Memoir Journal

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Contest Details

Memoir (and) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:59:07 GMT

ISSUE 9 SUBMISSION PERIOD NOW OPEN!

The Issue 9 submission period is now open. From now through noon Pacific time, February 16, 2011, you may submit via our Submission Manager or via snail mail. All submissions sent via snail mail must be postmarked by February 16, 2011. If you have questions regarding our contest or submission guidelines, please email submissions [at] memoirjournal [dot] com

CONTEST RULES

There is no contest entry fee.
All submissions are automatically entered in the Contest.
Submissions not chosen as Contest winners are still eligible for publication.
Submission guidelines can be found here.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Read the Submission Guidelines.
Submit online with our Submission Manager, or submit by snail mail to Memoir (and) Submissions, PO Box 1398, Sausalito CA 94966-1398. To be advised of the status of your snail mail submission, include a SASE, or your email address.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The Memoir (and) Prizes for Memoir in Prose or Poetry are awarded to the most outstanding prose or poetry memoirs—traditional, nontraditional or experimental—drawn from the reading period.

Grand Prize for Memoir in Prose or Poetry

$500 cash award
Publication in print and online
Six copies of the journal

Second Prize for Memoir in Prose or Poetry

$250 cash award
Publication in print and online
Six copies of the journal

Third Prize for Memoir in Prose or Poetry

$100 cash award
Publication in print and online
Three copies of the journal

The Memoir (and) Prize for Graphic Memoir is awarded to the most outstanding graphic memoir drawn from the reading period.

Prize for Graphic Memoir

$100 cash award
Publication in print and online
Three copies of the journal

The Memoir (and) Prize for Photography is awarded to the most outstanding and innovative photography submission.

Prize for Photography

$100 cash award
Publication in print and online
Three copies of the journal

11.1.2010 Issue 9 Submission Period Now Open!

Memoir (and) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:59:06 GMT

The submission period for Issue 9 is now open and will close at noon Pacific time, February 16, 2011. Snail mail submissions must be postmarked no later than February 16, 2011 in order to be considered.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Read the Submission Guidelines.
Submit online with our Submission Manager, or submit by snail mail to Memoir (and) Submissions, PO Box 1398, Sausalito CA 94966-1398. To be advised of the status of your snail mail submission, include a SASE, or your email address.

WHAT IS THE DEADLINE?

Online: Noon, Pacific time, February 16, 2011
Snail mail: Postmarked no later than February 16, 2011

IN WHICH ISSUE WILL THESE SUBMISSIONS BE PUBLISHED?

Issue 9

HOW DO YOU ENTER THE CONTEST?

Just submit, and you will be entered into the contest automatically.
There is no contest entry fee.

WHAT ARE THE PRIZES OFFERED?

Click here to read all about our prizes.

WHEN WILL CONTEST WINNERS FOR THIS SUBMISSION PERIOD BE ANNOUNCED?

March 1st, 2011

WHERE CAN YOU READ ABOUT PREVIOUS CONTEST WINNERS?

Click here.

Questions? Email submissions [at] memoirjournal.com or call (415) 339-3142.

Submission Periods

Memoir (and) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:59:06 GMT

ISSUE 9 SUBMISSION PERIOD NOW OPEN!

For more information, please read our submission guidelines and contest details.

Submission Guidelines

Memoir (and) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:59:06 GMT

ISSUE 9 SUBMISSION PERIOD NOW OPEN!

HOW TO SUBMIT

Read the Submission Guidelines below.
Submit online with our Submission Manager, or submit by snail mail to Memoir (and) Submissions, PO Box 1398, Sausalito CA 94966-1398. To be advised of the status of your snail mail submission, include a SASE, or your email address.

Questions? Email submissions [at] memoirjournal.com or call (415) 339-3142.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: THE BASICS

PLEASE READ OUR SUBMISSION GUIDELINES CAREFULLY. FAILURE TO ADHERE TO OUR GUIDELINES [WILL] RESULT IN YOUR SUBMISSION BEING INELIGIBLE FOR OUR CURRENT CONTEST AS WELL AS BEING INELIGIBLE FOR PUBLICATION.

