Memoir Nation

Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner
  • 0.0 (0)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Memoir Nation: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is an extension of the Memoir Nation community hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner, two friends and colleagues who bring a community-minded sensibility to the writing journey. Originally launched as Write-minded in 2018, this is a weekly writing podcast that focuses on memoir and personal writing, as well as industry trends and tips and resources for writers and authors.  Memoir Nation features a segment called Book Alley at the end of each episode to talk about recent memoirs that authors have sent Brooke and Grant, or memoirs they've discovered that are thought provoking or have sparked inspiration. Brooke and Grant bring to this weekly podcast their deeply held belief that everyone is a writer, and everyone’s story matters. Discover more about Memoir Nation at memoirnation.com.

  1. Rich Benjamin on Writing a Memoir Centering Events That Transpired Before You Were Born

    6 DAYS AGO

    Rich Benjamin on Writing a Memoir Centering Events That Transpired Before You Were Born

    How do you get into a story that centers events you don’t remember because you weren’t alive to witness them? That’s what we’re covering today in an episode that reaches into considerations of intergenerational trauma, and how even what’s not said gets transmitted from one generation to the next. Author Rich Benjamin shares with us the story of his family’s tumultuous past in Haiti, and its impact on his grandfather, who never knew, and his mother, who chose silence over disclosure. Rich speaks about research, about how it can be easier to write “third-hand” about traumas you didn’t live through, and how doing the work to uncover stories like these can break the cycles of trauma. In this week’s book trend, we actually cover a positive AI trend—unheard of. Listen in for more. Rich Benjamin is an award-winning writer, cultural critic, and memoirist whose work investigates political, social, and economic power through deeply researched storytelling. Rich is the author of the memoir, Talk to Me: Lessons from a Family Forged by History, and Searching for Whitopia, a groundbreaking immersive study that presciently examined the rise of white anxiety and nationalism in the United States. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other major publications, and he is a frequent commentator on NPR, MSNBC, and CNN. His memoir was just shortlisted for the 2026 J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    40 min
  2. Alicia Jo Rabins on the Spiritual Memoir

    6 APR

    Alicia Jo Rabins on the Spiritual Memoir

    For many, spirituality is a private inner journey filled with nuance and informed by culture, family of origin, life experiences both positive and negative, and much more. Guest Alicia Jo Rabins shares her own journey at the heart of her new memoir, When We’re Born We Forget Everything—one that started with a fairly typical secular Jewish suburban upbringing and later twists and turns through the spiritual, the sacred, and the mystical. Her memoir is a beautiful mosaic that invites readers to consider and contemplate their own understanding of the Divine. This week, inspired by Alicia Jo, Brooke and Grant do just that, in addition to talking about publishing’s relationship to spiritual (and religious) works. Alicia Jo Rabins a writer, musician, performer, and feminist Torah teacher. Her spiritual memoir, out on Schocken Books, is When We’re Born We Forget Everything. She is the author of four additional books, including the poetry collections Divinity School and Fruit Geode. As a songwriter, violinist and composer, Rabins tours internationally with Girls in Trouble, her indie-folk song cycle about women in Torah. Visit her at www.aliciajo.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    55 min
  3. Memoir Showers and Celebrity Pet Memoirs (WTF?)

    30 MAR

    Memoir Showers and Celebrity Pet Memoirs (WTF?)

    This week’s Memoir Nation introduces a new memoir challenge and invitation to writers to come check out what we’re calling Memoir Showers at Memoir Nation. Join our community for a whole month of writing prompts, community support, and confetti—of course. And what’s up with this new slew of celebrity pet memoirs? Do you find this week’s book trend troubling or amusing? Tune in to see what you think! Cohosts Grant Faulkner and Brooke Warner present today’s show. Together they’re the cofounders of Memoir Nation, just one of the many hats each of them wear. Both of them are memoir champions and have memoirs-in-progress.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    24 min
  4. Rachel Eliza Griffiths on Finding the Poetry in Grief

    23 MAR

    Rachel Eliza Griffiths on Finding the Poetry in Grief

    We have a gorgeous interview this week on Memoir Nation with poet, novelist, and now memoirist Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Rachel’s new memoir, The Flower Bearers, is about two incidents that happened in short succession—the death of her best friend, poet Kamilah Aisha Moon, and the stabbing of her husband, author Salman Rushdie. Her book and this interview are an exploration of the layers of grief, how we show our layers of experience on the page, and so much more. This memoir is also our book club pick on Memoir Nation this month (happening March 27), so if you love the interview, check out Memoir Nation and join us for Book Club. Details at: https://memoir-nation.mn.co Rachel Eliza Griffiths is many things: a poet, a visual artist, and a novelist—and now a memoirist. She is a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award and the Paterson Poetry Prize and was a finalist for a NAACP Image Award. Rachel is the author of several collections of poetry. Her third collection of poetry, Mule & Pear was selected for the 2012 Inaugural Poetry Award by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Her fourth collection of poetry, Lighting the Shadow was selected as a finalist for the 2015 Balcones Poetry Prize and the 2016 Phillis Wheatley Book Award in Poetry. Her debut novel, Promise, was a Kirkus Reviews and Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year, and she just published her memoir, The Flower Bearers, earlier this year. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    50 min
  5. Janine Kovac on Getting Into Writing Residencies and Book Festivals

