Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

Useful Tips, Interviews, and Stories to Inspire Food Writers and Bloggers

Memoir

How Michael Twitty Wrote the James Beard Book of the Year

by 8 Comments

image of Michael Twitty titleI’ve been trying to nail down Michael Twitty for an interview since May, when he won the James Beard Book of the Year for The Cooking Gene, as well as the award for Best Narrative Writing. And the awards are for his first book, which makes them even more impressive.

Twitty’s book explores the history of his Black ancestors through Southern food, his Jewishness, his coming out as a gay man, and more. You will find the history of race, politics and enslavement through his lens. It’s a long, complicated, funny, sad (about his slave ancestors), and [Read more…] about How Michael Twitty Wrote the James Beard Book of the Year

Yemisi Aribisala’s Fearless, Sensuous Food Memoir

by 9 Comments

interview with Yemisi AribisalaWhen I suggested on Instagram and Twitter that you will love Yemisi Aribisala’s book, Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds, to my surprise, the author herself answered me.

“I once wrote you a long long time ago,” she said. “I tried to find the email but couldn’t. I believe I sent you Fish Soups and Love Potions after reading and being inspired by the 2010 Will Write For Food. I still have it… and it is just amazing to be chatting with you via Twitter.”

I immediately asked to interview Aribisala, because I [Read more…] about Yemisi Aribisala’s Fearless, Sensuous Food Memoir

An Interview With Anthony Bourdain: “Absolute Fearlessness is Essential”

by 61 Comments

interview with Anthony Bourdain

On the ferry to Vashon Island while filming Parts Unknown in Seattle, Washington, in 2017. Photo by David Scott Holloway, courtesy of CNN.

When I heard the shocking news, I thought back to my interview with Anthony Bourdain about writing and eating.

I wanted to interview him about writing. In 2004 I was working on the first edition of Will Write for Food, my book about how to become a food [Read more…] about An Interview With Anthony Bourdain: “Absolute Fearlessness is Essential”

Q&A: David Leite on Food, Mental Illness and Coming Out

by 7 Comments

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

by 10 Comments

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