Hi there! Nice to see you again. :) This edition of Author Abroad takes a look at the craft of memoir, the latest developments in Myanmar, and some of the books I’ve read recently.
Writing
I’m hibernating this month, trying to finish up some old projects and start some new ones. One of the new projects is exploring the craft of memoir. Funnily enough, the first writing course I ever took, exactly 20 years ago, was a memoir class. It was this class that led me to start writing fiction, something I never before thought I could do. As I quickly learned, memoir and fiction have a lot in common. To write a good memoir or novel is to tell a compelling story, one that engages the reader in the transformation of the protagonist and at the same time reveals a universal truth about love, grief, family, second chances, etc. As such, they share nearly all the same craft techniques: narrative arc, character, dialogue, scene, setting, telling details, and so on.
The obvious difference between the two genres is that memoir is an account of true events and fiction is made up, at least on the surface. The reality is that fiction is often somewhat autobiographical and memoir invariably requires some creative guesswork, since no-one can possibly remember every detail of something that happened in the past. Another interesting, though perhaps less apparent, difference between the two genres is that memoir expects the author to reflect on the meaning of the story, whereas fiction asks the reader to do the reflecting. Memoir is revelation, while fiction is imitation. Or as Amy Jo Burns writes in this LitHub essay,
“Fiction lives at the horizon, and memoir appears in the rearview mirror. But it has always been me [the author] who is driving the car.”
Part of what I like about exploring memoir again is a process memoirists like to call “mining your memory,” a pursuit that comes more naturally to some of us than others. For those of us in the latter camp, there are a number of helpful exercises you can try. One of the most popular of these is to simply set a time for 5/10/15 minutes and write nonstop, beginning each sentence with the words I remember. It’s amazing how much material this can unearth, especially when you focus on sensory details (e.g., I remember the way Janet’s kitchen smelled when her great grandmother made molasses cookies for us). Lists are also great memory joggers. You might make a list of childhood toys or favorite foods, things that made you angry throughout your life or times when you felt acknowledged. What’s fascinating about these exercises is that one memory nearly always unlocks another. I remember little from my childhood, but when I do these exercises, wispy dandelion parachutes tumble back into focus. I don’t know if I’ll ever write a memoir, but I’m enjoying poking around my past.
In other writing news, I’m thrilled to report that I just signed a publishing contract with University of Nebraska Press to republish The Golden Land.🥳🥳🥳 As described in an earlier edition of this newsletter, my initial path to publication was somewhat rocky. Three months after The Golden Land was released, my publisher sent out an email announcing it was closing its doors. Lots of other things went wrong, too, which I had neither the tools nor the knowledge to navigate at the time. I still consider myself a newbie in this bizarre industry, but I’ve learned a few things that I hope will make this second go around a little smoother.
The new edition of The Golden Land will be released in Fall 2024 with a new cover and a set of thought-provoking book-club discussion questions that I loved putting together. Stay tuned for more!
Life abroad
This year, as many as 64 countries—home to nearly half the world’s population—will hold national elections, according to Time. Bangladesh was first, and that did not bode well for democracy, as explained in last month’s edition of Author Abroad. Today, I want to talk about a country where there is no election on the horizon, a country very dear to my heart—Myanmar.
A quick refresher: In November 2020, after ten years of relative peace and democratization, the people of Myanmar reaffirmed their confidence in Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in a second landslide election. Three months later, on the 1st of February, 2021, the Myanmar military, aka the Tatmadaw, launched a coup d’état, annulling the results of the election and arresting those lawfully elected government officials. Mass protests ensued, martial law was declared, and tens of thousands of protesters were killed, tortured, and detained without trial. The new, illegitimate government promised to hold new elections within the year, but now here we are three years later, and the situation remains the same, if not worse. Here’s what one of my Burmese friends had to say in June of 2023:
“Things are in turmoil, worsening by the day. Especially the violence, the torching, and the killings of civilians - one wouldn't believe these are happening in the once-peaceful areas of the country…Overall it's so frustrating and hopeless and helpless to watch the injustice ruthlessly engineered by the rulers of the country when the rest of the world looks the other way and ignores our suffering.”
However, the last few months have given reason for hope. As reported in The Guardian, “In October, an alliance of ethnic armed groups launched a new operation to seize junta territory, which resulted in humiliating defeats for the already overstretched military. It has lost swathes of territory along the border with China, as well as on the other side of the country, in Chin and Rakhine states, and thousands of soldiers have surrendered.”
Just last week, several hundred Myanmar Border Guard Police and soldiers deserted their posts and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh, seeking refuge. India has also reported defectors from the Myanmar army, according to The Irrawaddy. This week, in response to these and other losses, the military government announced that it will enforce compulsory military service for all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27. This is troubling on a number of levels. Among the countless Myanmar youths who will be affected by this decree are many of my children’s friends and peers from the years we lived in Myanmar. Those still in the country will have to decide whether to join the dreaded military or flee the country, while those studying abroad will face the difficult dilemma of whether to visit their families during school breaks or stay abroad to avoid the risk of conscription. Others will have no choice. On a more positive note, the military would not need to resort to such measures if it were not desperate. Could this be the beginning of the end?
In the words of another Burmese friend, who I was in touch with last month:
“Re my beloved country, we, the Burmese diaspora, are donating our savings as much as we can to keep the momentum going as we believe we will win in the end, as we are gaining ground. We are proud to be helping the revolutionaries (mostly GenZs) as we enter the New Year with good positive news. Let’s keep our hopes high.”
Reading
Prophet Song: A Novel by Paul Lynch (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2023)
This month’s Dhaka book club pick was Prophet Song, winner of the 2023 Booker Prize. This dystopian novel set in Ireland in the near future follows a mother’s harrowing attempt to keep her family together as her country descends into authoritarianism. What I loved about the novel is how well Lynch captures the desperation of living under an increasingly oppressive government, a reality for so many people around the world. I found his writing style to be a little heavy, however, and the main character’s parenting style hard to relate to, given what her children are going through. Nevertheless, this is an important book and a warning for all of us about what can happen when we take democracy for granted.
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls, audiobook narrated by Jeannette Walls (Scribner, 2009)
Many people recommended this memoir to me, and I was not disappointed. In The Glass Castle, Walls tells the shocking story of growing up hungry and poor in a deeply dysfunctional but tightly knit family. Her parents are simultaneously reckless, visionary, neglectful, and vigilant in all the wrong ways, with convictions so wild and stubborn they can’t see the harm they are causing their children. Part of what makes this such a good read is the author’s ability to write convincingly from the point of view of her childhood self. This is a book about overcoming hardship and making your own way, while at the same time accepting your family for who they are. “Life with your father was never boring,” insists the author’s mother toward the end of the book; the same is true of this memoir. Highly recommended.
Thanks for reading. I’ve recently discovered and enabled Substack’s “community feature,” so you can now like the post and leave comments below if you wish.
💕Liz
Thanks much Liz.
Your sharing of Myanmar's current climate connected with me as we get nearer to elections here, with dismal voter participation rates and new obstacles for many, amidst ever-growing concerns about the fragility of our teetering U.S. democracy.
Thank you Liz for another great Author Abroad. I love the section on Memoirs, I was just thinking I would like to put down on paper many memories I have for my mom who is always asking - now you inspired be to how to proceed - just for mom and me.