schulz
This week’s episode brings to the fore why meaning in all its outward, bigger-than-a-single-individual forms is so profound in writing. The notion that your story is broader than your limited experience is something memoirists know, but too often fail to fully execute on the page. Kathryn Schulz is a master of this form. Tune in to hear about what Brooke calls “litle-T takeaway” and the conversation that ensues with Kathryn, whose recent book, Lost & Found, offers up so much for discussion and emulation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 20, 2022 • 39min
The Power of Omission, featuring Charmaine Wilkerson
Omission—it’s something writers understand as meaningful to story, but don’t often execute well on the page. In this week’s episode, guest Charmaine Wilkerson offers solid pointers on how to think about omission and why it will make your writing more meaningful. Join Grant and Brooke for this week’s craft-based conversation on the power of omission as we consider some of the best books we’ve read lately that do omission well. We’ll also explore human behavior—like lying, secret-keeping, betrayal, cheating, protecting, and more—that lends itself to exploring omission more deeply. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 13, 2022 • 35min
Changing Your Life Story, featuring Linda Holmes
Write-minded is celebrating Episode #200 and a move to be part of the Lit Hub Radio family this week with guest Linda Holmes, host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, who joins Grant and Brooke to talk about her recent novel, imposter syndrome, and following the path life offers up. This episode is a celebration of shape-shifting and getting bitten by the novel bug—with a fun guest who knows a thing or two about writing, podcasting, and changing your life story—all while going with the flow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 6, 2022 • 44min
Writing from Inside Your Industry, featuring Zakiya Dalila Harris
Write-minded is honored to be celebrating a few milestones this week—with guest Zakiya Dalila Harris’s paperback release and our announcement that starting next week, we are joining the Lit Hub Radio family! It’s a perfect episode to talk about publishing, since Zakiya’s novel, The Other Black Girl, points a finger at the industry—and because there’s so much else to say. Also, since this week’s book trend spotlights DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), we draw your attention in the show to the Independent Book Publishers Association’s DEI Resource Center: https://www.ibpa-online.org/page/dei-resource-center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 30, 2022 • 39min
Reading Dangerously, featuring Azar Nafisi
This week’s episode inspires and challenges and encourages all of us to embrace the magic of subversive reading. This conversation with Azar Nafisi, the best-selling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, about her new book, Read Dangerously, is a reminder of what’s at stake for us right now in the US, why we need to engage and not check out, or worse, employ the same tactics as extremists in the fight for democracy. Tune in for an episode that’s political and urgent and necessary—and if you’re not reading dangerously, make the next book on your reading list a subversive one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 23, 2022 • 37min
Imagining and Reconstructing in Memoir, featuring Julie Metz
This week we’re focusing on how to step into the point of view of another character in memoir. Increasingly memoirists are wanting to take risks with memoir, to fill holes in their knowledge but not be relegated to writing fiction. Guest Julie Metz provides a beautiful template for how to do this with her new memoir, Eva and Eve, which reconstructs her family’s 1940 escape from Vienna when Hitler was annexing Austria and ridding it of its Jewish population. Beyond a harrowing and beautifully rendered tale of family, Eva and Eve is a story of how history repeats itself and the legacies we carry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 16, 2022 • 38min
The Skinny on Book Coaching, featuring Jennie Nash
This week we’re looking at book coaching—who might need one, why you might want one, or maybe you even want to become one. Guest Jennie Nash has resources and answers for anyone in this space because she trains book coaches through her Author Accelerator program, and has an incredible stable of coaches that authors can work with. So much good food for thought this week! Also, in today’s book trend on hybrid publishing, we mentioned Jane Friedman’s recent article, “IMHO: A Nuanced Look at Hybrid Publishers,” which you can find here: https://hotsheetpub.com/2022/05/imho-a-nuanced-look-at-hybrid-publishers/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
