A memoir is an autobiographical narrative composed from personal experience that tends to examine selected episodes from a life rather than a whole life. The boundaries between memoir and autobiography are often blurred and the terms are used interchangeably. There is however a critical difference. An autobiography aims to cover the entire sweep of a life and is written chronologically beginning with family stories, the birth of the narrator, childhood, adolescence, adult life and ending in the present moment. The memoir allows for more flexibility and creativity of form. A memoir may cover a shorter time span, or an intense and pivotal period in the person’s life. It may be more emotional and concerned with capturing particular episodes that had a profound impact on the writer such as a tragedy and how the writer survived that event.
Memoir is often arranged around a central theme with inter-connected strands that further inform the theme. For instance, Jeanette Winterson in Why be Happy When you Could be Normal examines the impact of being adopted by a harsh and unloving mother. Included in the memoir is an account of the depression the writer suffered as a result of being unloved and ill-treated and there is a section written with stunning clarity and compassion about a dark period in her adult life where she becomes unstuck emotionally.
A memoir can begin anywhere and flash forward and backwards in time. For instance, art critic Robert Hughes in Things I Didn’t Know begins his thematic account of his development as an art critic, with a serious car accident in Western Australia in 1999 that leaves him fighting for his life. His second chapter takes up with his childhood.
When we write memoir we are engaged in retrospection - combining introspection with reflection. As we write we muse upon the meanings, trying to unravel the story from an educated perspective in the present. Auckland writer and memoirist Peter Wells said once at a Going West festival interview, ‘When we write memoir we bring our full human intelligence to bear on the things that have happened to us.’
Is truth-telling essential? Is it realistic? Over the past decade there have been several publicized exposés of confabulated memoirs. In 2009 Jewish holocaust survivor Herman Rosenblat wrote, in his memoir, Angel at the Fence that while he was interned in a concentration camp that a little girl brought him apples everyday. Later he found the little girl in New York and married her. She corroborated the story and they appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s show and other news networks with their account of ‘the love story of the decade.’ Rosenblat has since admitted the ‘apples’ story was a product of his imagination. In 2003 Random House published the memoir, Forbidden Love by Norma Khouri, born in Jordan but living in the US at the time of writing, about the honour killing of her Jordanian friend. The best-selling memoir was revealed as a hoax by Sydney Morning Herald literary editor Malcolm Knox and has since been the subject of a fascinating documentary Forbidden Lies (2007.). There are obvious ethical, cultural and moral issues surrounding trading on a sensitive subject for self gain however these examples do show the remarkable facility of their authors to fabricate an imaginary memoir that seemed entirely plausible to the publisher and the reading audience.
What these examples also illustrate is the role of the imagination in transforming life into art. Because all autobiographies and memoirs offer a subjective version of biographical truth: a life, reshaped by recollection, with all the conscious and unconscious omissions and distortions that accompany the process of remembering. Perhaps we might think of a memoir then as a series of folk tales enlivened by our own imaginings and regular retellings. When we remember we are using our imagination to flesh out the memory and when we write things down we draw on fiction writing skills to turn the memory into compelling prose.
The similarities between fiction and memoir are closer than you realize. When you think about it, the first novels of many writers were autobiography disguised as fiction. Janet Frame’s Owls do Cry closely resembled her own life experience. A comparison of this novel with the first volume of her autobiography To the Island reveals the links. In both cases the writing is a construction, a carefully crafted and subjective version of the biographical truth, written by a talented and highly imaginative novelist who balanced the demands of her craft with the truth. I think then that the best we can strive for, when we write memoir is to stay close to the authentic truth of what we remember and try to write the story with integrity.
Who can write memoir? Anyone can write a memoir. I believe we all have the ability to tell our story and, if you are willing, you can learn how to transform those memories into a well-crafted story.
Who writes autobiography? In the past the autobiography genre has been dominated by stories of the rich and famous, of people involved in the arts or sporting arena, of people who have pursued a career that has received public recognition and attention. Initially a publisher is more likely to be interested in an autobiography by a well-known personality because of the marketing and sales opportunities. But fame isn’t enough on its own. To become a best seller a story needs to be well written, coherent and compelling.
