I'll be participating in a roundtable discussion tomorrow afternoon with my dear friend, Eleanor Vincent. Sponsored by the National Association of Memoir Writers, we'll discuss Writing in Times of Grief. And we'd love for you to join us by listening in and asking questions as well.
In the latest NAMW newsletter, founder and discussion moderator, Linda Joy Myers, wrote:
In preparation for our September 8th Roundtable discussion, I have been busy reading the books by our featured authors for the September Roundtable. Eleanor Vincent wrote Swimming with Maya and Madeline Sharples' memoir is Leaving the Hall Light On. Both books are about their beautiful children, how the death of a child leaves a scar that can't be completely healed. Each mother had to find her own path to become re-engaged with life and the rest of the family, and try to heal from such a heart breaking tragedy.
Eleanor Vincent lost her daughter in a freak accident with a horse. Madeline Sharples' son suffered from Bi-Polar disorder and committed suicide. These brave women are veterans of the journey from utter despair and darkness, telling the story in stark and emotionally riveting prose about how each of them found ways of coping and healing. Each of them has written powerful books that reveal the personalities of their beloved children--their imperfections as well as their sterling unique qualities. The stories and truths revealed are not sugar coated, revealing families as they really are--with conflicting needs, wants, opinions and options. We learn about the deep bonds of love and the impossible moment of discovering the death of their child, and the nightmarish aftermath of that unthinkable moment.
Though the reading is emotional and heart wrenching, both these authors guide us expertly through their lives, their feelings, relationships, and struggles to find some kind of center again--a journey no one wants to take. When someone finds themselves in that terrible moment, they need to find the threads of recovery so they can go on and have relationships with friends, their other children, spouses, and the larger world.
Both Eleanor and Madeline were writers before the events that changed their lives, so they naturally turned to writing attempting to make sense of what happened to them. Each says that writing helped her to cope, helped her to find the way to process the story and to preserve the memory of their children when they were young, when they all assumed many more years were ahead of them. These books are powerful testimonies to the strength of the human spirit and will fill your heart with compassion, a good example of how a memoir can make a difference--these personal survival testimonies of a passage through dark nights of the soul. Please join us for a meaningful and powerful discussion, this Thursday, September 8th, 2011.
Here are the details. Hope to hear you tomorrow.
Event Title: Writing About Times of GriefDate: Thursday September 8, 2011Time: 4 PM PDT |5 PM MDT | 6 PM CDT | 7 PM EDT, for about 1 HourCost: FREE FOR EVERYONE
Telephone Conference call-in number:(209) 647-1000
Telephone Conference call-in code: 894400
And click for more information about Eleanor: www.eleanorvincent.com
eleanorvincent.wordpress.com
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