I was reading a Blog of Note this morning when I stumbled upon a memoir challenge, Telling Her Stories. The goal of this Story Circle Network project is to encourage women to tell their life stories. Participants choose four memoirs written by women to read over the course of four months. They’re invited to post four-sentence reviews on the Her Stories blog.
As much as I subject myself to the consequences of telling the world what I think, I am even more prone to the superficial wound inflicted when I tell the world where I’ve been. This is the journey genre, the one we call memoir.
This project made me reflect on all the memoirs by women I’ve read over the years. There have been so many that have impacted me in so many different ways. Here are some of my favorites.
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beavoir
An Angel at My Table by Janet Frame
Diary by Anne Frank
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Never Let Them See You Cry by Edna Buchanan
Ten Thousand Sorrows by Elizabeth Kim
Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think? Do you have any suggestions for a great memoir I might have missed along the way?
If you have a blog dedicated to memoir writing, please leave the link in the comment section of this post.
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Speaking of women, Dr. Jean Warner has posted to her blog information about upcoming events that are of interest to Oklahoma women. Check out the following:
Oklahoma Leadership Conference for Women in Public Service - March 13
Oklahoma Women's Coalition Advocacy Day at the Capitol - February 18
The new logo for the Oklahoma Women's Coalition
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Sometime ago, I promised to write four posts about issues facing women in Oklahoma. I'm a little behind schedule, but they are forthcoming.
4 comments:
A Gift from the Sea might be a great pic for my next book club meeting. Thanks for the ideas!
All of the ones you list are classics...by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Maya Angelou,Simone de Beavoir...An Angel at My Table by Janet Frame [also a wonderful movie series]...and Diary by Anne Frank
Yes, the wisdom of our foremothers is related in these books and so many more. The Story Circles Book Reviews has many good selections. I belong to the Story Circle Network and it's a fine group to join if you love women's memoir writing at every level.
I also contribute to the Telling HerStories Blog for Story Circle Network and that has consistently good content. My corner is called "Creative Catalyst."
Don't overlook the option of memoir in the form of story poems. That's the form my book "Sightlines: A Poet's Diary" took. There's an essay on my site www.riehlife.com about Story Poems (of and for the world) under the Sightlines tab you might enjoy reading.
Janet Riehl
www.riehlife.com
I love "Gift from the Sea" and can very much relate to Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I also adore Maya Angelou. Not only do I enjoy her writing, but I love listening to her speak, as well. Have you read The Glass Castle? Very inspiring story. I also adore Sue Monk Kidd and although she writes a lot of fiction, her non-fiction is very inspirational.
Great list, Jen!
Hugs,
Debbie
And of course, Diary of Anne Frank goes without saying.
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