Currently the memoir genre is enjoying a surge in popularity. Why is this? I think the market speaks and people are fascinated by the lives of others and read memoir to discover how another person has negotiated the stresses and challenges of a complex life. The new surge of interest in memoir can also be linked to the arrival of digital technologies enabling anyone to self-publish their story in both hard copy and online as an e-book. This availability to all has in effect democratized the medium.
Perhaps the spread of psychological concepts into the mainstream, along with the self-help book phenomenon both of which endorse the examination of our thoughts and feelings has also made a difference bringing about a gradual receptivity and acceptance amongst the general population that it is okay to write about our personal lives. This permission to explore our experience and record it in print is liberating.
Sometimes new writers raise their uneasiness around writing memoir. They worry the form is self-indulgent. My response is to gently pose the question, ‘Why not indulge the self through writing?’ If this activity leads to greater self-awareness, insight and a deepening of compassion towards oneself and the people and creatures we share this planet with then why not work on a memoir. If we can then transform our experience into a story that reads well and connects with its reader then surely the memoir is a valid and worthwhile art form to experiment with.
One of the more emancipating aspects of the memoir form is that the writer can employ a selective approach choosing the significant experiences, personal interests and preoccupations that have shaped a life while avoiding those areas that are not for public consumption. You do not have to chronicle everything that happened. You can be protective of the self and have mastery over the way you tell your story. This selective approach will allow you to enjoy the process.
Some examples of memoirs that are written on a theme:
When you begin reading memoir you will discover that the range of personal narratives is inexhaustible and that every story is valid. There are, for instance, memoirs about a soldier’s experience of World War I, about climbing mountains, realising dreams, witnessing major world events, pursuing careers, surviving an ordeal against the odds or contributing in a quieter but no less important way to humanity and the planet. Here is a selection:
Dr Deborah Shepard: Life Writing 2012 ©
Memoir is often arranged around a central theme with inter-connected strands that further inform the theme. For instance, Jeanette Winterson in Why be Happy When you Could be Normal examines the impact of being adopted by a harsh and unloving mother. Included in the memoir is an account of the depression the writer suffered as a result of being unloved and ill-treated and there is a section written with stunning clarity and compassion about a dark period in her adult life where she becomes unstuck emotionally.
A memoir can begin anywhere and flash forward and backwards in time. For instance, art critic Robert Hughes in Things I Didn’t Know begins his thematic account of his development as an art critic, with a serious car accident in Western Australia in 1999 that leaves him fighting for his life. His second chapter takes up with his childhood.
When we write memoir we are engaged in retrospection - combining introspection with reflection. As we write we muse upon the meanings, trying to unravel the story from an educated perspective in the present. Auckland writer and memoirist Peter Wells said once at a Going West festival interview, ‘When we write memoir we bring our full human intelligence to bear on the things that have happened to us.’
Is truth-telling essential? Is it realistic? Over the past decade there have been several publicized exposés of confabulated memoirs. In 2009 Jewish holocaust survivor Herman Rosenblat wrote, in his memoir, Angel at the Fence that while he was interned in a concentration camp that a little girl brought him apples everyday. Later he found the little girl in New York and married her. She corroborated the story and they appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s show and other news networks with their account of ‘the love story of the decade.’ Rosenblat has since admitted the ‘apples’ story was a product of his imagination. In 2003 Random House published the memoir, Forbidden Love by Norma Khouri, born in Jordan but living in the US at the time of writing, about the honour killing of her Jordanian friend. The best-selling memoir was revealed as a hoax by Sydney Morning Herald literary editor Malcolm Knox and has since been the subject of a fascinating documentary Forbidden Lies (2007.). There are obvious ethical, cultural and moral issues surrounding trading on a sensitive subject for self gain however these examples do show the remarkable facility of their authors to fabricate an imaginary memoir that seemed entirely plausible to the publisher and the reading audience.
What these examples also illustrate is the role of the imagination in transforming life into art. Because all autobiographies and memoirs offer a subjective version of biographical truth: a life, reshaped by recollection, with all the conscious and unconscious omissions and distortions that accompany the process of remembering. Perhaps we might think of a memoir then as a series of folk tales enlivened by our own imaginings and regular retellings. When we remember we are using our imagination to flesh out the memory and when we write things down we draw on fiction writing skills to turn the memory into compelling prose.
