Author Archives: first person productions
Fudge Girl
This is the first essay Katie shared at our South Madison memoir workshop, written in Fall 2008 about her summer of 1992. With this essay “She had me at hello,” as the saying goes. I’ve been a fan of her work ever … Continue reading
Naming Names comes up again
One of my fearless, peerless writers just turned me down. I invited him to post an essay he’d written on being trapped with smokers as part of his job. His words evoked so vividly the world before smoking bans, you could … Continue reading
“I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore”
By Sarah White I thought I’d follow on Dan Schuette’s “Invasion” post about the U.W. Campus 1967 with a memory of what I was doing about that same time. I wrote this in response to an assignment I gave my … Continue reading
Invasion on the UW Campus
This is the sixth and final in a series of short essays on the theme of “Invasions” I’ll be posting. See backstory here… -Sarah White By Dan Schuette They were on campus the year before, but this year they were even … Continue reading
Kindergarten: The Learning Begins
By Linda Lenzke In September of 1955 my education began. On the first day of Kindergarten my mother curled my long hair, clipped a red and a blue ribbon above each of my ears to match my first day of … Continue reading
A writing prompt from Pee-Wee Herman
In the 1985 movie “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” the man-child sets out to find his beloved bike, which has been stolen. A psychic tells him the bike is hidden in the basement of the Alamo. On the way there, he meets … Continue reading
Invasion
This is the fifth in a series of short essays on the theme of “Invasions” I’ll be posting. See backstory here… -Sarah White By Kay Wiedholz As a child there was a huge box elder tree in our back yard. Each … Continue reading
Book review: Carlos Eire’s “Waiting for Snow in Havana”
Occasionally the challenge of moving around in time comes up in my writing workshop. We write essays triggered by themes, rather than strict chronology, so naturally we end up with a crazy quilt of pieces about different times, places, and … Continue reading
My Earliest Branching Point
In my writing workshops I encourage memoirists to focus on life’s branching points. These are the events that leave your life forever changed. A branching point may come about by choice or by chance; it may seem terrible at the … Continue reading
Contests give aspiring authors goals and recognition
One of the many hats I wear is Contests Workgroup Coordinator for the Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Association. Entering WRWA writing contests can be rewarding financially, and offers benefits apart from prize money. Success in a contest raises your profile, and can … Continue reading
True Stories Well Told 