Writers turning memories into memoirs

Roxana Robinson and Dani Shapiro
Jennifer Almquist
Roxana Robinson and Dani Shapiro
Early evening in West Cornwall, twilight descending, the lights of the Cornwall Library glowed as a capacity crowd found their seats to spend the next two hours in the presence of three local authors Saturday, Jan. 27.
Cornwall resident Roxana Robinson was the moderator of the Author Talk in the library, part of a series of scheduled events. She began the evening by introducing the women seated on either side of her: “Dani Shapiro and A.M. Homes are two of our most interesting contemporary writers. Through the lenses of fiction and memoir, they have explored the world as we know it. It’s a choice all writers face — which genre, which form, will best allow me to explore this subject?”
Robinson, the biographer of Georgia O’Keeffe, has written six novels and three collections of short stories. She was named a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library. She is an environmentalist, master gardener and scholar of American paintings. Robinson teaches in the MFA program at Hunter College.
The evening in Cornwall felt like a university seminar. Robinson spoke of the transformation of the genre of memoir in the last 20 years following the “blazing memoir” ["The Liar’s Club"] written by Mary Carr, who once wrote of “the sheer convincing poetry of a single person trying to make sense of the past.”
Robinson said, “Dani Shapiro has chosen primarily to use memoir as a means of exploring the world, writing about her rather sensational coming of age, in 'Slow Motion,' the question of faith in 'Devotion,' the story of her marriage in 'Hourglass,' and the revelatory discovery of her biological parent in 'Inheritance,' while writing novels that explore similar themes.”
Shapiro has written four memoirs — "Hourglass," "Still Writing," "Devotion" and "Slow Motion" — and five novels. Her work has been translated in 14 languages. She has taught at Wesleyan University, the New School, New York University, and Columbia University.
Robinson asked Shapiro how she chose her form. She answered: “It is dictated by what happens — a shimmer — and my obsession becomes the theme. Writing 'Slow Motion' was a conscious choice, but I was not in charge. 'Slow Motion' was a curative for my fiction.”
Turning to her right, Robinson asked Homes, “How did you choose memoir?”
She replied: “I was adopted, I was a replacement for a child who had died, and my biological family found me in my 30s. Time and history change things. I think the relationship between self and story IS the story. I was writing about secrets, but I WAS the secret.” She was the product of an affair between a married man with a family and his young mistress. Homes said she had grown up fascinated by George Washington, written about him, and was freaked out to learn from her biological father that she was related to Washington, and her family once owned all the land that is now Washington, D.C. Her prescience was uncanny.
Shapiro added that in psychiatry that is called the “unthought known” — what we know in our bones. She referred to her own “genealogical bewilderment” upon learning that the man she had adored as her father until 2016 was not her biological father. Her true identity had been hidden from her for 50 years. Shapiro marveled that she had written over 100 pages describing a certain male character, and then learned later that her biological father was a dead ringer for the fictional character she had summoned up.
Robinson explained: “A.M. has focused on the sociological aspects of the world, exploring the possibilities of transgressive behavior in her controversial novel, 'The End of Alice,' which was about a homicidal pedophile, and 'Music for Torching,' about subversive currents in the well-behaved suburbs, and now in 'The Unfolding,' which imagines a group of rich, entitled men who can’t tolerate the election of a black man for president, and who set out to undermine the American system in response. Her memoir, 'The Mistress’s Daughter,' explores her own discovery of biological parents who intrude on her life in an unsettling way.”
Homes, who teaches creative writing at Princeton University, has written 26 books that have been published in 22 languages, and is the writer/producer on television shows including "Mr. Mercedes" and "The L Word." She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She collaborates on book projects with artists including Carroll Dunham of Cornwall and has written the libretto for three operas. Her newest book, "The Unfolding," is oddly prescient as she began writing it when Obama was elected, and it centers on a character known as “the Big Guy” who organizes a group of wealthy Republicans to form the “Forever Men,” a secret cabal who will do anything for their species to stay in power.
The friendship between these three women was palpable during their dialogue. They know and respect each other’s writing. The sensibility of Homes and Shapiro are polar opposites, yet they write about the impact of their parent’s decisions, and family secrets, on their own emotional, psychological development. Homes is irreverent, witty, and creates “the least likely characters, and then I inhabit them — I want my characters to be someone I would like to spend time with.”
“A.M., you make people love your unsavory characters, they have a strange dichotomy,” observed Shapiro, and Homes replied, “Dani, your characters are beautifully struggling with that, but they are way more tender.”
Each author asked questions of the other. “Dani, you are renowned in the mentoring teaching world, what was the evolution of that?" Shapiro answered that moving up to the country changed everything and she began running writing classes, creating a creative bond with her students that has continued for 25 years. “I teach at Kripalu once a year — real generative work with small groups with prompts, and in 2007 started the Sirenland Workshop in Positano, Italy." Shapiro’s podcast "Family Secrets" has 30 million downloads.
Homes: Writing a memoir is like doing surgery on yourself.
Shapiro: Writing a memoir is not cathartic, it drills down your own story more deeply. What haunts us is part of our DNA.
Homes: Dani, how do you translate memory?
Shapiro: Annie Dillard said follow the line of words.
Shapiro: Dolly Parton said, “figure out who you are, and do it on purpose.”
Shapiro and Robinson will be in discussion again on Feb. 13 at The White Hart Inn in Salisbury at 6:30 p.m. to discuss Robinson's newest novel, "Leaving."
PINE PLAINS — The Pine Plains FFA Ag Fair brought a crowd to the high school on Church Street Saturday, Oct. 11.