The similarities between fiction and memoir are closer than you realize. When you think about it, the first novels of many writers were autobiography disguised as fiction. Janet Frame’s Owls do Cry closely resembled her own life experience. A comparison of this novel with the first volume of her autobiography To the Island reveals the links. In both cases the writing is a construction, a carefully crafted and subjective version of the biographical truth, written by a talented and highly imaginative novelist who balanced the demands of her craft with the truth. I think then that the best we can strive for, when we write memoir is to stay close to the authentic truth of what we remember and try to write the story with integrity.
Who can write memoir? Anyone can write a memoir. I believe we all have the ability to tell our story and, if you are willing, you can learn how to transform those memories into a well-crafted story.
Who writes autobiography? In the past the autobiography genre has been dominated by stories of the rich and famous, of people involved in the arts or sporting arena, of people who have pursued a career that has received public recognition and attention. Initially a publisher is more likely to be interested in an autobiography by a well-known personality because of the marketing and sales opportunities. But fame isn’t enough on its own. To become a best seller a story needs to be well written, coherent and compelling.
Currently the memoir genre is enjoying a surge in popularity. Why is this? I think the market speaks and people are fascinated by the lives of others and read memoir to discover how another person has negotiated the stresses and challenges of a complex life. The new surge of interest in memoir can also be linked to the arrival of digital technologies enabling anyone to self-publish their story in both hard copy and online as an e-book. This availability to all has in effect democratized the medium.
Perhaps the spread of psychological concepts into the mainstream, along with the self-help book phenomenon both of which endorse the examination of our thoughts and feelings has also made a difference bringing about a gradual receptivity and acceptance amongst the general population that it is okay to write about our personal lives. This permission to explore our experience and record it in print is liberating.
Sometimes new writers raise their uneasiness around writing memoir. They worry the form is self-indulgent. My response is to gently pose the question, ‘Why not indulge the self through writing?’ If this activity leads to greater self-awareness, insight and a deepening of compassion towards oneself and the people and creatures we share this planet with then why not work on a memoir. If we can then transform our experience into a story that reads well and connects with its reader then surely the memoir is a valid and worthwhile art form to experiment with.
One of the more emancipating aspects of the memoir form is that the writer can employ a selective approach choosing the significant experiences, personal interests and preoccupations that have shaped a life while avoiding those areas that are not for public consumption. You do not have to chronicle everything that happened. You can be protective of the self and have mastery over the way you tell your story. This selective approach will allow you to enjoy the process.
Some examples of memoirs that are written on a theme:
When you begin reading memoir you will discover that the range of personal narratives is inexhaustible and that every story is valid. There are, for instance, memoirs about a soldier’s experience of World War I, about climbing mountains, realising dreams, witnessing major world events, pursuing careers, surviving an ordeal against the odds or contributing in a quieter but no less important way to humanity and the planet. Here is a selection:
- Ethnicity: Sally Morgan writes about discovering her aboriginal identity and growing up in white Australia.
- Sexual identity: Peter Wells writes about growing up gay in Auckland in Long Loop Home: a memoir – against the grain.
- A feminist re-telling of a life: Margaret Forster writes about four generations of women in Hidden Lives.
- The other side of the story: Hunter Davies tells his side of the story of living with Margaret Forster in The Beatles, Football and Me: A Memoir.
- The impact of a traumatic childhood: Janet Frame, To the island, Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes, Augusten Burroughs, a wolf at the table: a memoir, John Pule The Shark that Ate the Sun.
- The death of a loved one: Joan Didion selects one year of her life, the year following the death of her husband in The Year of Magical Thinking.
- Life after an accident: Stephen King in On Writing recounts how he became a writer and how he continues writing after a serious road accident.
- A love life: Marilyn Duckworth chronicles her affairs with NZ writers and artists.
- Living with Chronic Pain: Lynne Greenberg and The Body Broken: A Memoir
- Life after the Christchurch Earthquake: Fiona Farrell and The Broken Book
- Resilience: Australian author and film director Ann Deveson combines both non-fiction studies of resilience with strands of memoir in Resilience.
Dr Deborah Shepard: Life Writing 2012 ©