Joan Gelfand
Writing the “Scary” Stuff in Memoir
October 10, 2024
4 PM PDT | 5 PM MDT | 6 PM CDT | 7 PM EDT
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In writing Outside Voices: A Memoir of the Berkeley Revolution I was passionate about telling two stories. The first about becoming a poet and writer and the feminist community that gave me the confidence I needed as a young person. The second story was about losing my father at age 11 and how it affected my critical life decisions.

In this presentation:

• I’ll talk about how ‘ripping off the band-aid’ to craft stories about the most difficult event in my life was life changing, healing and revelatory.
• I’ll share a dream that I had after the book was published that assured me that I had done the right thing.
• I took a risk and wrote the truth about a family relationship and how I managed the fall out with the exposed person.
• Learning to talk about and field questions about the most tender subject – the loss of my father.
• How I did the internal work to create a strong foundation so that I could be public with my vulnerabilities and still stay grounded.

BIO
Author of three collections of poetry, a chapbook of short fiction and a novel set in a Silicon Valley startup, Joan’s book, You Can Be a Winning Writer is an Amazon #1 best seller. Joan has taught for California Poets in the Schools, The Writing Salon and the San Francisco Writer’s Conference. In January, 2024 Outside Voices: A Memoir of the Berkeley Revolution, published by Post Hill Press won the NYC Big Book Award for New Non-Fiction and the International Book Award for US History.  Joan’s work has appeared in national and international publications including The Huffington Post, The LA Review of Books, The “J,” and The San Francisco Chronicle. Joan’s bio can be found in “Who’s Who in America.” http://joangelfand.com

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