Writing the Radical Memoir

More about the book

For those who have mastered the basics of memoir and wish to delve deeper into creative nonfiction, this guide challenges assumptions about memory and truth in writing. Each chapter presents key principles from influential theorists like Barthes, Lacan, and Derrida, alongside literary examples that illustrate these ideas in practice. The text includes original exercises and prompts that connect theory to practical application, addressing various aspects of nonfiction writing. Topics covered include the writer/reader contract, thematic exploration of personal experiences, the impact of neuroscience on memory, character development and ethics in writing about real people, and the construction of identity in memoir. It also explores the notion that memoir may not simply preserve the past but can involve self-erasure, as well as how J. M. Coetzee’s Autrebiography trilogy challenges traditional biography. By integrating lived experience with post-structuralist and postmodernist theories, this book encourages a nuanced understanding of the self, its portrayal, creation, and transformation through writing and remembering.