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
Dec 13, 2021 • 40min
Conviction—When You Know Your Story Resonates, featuring Alka Joshi
This week we’re talking about conviction—and why it’s something writers generally start their writing journeys with, but which tends to get a bit eroded along the path to publication. This week’s guest, Alka Joshi, reinvented herself after sixty with her debut novel, The Henna Artist—a book that started with plenty of conviction, and also needed passion and perseverance on Alka’s part to get to the finish line. And what an extraordinary result. This fun and upbeat interview is inspiring and hopeful—and reminds us of a truth that how we write is how we live our lives, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 6, 2021 • 30min
Fear and Desire, featuring Erica Jong
This week’s guest, Erica Jong, burst onto the cultural and literary scene in 1973 with her debut novel, Fear of Flying. In the nearly five decades since, her work has circled the themes of fear and desire—subjects that anchor this week’s show. What a treat to hear from one of our foremost feminist legends about what drove her to the page in the early ’70s, about the legacy of her own body of work, and how important it is for women to write their desires. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 29, 2021 • 34min
Migration as an Essential Shared Story, featuring Shanthi Sekaran
This week we ask you to consider the places in your own life where you’ve experienced migrations—whether you’re an immigrant or your family has been in the same place for generations. We all experience migrations throughout our lives, in the form of life events, identities, and movements across time and place—and this week’s guest, Shanthi Sekaran, has much to say on this all-important topic and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 22, 2021 • 34min
Challenging Your Perspective on the Journey to Getting Published, featuring Bella Mahaya Carter
This week’s episode is for anyone seeking that elusive thing called peace of mind when it comes to the writing, publishing, or promotion part of getting a book out into the world. Inspirational and straight-talking, guest Bella Mahaya Carter shares how she learned to let go of what she thought she wanted from traditional publishing to spread her wings as an author who’s writing and publishing on her own terms, and with peace of mind. A perfect episode to conclude the final days of NaNoWriMo, and as we face the pressures of the holidays and ambitions for 2022. Just breathe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 15, 2021 • 36min
Why Retelling Stories Is Always an Act of Creation, featuring Kwame Mbalia
Retelling stories—family tales, myths, fairytales, and stories of all sorts—is always an act of creation because of what you, the author, bring to the telling. In this week’s fun interview, guest Kwame Mbalia speaks to inspiration, living with your characters, who he’s inspired by, and why he’s doing NaNoWriMo for the fifth year in a row. Don’t miss it—and we’re cheering you along if you’re writing every day this November. You got this! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 8, 2021 • 35min
Owning Your Authority as an Author, featuring J. Allen Cross
This week’s witchy, crafty, spell-binding episode gets into authors’ authority to write the books they write, the responsibilities authors must content with when writing about a group they’re a part of, and especially about groups they’re not a part of. And because today’s guest, J. Allen Cross, is a practicing witch, there’s an extra dose of magic, along with a dash of folklore and sprinkle of the occult—a perfect recipe for a fun and inspiring episode of Write-minded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 1, 2021 • 29min
Allowing Anger to Fuel Your Writing, featuring Namina Forna
Happy National Novel Writing Month, listeners! We’re eager to start writing with you this week—and we’re bringing you some food for thought about what fuels your writing and your creativity. Guest Namina Forna has been fueled sometimes by anger and injustice. Meanwhile, her light-heartedness and love of fantasy and the magical creates a dynamic counterbalance to the themes that drive her to the page. She ends the episode with such great advice for all of you writers out there doing NaNoWriMo, so get ready—and let’s write! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 25, 2021 • 23min
Get Ready for NaNoWriMo, featuring Chris Baty
National Novel Writing Month starts next week, so it’s time to get your minds and hearts ready to throw down tons of words next month—and we know you’ve got this. We’re bringing back Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo, the very best person to get you inspired to do this thing. Don’t doubt for one minute that the world needs your story. And there’s no better way to get a lot of writing done while having a lot of fun than participating in NaNoWriMo. We’ll be doing it, too, so we’re with you, and you’ve got this! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 18, 2021 • 44min
The Art of Subtext, featuring EJ Koh
Subtext is the art of the implicit, and this week’s guest, E.J. Koh, has written a gorgeous memoir, The Magical Language of Others, in which the subtext nearly drips from the page—to gorgeous and astounding results. This week’s show, therefore, explores what subtext is, how to use it, how to watch out for it, and how to practice it. We want all of you writers out there to make your readers hungry for your stories, and this is one way you can entice, delight, and tantalize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 11, 2021 • 33min
The Difficult Balance of Writing and Self-Care, featuring Charlie Jane Anders
How can we practice self-care, stay open and vulnerable, and have enough discernment to know how much to keep pushing ourselves creatively when we feel depleted? This episode is a show for our times, as we tackle with guest Charlie Jane Anders all the ways that global and personal crises challenge our creative and writing lives. We recommend you check out Charlie Jane’s talk on YouTube, Never Say You Can’t Survive, which inspired the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ItTO9DDhCI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
