Intimate Strangers: Writing the Family (V)

“It took me half my life to achieve seeing my parents as cartoons,” Jonathan Franzen once said about managing to write with emotional detachment and lucidity about his family. We can be faced with myriads of emotions when working on an essay, memoir, or family history making it challenging to see parents or siblings as complex human beings with unique and valuable perspectives. We’ll approach family-related projects from a place of deep curiosity and explore writing about those we know as if they were intriguing strangers. We’ll discuss interviewing methods to initiate deep and meaningful conversations, and self-care tips.