Thursday Mar 07, 2024
22. Holistic Edge Radio w/Nancy Slonim Aronie - Memoir as Medicine: A Remarkable Resource for Mental & Emotional Growth
Meet Nancy Slonim Aronie, a leading memoir writer, who she does not teach writing, but instead has learned to create a "safe space" for her students where only positive critics can be offered, no negative critics or judgements in order to get to the truth of each person's heartfelt story. She tells us remarkable stories of breakthroughs people made in her workshop that came to heal them and other family members. She is storyteller and explains how the life ordeals she experienced made her understand that negative, mean spirited critics of writers' work can never be used as a tool to help any person grow, heal or reach their best potential in their writing, a very personal and raw exercise. She tells us funny stories and sad stories, always honest and true to herself.
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Guest Bio:
She is the founder of the Chilmark Writing Workshop on Martha’s Vineyard, where she lives. She has been a regular contributor to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered as well as a columnist for multiple newspapers. She has taught writing at such venues as Kripalu, Omega, Esalen, and Harvard University. She is the author of Writing from the Heart and her latest book, Memoir as Medicine: The Healing Power of Writing Your Messy, Imperfect, Unruly (but Gorgeously Yours) Life Story, these are just some of the reviews:
“. . . Nancy Aronie gives perfect examples using her own gorgeous stories. You will laugh, you will probably cry, but I promise you, you will write!”
— Carly Simon, author and Grammy Award–winning singer-songwriter
“At her famed workshops on Martha’s Vineyard, Nancy Aronie is described as the midwife to her students’ writing lives.
— Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of March, five bestselling novels, and three works of nonfiction
“Nancy Aronie writes from a large heart and a powerful brain, which is why her new book is so quickly becoming an essential addition to fine literature. The work is a frontrunner, and so is she.”
— Robert S. Brustein, theater critic, producer, playwright, educator, and founder of the Yale Repertory Theatre and the American Repertory Theater and Institute
". . . the book’s power and ultimate purpose is to help the reader survive a normal human life, with all its absurdities and impossible challenges.”
— Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Soul Therapy
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