Book Launch for Marjorie St. Clair—February 19, 2023

Book Launch for Marjorie’s New Memoir:

A Southern Belle in Paris 

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023 via Zoom

DOES TELLING YOUR PERSONAL STORY MATTER?

Taking seriously the idea that sometimes people need a story more than food to stay alive as writer Barry Lopez said in his novella Crow and Weasel, what if we changed our attitude regarding the stories that come to us whether they be fiction or nonfiction, and considered it a sacred responsibility to care for them, give them away where they are needed? Would this help us to one day become good storytellers? Looking back at your life, which is required when writing a memoir, offers an immediate experience of how much has happened to you and how impressive your life has been; after all, it has made you the person you are today! In the act of writing your story, you also have the opportunity to embrace a larger perspective of your life and the world, one which allows you to forgive yourself and others who may have done you harm. Eventually, you will grow to see that what you’ve experienced and lived through can be of benefit to others and is a good reason to share your story out into the world. This is certainly true for me.

In my years of teaching memoir writing to other writers, I have learned many things that helped me to write my own memoir A Southern Belle in Paris: Bikinis, Bomb, de Beauvoir & Billy Bob.  For example, writing your memoir is a marathon, not a sprint. Why do I say that? Because it will likely take you years to complete your book. Life events will come along and take over; they’ll require that you set your writing aside, while you pledge with all your heart that you’ll  take it up again at a later time, which hopefully you will but it may be years later! That was true for me, as I started and stopped many times before finally finishing my memoir this past summer. That is why I come happily to this page today to offer up and share with you the results of my ten-year long commitment to write, complete, and publish my memoir; and to cordially invite you to attend my Zoom Book Launch on Sunday, February 19, 2023. 

Hosted by poet, artist and activist Jules Nyquist of Poetry Playhouse in Placitas, NM, we’ll talk about the process of writing a memoir (Jules wrote her memoir in poetry form); I’ll read several sections from my memoir, including the humorous story titled “When Two Steel Magnolias Walk Into a Feminist Meeting”; then open it up to Q & A’s from those present. I hope you’ll join me, Jules, friends & other writers for this event and share in my joy at publishing my memoir!