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About this episode
238 This encore chat w/ bestselling memoirist Molly Wizenberg covers it all: partnership, parenting, writing, teaching, navigating midlife, and taking brave action. At its heart though, it's a chat about following our desire, even when it disturbs the status quo.
Join Nadine, Molly, and Hallie in Spain from Oct 26-Nov 2 for Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro-Memoir Retreat (just a few spots left). Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just wanting to preserve impactful memories on the page, remember that every story—no matter how small—is worth capturing.
Covered in this episode:
- Why The Fixed Stars had such a big impact on Nadine
- How to develop self-trust even when the path forward is unclear
- Why we must not abandon ourselves
- How to grow as individuals within a partnership
- How Molly and Nadine (both mothers and teachers) prioritize their writing time
- How to become an emboldened writer even when we're afraid
- What Nadine's and Molly's mid-life journeys have looked like
- The impact of books on their lives and on the mainstream conversation around women and mid-life
- Mid-life body empowerment
- The brave action they've taken this past year
About Molly:
Molly Wizenberg is a memoirist, essayist, and teacher of personal narrative writing. She is the author of The Fixed Stars, a Stonewall Honor Book and a 2021 finalist for the Washington Book Award in biography and memoir. Her previous books, A Homemade Life and Delancey, were both New York Times bestsellers. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Bon Appétit, where she was a columnist for three years. She also cohosts the weekly comedy-and-food podcast Spilled Milk, where, with co-host Matthew Amster-Burton, she’s been chewing on-mic since 2010. In other lifetimes, she wrote the James Beard Award-winning blog Orangette (2004-2019) and co-founded the Seattle restaurants Delancey and Essex. Today she writes the newsletter I’ve Got a Feeling, which a very astute person once described as “a chronicle of enthusiasms.” She teaches writing workshops online and around the world.
Newsletter: https://mollywizenberg.substack.com/
Website: https://www.mollywizenberg.com/
Current workshop offerings: https://www.mollywizenberg.com/upcomingworkshops
Podcast: https://www.spilledmilkpodcast.com/
Instagram (though I’m not there much): https://www.instagram.com/molly.wizenberg/
About Nadine:
Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings,Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a regular column about mid-life reclamation on Substack.
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