The writer Marjorie Simmins discusses her book Memoir: Conversations and Craft (Pottersfield Press, 2020), with Joseph Planta.

Memoir: Conversations and Craft by Marjorie Simmins (Pottersfield Press, 2020). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Memoir

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

I’ve mentioned before Marjorie Simmins’s terrific book Memoir: Conversations and Craft. If you’re like me and enjoy reading memoirs, it’s a marvelous book about how they’re written. And who better to take a look at the form than Marjorie who is the author of two memoirs herself, and a noted teacher of memoir writing across Canada. In the book she has conversations with Lawrence Hill, Plum Johnson, Linden MacIntyre, Edmund Metatawabin, Donna Morrissey, Claire Mowat, and Diane Schoemperlen. They are also acclaimed writers of memoir, and it’s often captivating to read these conversations about their experiences, their methods, and their advice. No two memoirs are the same, and the advice from different writers may differ, but one takes what they need and what they’ll find helpful as they think about their lives, or an episode in ones life. Marjorie also has some terrific exercises, that if you are seriously thinking about writing your own memoir, then this book is a great place to get started. Marjorie Simmins is an award-winning journalist, and her two previous memoirs are Coastal Lives, and Year of the Horse, which she was first on the show with in 2016. She was last on the show in October to talk about her husband Silver Donald Cameron’s book Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes. Visit www.marjoriesimmins.ca. Memoir: Conversations and Craft is published by Pottersfield Press. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Marjorie Simmins; Ms. Simmins, good morning.

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