MEMOIR:
Selected Bibliography
On Writing Autobiography/ Biography/Memoir
Barrington, Judith. Writing the Memoir:
From Truth to Art. Eighth
Bateson, Mary Catherine. Composing
a Life.
Bloom, The Writer Within: A Guide to Creative Nonfiction (1997)
Bly, Beyond the Writers' Workshop: New Ways to Write Creative Nonfiction (2001)
Bradway (ed.), In the Middle of the
Cheney, Writing Creative Nonfiction: Fiction Techniques for Crafting Great Nonfiction (1987/2001)
Coles, Robert. The Call of
Stories.
Daniel, Lois. How To Write Your Own Life
Story: A Step by Step Guide for the Non-Professional Writer.
Fleming, Margaret and Jo McGinnis, eds. Portraits:
Biography and Autobiography in the Secondary School.
Although
this book is primarily for analyzing autobiographies and biographies, by seeing
all of the layers that a good work can contain, a writer can find new depths in
his or her own family stories.
Forche and Gerard (eds.), Writing Creative Nonfiction: Instruction and Insights from Teachers of the Associated Writing Programs (2001)
Gerard, Philip. Creative Nonfiction:
Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life.
Not
necessarily concerned with family histories or personal memoir, Gerard offers
many suggestions for writing creatively. He gives a lot of examples from his
own writing, and not enough concrete suggestions, and most of his ideas are a
matter of general knowledge or common sense. However, he writes well!
Goldberg, Natalie. Writing
Down the Bones.
The
text is an odd conglomeration of Zen Buddhism, autobiography, and techniques
for creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry writing. Goldberg herself states
in the introduction, "Learning to write is not a linear process. There is
no logical A-to-B-to-C way to become a good writer." Goldberg's basic
thesis is that in order to become a writer, simply write. Most people become
self-conscious and self-censoring, and this has to be overcome. Goldberg's
method is to use Zen Buddhism. Goldberg offers methods she
found useful to writing (always carry a notebook, set aside an amount of time
each day to write, etc.) which are common-sense, but also tells her readers
that there is no way to tell someone how to do something creative.
Gutkind, The Art of Creative Nonfiction: Writing and Selling the Literature of Reality (1997)
--- (ed.), The Essayist at Work: Profiles of Creative Nonfiction Writers (1998)
Iverson, Shadow Boxing: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction (2003)
Kitchen and Jones
(eds.), In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction (1996)
In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal (1999)
Leland, Creative Writer's Style Guide: Rules and Advice for Writing Fiction and Creative Nonfiction (2002)
Lehman, Matters of Fact: Reading Nonfiction Over the Edge (1997)
Loughery (ed.), The Eloquent Essay: An Anthology of Classic and Creative Nonfiction (2000)
Marsden (ed.), Crisp Blue Edges: Indigenous Creative Non-fiction (2000)
McDonnell, Jane Taylor. Living to Tell the
Tale: A Guide to Writing Memoir.
Miller, Brenda, et
al. Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping
Creative Nonfiction.
Moffat, Mary Jane. The Times of Our Lives:
A Guide To Writing Autobiography and Memoir.
Myerhoff, Barbara. Remembered
Lives: The Work of Ritual, Storytelling, and Growing Older.
Pechter, Mark, ed. Telling Lives: The
Biographer's Art.
*Polking, Kirk. Writing Family Histories and Memoirs.
An
excellent general guide that contains information on basic places to research
genealogy, interview questions and techniques, writing and organizing your
material, editing, and publishing. Contains a bibliography
and index.
*Rainer, Tristine. Your
Life as Story: Writing the New Autobiography.
More
concerned with what to do after the material has been gathered, Rainer guides
the reader through important choices in how to write and organize your stories
as well as some tips on publishing. Contains a good
bibliography and index.
---. Your
Life as Story: Discovering the "New Autobiography" and Writing Memoir
as Literature.
---. Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories, Ideas into Essays, and Life into Literature.
Focusing
on the personal memoir, Roorbach helps writers
discover stories in their own then concentrates on the actual style and writing
of these stories. Each stage has various exercises for writers to guide them
through the process. The book contains many good ideas, but makes the process
prescriptive rather than organic.
Roorback (ed.), Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth (2001)
Root, Robert L. The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of/on Creative
Nonfiction (2nd
Edition). Longman,
2001.
A
comprehensive and indispensable introduction and guide to the way creative
nonfiction is written today, the selections represent a wide range of
contemporary creative nonfiction, including examples in essay, memoir, literary
journalism, and cultural criticism. These readings establish a thorough
grounding in the nature of the genre and provide excellent models for writing.
---.The Nonfictionist’s
Guide: On
Sims (ed.), Literary Nonfiction: Learning by Example (2001)
*Spence, Linda. Legacy: A Step-by-Step
Guide to Writing Personal History.
Not
at all a guide to writing family history, the book does contain a series
of stimulating questions to ask family members or consider yourself
for all of the stages of life, with examples from published writers
interspersed throughout the lists of questions.
Talese and Lounsberry, Writing Creative Nonfiction: The Literature of Reality (1996)
Wagner-Martin, Linda. Telling
Women's Lives: The New Biography.
Warnock (ed.), Representing
Reality:
Weber, The Literature of Fact: Literary Non-fiction in American Writing (1980)
Zinsser, William, ed. Inventing the Truth:
The Art and Craft of Memoir.