    16 MAR

    Janine Kovac on Getting Into Writing Residencies and Book Festivals

    This week Memoir Nation is tackling two areas of interest to most writers: writing residencies and book festivals. Guest Janine Kovac, in addition to being an author herself, adjudicates submissions for various residencies and is co-director of Litquake's Lit Crawl. As such, she reads hundreds of applications and submissions and has some pro tips on how authors should be thinking about their applications if they want to throw their hats in the ring. A great episode for anyone gunning for some private time away to write your work-in-progress or to be in the public eye to promote your latest book. Tune in or bookmark it for later! Janine Kovac is a former professional ballet dancer who writes about power dynamics and women's bodies. Her most recent book is the memoir, The Nutcracker Chronicles: A Fairytale Memoir.  Janine is the co-director of Litquake's Lit Crawl and an alumna of several writing residencies including Hedgebrook, MacDowell, Mesa Refuge, WordSpace Studios, Vashon Artist Residency, In Cahoots, and the Mineral School. She adjudicates submissions for several writing organizations including Litquake and has served on the jury for U.C. Berkeley's Leadership Award. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    41 min
  6. Marya Hornbacher on Memoirs That Prevail

    9 MAR

    Marya Hornbacher on Memoirs That Prevail

    Before memoir was the craze that it is today, there were writers who were defining the genre. Marya Hornbacher was one of them. Her two best-selling memoirs, Wasted and Madness, are two of the most influential memoirs of all time—giving rise to a whole slew of books not only on her topics of eating disorders and mental health, but about many challenging topics that later became collectively (and disparagingly) known as “misery memoirs.” Despite the judgments and the naysayers, these kinds of memoirs have outlasted the critiques—and prevailed. Marya Hornbacher was one of the trailblazers and she has some things to say about all of this and more. Marya will be teaching a class for Memoir Nation this June 11th called The "Give a Shit" Factor: Writing Memoirs That Matter, something she knows a thing or two about. Find the details at MemoirNation.com.  Marya Hornbacher is an award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and the recipient of a host of awards for her work, which include Wasted, Madness, Sane, and Waiting, and the novel: The Center of Winter. Shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, Marya has spent a prolific quarter century writing and teaching across genres. She has a popular Substack called Going Solo at the End of the World, and a new book coming out in 2027.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    57 min
  7. Mimi Nichter on Finding the Courage to Tell Your Story

    2 MAR

    Mimi Nichter on Finding the Courage to Tell Your Story

    This week, guest Mimi Nichter brings us a unique opportunity to talk about the courage—and many years—it sometimes takes to tell the story you must write. In Mimi’s case, it took 50 years. In 1970, Mimi was on Trans World Airlines Flight 741 when it got rerouted from Tel Aviv to to Jordan after it was hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Her memoir, Hostage: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience, is a recounting, a compassionate examination of the human lives at the center of this event, and a courageous act, given the political moment when so many are troubled by being forced to take sides in a political conflict where there is only loss and losers. This is an important story that took years to tell—and this week’s show grapples with how many stories like Mimi’s are out there, yet untold, and again marvels at the value of memoir as a vehicle of truth and witness. Mimi Nichter is a cultural and medical anthropologist, public speaker, and a professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Arizona. She is the author or coauthor of four anthropology-related books and the recipient of the Margaret Mead Award and the George Foster Practicing Medical Anthropology Award. Her essays have appeared in HuffPost, Newsweek, and Brevity. Her brand-new memoir, Hostage: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience, was a finalistic for the the Tucson festival of books literary award for nonfiction.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    50 min
  8. Jordan Carlos on Writing Memoir as a Portal to Self-Betterment

    23 FEB

    Jordan Carlos on Writing Memoir as a Portal to Self-Betterment

    This week’s episode is a meditation on partnership and all the ways there are to both attend to your partner and to fail. In his new book Choreplay, author Jordan Carlos calls himself out for some of his shortcomings as a husband, but also explores ways he can and does show up for his wife. Grant and Brooke reveal their own thoughts about how they measure up as spouses, and also consider memoirs like these that are explorations of how we can do better—as humans, as partners, as parents, and in all the ways we show up in the world. Jordan Carlos is a comedian, thank God, because he’s able to take this seemingly fraught topic and make it funny and fun. Enjoy! Jordan Carlos is a stand up comedian and actor based in New York. He recently wrote for and starred in the first season of Phoebe Robinson’s “Everything’s Trash”, and stars in the forthcoming animated series Motel Translyvania, coming to Netflix in Fall 2025. He is perhaps best known for his work as a writer and on-air contributor for The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, has written for Divorce and “The White House Correspondents’ Dinner” (in 2016) as well as “The Not The White House Correspondent’s Dinner” with Samantha Bee (in 2017). He has also appeared on Black Mirror, Nora From Queens, Party Down, Broad City, and The Colbert Report , among others. Jordan lives in Brooklyn with his wife and children, and Choreplay  is his first book. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    51 min
See All (250)

About

Memoir Nation: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is an extension of the Memoir Nation community hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner, two friends and colleagues who bring a community-minded sensibility to the writing journey. Originally launched as Write-minded in 2018, this is a weekly writing podcast that focuses on memoir and personal writing, as well as industry trends and tips and resources for writers and authors.  Memoir Nation features a segment called Book Alley at the end of each episode to talk about recent memoirs that authors have sent Brooke and Grant, or memoirs they've discovered that are thought provoking or have sparked inspiration. Brooke and Grant bring to this weekly podcast their deeply held belief that everyone is a writer, and everyone’s story matters. Discover more about Memoir Nation at memoirnation.com.

Information

  • Creator
    Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    250
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Memoir Nation
  • Show Website
    Memoir Nation

You Might Also Like