Life Story Links: April 7, 2026
“You cannot interview the dead.”
—John McPhee
Vintage postcard titled “A Wet Day in Wellington, Manners Street,” 1908, by Zak Joseph Zachariah; original public domain image from Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Potpourri of memoir & life writing inspiration
CONFRONTING THE STUFF OF OUR MEMORIES
“Our memories are both hero and villain in our lives. They are malleable and fallible, but also demanding, arrogant and stuck in their ways. Memories haunt us and they can’t hide from us. And in this age of remembrance where every moment is destined to be documented, we are inescapable to ourselves.”
WRITING AS INTEGRATION TOOL
“Someone out there is waiting for your story to come and save them. I really believe that. Some people think we all have one soulmate—I don’t believe that, but I do believe we have mirrors to our story and that writing attracts them.” Lena Dunham on her new memoir.
WORDS FROM WRITERS
This week I’m sharing five quotes about memoir and life writing, all plucked from the pages of my commonplace books—hopefully they inspire you to write a little yourself!
GIVING SHAPE TO GRIEF
“The act of archiving turns into a process of care, a way of giving form to absence and making it visible” in photographer and visual artist Veronica Benedetti photography project, “Ofelia.”
MEMOIR SCANDALS
“As the memoir scandals show, questions of authenticity do not disappear just because they’re hard to detect and what is acceptable is debated.” Lincoln Michel on James Frey, Amy Griffin, Shy Girl, and LLM book reviews.
...and a few more links
Short takes