Journals
Creative
Nonfiction (1993-)
Brevity: A
Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction (1998-)
www.creativenonfiction.org/brevity
Fourth Genre:
Explorations in Nonfiction (1999-)
River Teeth: A
Journal of Nonfiction Narrative (1999-)
Water-Stone
Review
Hamline University/St. Paul, Mn
Agni
Flyway: A
Literary Review
Iowa State University
Brief Suggested Reading List
Many Memoirs Available from the
American Lives Series: http://nebraskapress.unl.edu/Catalog/ProductSearch.aspx?filter=&search=American-lives&ExtendedSearch=False&cid=0&sort=Name&itemsperpage=10&view=List¤tpage=1&pf=&sf=&sj=0
General Memoir: http://nebraskapress.unl.edu/Catalog/ProductSearch.aspx?filter=&search=&cid=0&sort=Name&itemsperpage=10&view=List¤tpage=&pf=&sf=&sj=236
Blew, Mary Clearman. All But the Waltz.
"Beginning
with her great-grandparents' arrival in 1882 in
---. Balsamroot.
In
this emotionally honest memoir dealing with three generations of women, Blew
describes her relationship with her independent Aunt Imogene, the older women's
struggle with dementia, and the effect it has on the family. "Blew
imaginatively re-creates the dry, dusty, sparsely populated
Dickenson, James. Home on the Range: A
Century on the High Plains.
A
family history told the author by his maternal grandmother, it is "about
life in a rural wheat-farming community in western
Doig, Ivan. Heart Earth: A Memoir.
“Raised
by his father and maternal grandmother, Ivan Doig had
no more than a vague memory of his mother, who died on his sixth birthday. Then
he discovered a cache of her letters—and through them, a hopeful, strong, wise,
and witty woman whose voice prompted a re-visioning of Doig’s
past.” A “prequel to his acclaimed This House of Sky.
---. This House of Sky: Landscapes of the
Western Mind.
“Ivan
Doig grew up in the rugged, elemental
Dudley, Charles Iron Eye. Choteau Creek: A
Sioux Reminiscence.
“From
the time he was three years old, in 1943, Joseph Iron Eye Dudley was raised by
his grandparents on the Yankton Sioux reservation. Their tiny, weatherbeaten house, nestled in a bend of Chotau creek on the rolling South Dakota prairie, is where
he grew up, and this moving reminiscence recreated with warmth and candor a
childhood poor in material goods but overflowing with spiritual wealth.”
Hampl, Patricia. A Romantic
Education, I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory,
The Florist’s DFaughter.
Hasselstrom, Linda M. Going Over
East: Reflections of a Woman Rancher. Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 1987.
“A
poet, essayist, and working ranch woman,” Hasselstrom
describes her life on her
---.
A
collection of new and previously published essays and poems, Windbreak
focuses on ranching today, discussing her strong connection with the land and
environmental issues.. Although the collection does
not have the creative structure of her other works, her style,
"voice," and ability to tell a good story are world emulating.
---. Windbreak: A Woman Rancher on the
Northern Plains.
Using
journal-type entries, each beginning with the day's temperature and weather, Hasselstrom chronicles the "everyday" events on
her
Jordan, Teresa. Riding
the White Horse Home.
"In
1887 Teresa Jordan's great-grandfather bought a ranch in the
Kittredge, William. A Hole in the Sky: A
Memoir.
"Kittredge's
stunning memoir is at once autobiography, a family chronicle, and a westerner's
settling of accounts with the land he grew up in. . . an
honest reckoning of the American myth that drove generations of Americans
westward--and what became of their dream after they reached the edge."
---. Owning It All. A collection of
autobiographical essays about his past on an eastern
Kloefkorn, William. This Death by
Drowning.
---. Restoring the Burnt
Child.
---. At Home on This
Moveable Earth.
Kooser, Ted. Local Wonders.
Luther, Ken.
"This
account of the author's journey proceeds from his birthplace in broken Bow, Nebraska,
eastward across the Midwest to new York State and back into time as he carries
out genealogical research on his family. His findings along the way give rise
to diverse reflections, from courthouse architecture to the financial and
social stresses of 'proving up' land claims."
McFadden, Cyra. Rain
or Shine: A Family Memoir. 1986.
"Cy
Taillon was the molasses-voiced king of rodeo
announcers. When he dies in 1980, newspapers canonized as the dean of rodeo and
compared him to John Wayne. A reformed rake, handsome and charming and flashy,
he was also difficult, often more loveable to the public than to his family.
Their daughter, Cyra, grew up on the rodeo and
circuit" and this book is the story of her "complex relationship with
her parents and eccentric relative."
Momaday, N. Scott. The Names: A Memoir.
A
Kiowa, Momaday traces his family roots back four
generations, sharing stories of their lives and the lives of his people,
preserving his tribe's history, myths, and legends, and "imagining"
himself. He writes, "Some of my mother's memories have become my own. This
is the real burden of blood; this is immortality."
---. The Way to Rainy
Mountain.
An unusually organized work that combines tribal history and
personal history. Each "story" is comprised of three parts: a
myth, legend, or family story; historical or factual background; a personal,
poetic response to the subject.
Norris, Kathleen. Dakota: A Spiritual
Journey.
“Nearly twenty years ago, Kathleen Norris returned to the house built
by her grandparents in an isolated town on the border between North and
Rodriquez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The
Education of Richard Rodriques (1992); Day of
Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father (1993); Brown: The Last
Discovery of
Stegner, Wallace. Angle of
Repose. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971.
Although
this work is a novel, it is about a man going through family memorabilia to
understand the life of his grandmother, which is loosely based on the true
biography of writer Mary Hallack Foote.
---. Wolf Willow: A History, a Story, and
a Memory of the Last Plains Frontier. 1955.
A
memoir of Stegner’s boyhood in the Cypress Hills
region of southern
Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge: An
Unnatural History of Family and Place.
In
1983 Williams learned that her mother was dying of cancer and, at the same
time, that her beloved Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge would be flooded. She
interweaves the stories
of three generations of women with "dying and accommodation" to
transform a "tragedy into a document of renewal and spiritual grace."