Kicking off the day was the annual tractor pull, attracting a dedicated crowd that sat in bleachers and folding chairs for hours watching Allison-Chalmers, International Harvesters and John Deeres compete to pull the heaviest weights.
A large collection of food was on offer from the Pine Plains FFA and each one of the classes in the Pine Plains Central School District. The football team was selling pickles.
Stissing Mountain High School Principal Christopher Boyd enjoyed a dip in the dunk tank to raise money for the Pine Plains teachers’ union-sponsored scholarship.
Stissing Mountain High School Principal Christopher Boyd got dunked several times during his half-hour shift in the dunk tank. Proceeds from the throws benefitted the Photo by Nathan Miller
MILLERTON — Ten candidates for office in the Nov. 4 election will answer questions from Dutchess County voters at a candidate forum on Friday, Oct. 24, at the Annex at the NorthEast-Millerton Library located at 28 Century Blvd.
The forum, which is sponsored by the library, will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Candidates for local and county offices will answer questions from residents in attendance or from residents who have submitted questions in advance.
“We’re excited to keep the tradition of the candidate forum going,” said Rhiannon Leo-Jameson, director of the library. “Some years we can’t always get candidates together.”
This year’s forum will include:
Rachele Grieco Cole, a Democrat, and Chris Mayville, a Republican, who both are running uncontested for the North East Town Council;
Casey McCabe, a Democrat, also running uncontested for North East Justice.
Among Dutchess County races:
Tracy MacKenzie, who is endorsed by Republicans and Democrats, is running uncontested for Dutchess County Family Court Judge;
Kara Gerry, a Democrat, and Ned McLoughlin, a Republican, are in a contest for a Dutchess County Court judgeship currently held by McLoughlin.
Chris Drago, D-19, and Tonya Pulver, a Republican, are competing to represent Dutchess County’s19th District seat currently held by Drago.
Democratic incumbent Dan Aymar-Blair and Will Truitt, the Republican chair of the county legislature, are competing for the Dutchess County Comptroller position currently held by Aymar-Blair.
Leo-Jameson is encouraging questions for the candidates to be submitted in advance, which will not be revealed to candidates beforehand. Dutchess County residents may pose questions during the forum. To submit a question on the library’s website, go to the calendar at nemillertonlibrary.org and find the link in the Oct. 24calendar entries.
The format calls for opening statements from the candidates, followed by questions from residents, and candidates will be able to stay after the forum to answer questions personally.
The “Elusive Ki Shusui” koi were temporarily relocated into a tub before being returned to their home pond at Maxine Pietro’s annual koi harvest at Broccoli Hall Farm in Amenia on Friday, Oct. 10. Speaking of their yellowish beauty, Pietro is pictured pointing out that the fish are scaleless but for scales that grow along the “zipper” on each fish’s dorsal ridge. The koi in the photo are estimated to be 6 or 7 years old.
The North East Community Center's Early Learning Program uses the research-based Creative Curriculum, which features a flexible, play-based approach with lots of time outdoors.
MILLERTON — In its third year, the North East Community Center’s Early Learning Program has become a vibrant, nurturing space for children and an invaluable resource for families in Dutchess County, an area identified as a child care desert by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. There are openings in both the toddler and preschool rooms for children ages 18 months to five years.
The ELP follows what’s known as the Creative Curriculum, a research-based early childhood program that builds confidence, creativity and critical thinking through hands-on, project-based learning.
“Kids are natural explorers,” said Emily Redmond, Early Childhood Programs Director. “Oftentimes, they tell us what they need to learn, so we leave plenty of room to follow the child.”
Before joining NECC, Redmond spent 13 years at Washington Montessori School in Connecticut, working in both classroom and administrative roles.
She explained that the Creative Curriculum allows teachers to stay flexible and build on children’s natural curiosity. For instance, worms appearing on the playground after a rainstorm can spark endless questions, leading to unexpected learning opportunities in math, science and beyond.
Redmond noted that children in the ELP practice pre-writing skills, work with small manipulatives to build fine motor skills, immerse themselves in nature and hone social-emotional skills. All the while, NECC’s team of educators understand that play is central to early childhood development.
One thing that sets the ELP apart from other child care programs, Redmond said, is “the mythical Chef Lenny.” Lenny Sutton, NECC’s longtime food service coordinator, prepares multiple meals and snacks for the kids each day in the on-site commercial kitchen, often using locally sourced ingredients. Known for his colorful aprons and bubbly personality, he has even been spotted in the classroom playing a few songs on the guitar.
So beloved is Chef Lenny that some students incorporate his role into their own play at home, pretending to cook and serve just like him. “Not many child care programs have an on-site chef to prepare daily meals,” laughed Redmond.
The only thing more colorful or bubbly than Chef Lenny is the new classroom fish tank, a favorite feature that provides both a calming presence and learning opportunities. A lively mix of fish adds to the ambiance, including several types of goldfish, a student-favorite pictus catfish, one powder blue gourami, a halfmoon blue betta, two dalmatian mollies and more.
The ELP is fully licensed by New York State, allowing NECC to accept state subsidies and help families access financial assistance.
“We truly value all forms of diversity, including socioeconomic diversity, and as a hallmark of NECC’s mission we strive to eliminate barriers to accessing quality education,” said Redmond, noting that the organization’s Family Programs department can provide support throughout the application process, including bilingual assistance.
NECC’s Early Learning Program is a New York Office of Children and Family Services-licensed day care center located at 11 Park Street in Millerton. Contact emily@neccmillerton.org for more information.