Oprah said it last week on the Golden Globes. She wants you to be “speaking your truth.” She said she’s “especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to [Read more…] about Speaking Your Truth
Memoir
Q&A: David Leite on Food, Mental Illness and Coming Out
Yes, David Leite is the founder of Leites Culinaria and the multiple award-winning food essayist. And I know him as my warm, generous, and loyal friend. We have stayed at each others’ homes, met each other’s partners, and even had pastries in Paris last year.
If you don’t know him yet, David wrote an award-winning cookbook on Portuguese food. He won several James Beard and other awards. He’s been a correspondent and guest host on The Splendid Table and Martha Stewart Radio, and appeared on The Today Show.
Now he’s accomplished a huge goal, and I couldn’t be more proud. He’s written [Read more…] about Q&A: David Leite on Food, Mental Illness and Coming Out
How I Won 12 Book Awards for My Memoir
A guest post by Judith Newton
Since independently publishing my food memoir, Tasting Home: Coming of Age in the Kitchen (She Writes Press) in 2013, my book has won 12 book awards. Once Dianne found this out, she asked me to speculate about why.
Tasting Home, to give you some sense of the book, is a feminist coming-of-age story about overcoming childhood and other traumas. Cooking for and dining with others had been fundamental to this process. Each chapter [Read more…] about How I Won 12 Book Awards for My Memoir
“Memoir Has to Risk Something,” says John Birdsall
Food writer John Birdsall has won two James Beard Foundation awards for intensely personal essays.
A few years ago, I went outside my comfort zone. I contacted a stranger and asked to meet.
The stranger was John Birdsall, now a double James-Beard winning writer and essayist. At that time he was a restaurant reviewer for a local newspaper here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I loved his restaurant reviews.
John has since moved on to narrative non-fiction or personal essays, often about the intersection of gay culture and food. I know he’s already won awards and was published in prestigious places, but I feel like he’s just getting started and has so much more to offer us.
Here’s his take on restaurant writing, personal essay writing, and taking risks. He also has good insights about his former writing and the role of an editor. I asked him to write his answers (rather than me interviewing him), so you can get a sense of his style:
Q. How does your background as a restaurant and catering cook influence your food writing? Do you believe that people who write about food should have professional experience or culinary training?
A. For a long time I didn’t think it did: Cooking seemed a prelude disconnected from [Read more…] about “Memoir Has to Risk Something,” says John Birdsall
Love Italy? Enter My Book Giveaway: Eating Rome
Author Elizabeth Minchilil has lived in Italy since age 12.
Ever since journalist Elizabeth Minchilli started a blog, Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome, in 2009, she’s been leading food tours, creating apps on where to eat in Italy, taking videos of chefs and cooks, and she rents out an apartment too. Minchilli has written six books, most recently Eating Rome: Living the Good Life in the Eternal City, a terrific part memoir, part guidebook and part cookbook.
I’m giving away a free copy of Eating Rome, Minchilli’s mouthwatering exploration of this ancient city. To enter this book giveaway, leave a comment below.
I interviewed Minchilli about her career, photography, and lifestyle:
Q. Your life in Rome seems so glamorous. You’re dining at fantastic restaurants, pressing olive oil and making pizza with masters. Is it really so stylish and all Sophia Loren?
A. Not Sophia Loren. I don’t think of it as glamour and style but [Read more…] about Love Italy? Enter My Book Giveaway: Eating Rome
Do You Know These Five Essentials of Food Memoir Writing?
Kathleen Flinn has published three acclaimed food memoirs.
A guest post by Kathleen Flinn
Who writes three food memoirs? Before they’re 50 years old, no less? There’s me, Ruth Reichl, Nigel Slater… it’s not a long list. Food memoirs are tricky, though. Here are some things I’ve learned along the way:
1. Conflict drives narrative.
Your grandmother might have made beautiful dumplings. You may be obsessed with kumquats. But does your story pass what my journalism mentor called the “Who Cares” test?
Ultimately, readers keep turning pages because they want to find out [Read more…] about Do You Know These Five Essentials of Food Memoir Writing?
Molly Wizenberg: “Let Your Writing Speak for Itself, and Be Proud of It”
Food blogger Molly Wizenberg, whose writing career expanded to include two memoirs. (Photo by Kyle Johnson)
At Food Blog South recently in Birmingham, food blogger Molly Wizenberg shared her story of leaving graduate school and jumping into the unknown with her blog, Orangette. She spoke about taking risks, setting high standards, the importance of showing up, and how blogs are a powerful tool for writing.
Here’s an excerpt from her talk, which Molly graciously allowed me to share with you. It’s an inspiring piece about one young woman’s determination to stick with blogging, no matter what life events come along. If you’re feeling conflicted about blogging, or even writing on a regular basis, pull up a chair:
“I […] started Orangette in 2004. I have to tell you, I was so giddy to have a place to write for myself, not for professors; to have a place to let myself fall down the rabbit hole of food; to have given myself permission to go after something that made me so happy. I think you probably all know that feeling. There’s nothing that can beat that feeling.
I didn’t know then what I wanted to do with my blog, other than gush about [Read more…] about Molly Wizenberg: “Let Your Writing Speak for Itself, and Be Proud of It”