The author of three books of creative nonfiction, including Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing, and Longing (Random House, 2020), with more than a decade of experience teaching the craft of memoir, Elissa Altman poses important questions that any writer with a personal story to tell must confront: “Who am I to tell my story? And how can we grant ourselves permission to write the stories we’re compelled to tell when we’ve been told we shouldn’t?” Through an exploration of her own story, which started with what she calls a “non-secret secret” about her father that had a profound effect on her and her family, “binding us together for the entirety of our lives,” Altman offers a compassionate, inspiring literary guide to transcending the fear and shame that can all too often keep important stories from being written. Read “The Choice to Create,” a chapter from Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create.