What to submit
Memoir (and) publishes memoirs in many forms. We strive with each issue to include a selection of prose, poetry, graphic memoirs (visit www.guttergeek.com for reviews of graphic narratives), narrative photography and more. No submission is too unusual or traditional to be considered for publication.

Contests
In each of our two yearly reading periods, we select the most outstanding submissions and award five prizes:

Memoir (and) Prize in Prose or Poetry

Grand Prize: $500
Second Prize: $250
Third Prize: $100

Memoir (and) Prize for Graphic Memoir

Grand Prize: $100

Memoir (and) Prize for Photography

Grand Prize: $100

There is no fee to enter. All works submitted are eligible to win. See Contests for more details, including the dates when winners will be announced.

Where to submit

We strongly prefer to receive submissions via our online Submission Manager. Snail mail submissions may be addressed to: Memoir (and), PO Box 1398, Sausalito, CA 94966-1398.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: ALL CATEGORIES

Only one submission per person per reading period.
Please submit either:
- Prose (one submission, maximum 10,000 words) OR
- Poetry (maximum of five poems of any length, all in one document) OR
- Graphic memoir (one submission that will fit on no more than twenty 7” x 10” pages) OR
- Narrative photography (up to five images)
We do not accept submissions previously published in print or on the web. (Note: a personal blog is not considered “publication.”)
We DO accept simultaneous submissions.
Prose and poetry submissions MUST be formatted as .doc .rtf or .txt files. WE DO NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER FILE TYPES. Sending other file types will result in the rejection of your submission. We regret this strict policy, but it exists because we have software limitations and we must be able to open your submission.
Upon publication, we purchase one-time six-month rights, and pay with copies of the journal in which your piece would appear, as well as a one-year subscription. We do not give monetary compensation unless you win a prize.

Formatting for blind reading

Memoir (and) engages in “blind reading” of submissions. Blind reading is the process wherein an author’s name and publishing history are not attached to the submission so editors are “blind” to these details when reading, thus creating a level playing field for all submitters. Any submission with contact information on the work itself will be ineligible for publication.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: PROSE AND POETRY

When submitting online, do not include your name anywhere on the document itself. Your contact information is registered in the database and will remain tied to your submission.
When submitting via snail mail, you must include a cover sheet with your name, address, email, phone number and the title of the piece.
Whatever method you use to submit, so that we may do blind reading, please include only the title of your piece and the page number on each page of your manuscript.
All prose pages should double-spaced; poetry may be single-spaced.
Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope ONLY if you do not provide an email address.
Manuscripts will not be returned. (Sorry!)
If you submit by snail mail and would like confirmation that we have received your work, please include a self-addressed stamped postcard and we’ll put it in the mail once we receive your submission.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: IMAGES

Please submit one graphic memoir, or up to five photographic images.
Our online Submission Manager only accepts files up to 500 K in size. Please upload a lower-quality non-source file for us to view, or email larger files to submissions (at) memoirjournal (dot) com. If you have a file or group of files over 10 MB in size, please email us to set up a way to transfer files.
For multiple page submissions, please submit one file per page and include the page number in each file name.

Please be advised that when going to print, we will need your files in the following formats:

Resolution:
- Photograph and grayscale images: 300-600 ppi at 6” wide
- Black and white and/or line art: 600-2400 ppi at 6” wide (higher resolution preferred)
TIFF, EPS or highest resolution JPEG (for scanned images) files only.
When exporting files from their native software application, please make sure that the compression feature is deactivated.

ASSISTANCE

Questions? Read our FAQ.

Lost your password? Trouble submitting online? See Help.

Still not sure? Contact us.

10.11.2010 Congratulations to our own David Rompf!

Memoir (and) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:58:27 GMT

Congratulations to our Editorial Board member David Rompf, whose “In Mr. Hiyoshi’s Building” (Issue 5) has been selected for “Notable Travel Writing” by Best American Travel Writing 2010 (Houghton-Mifflin, 2010). It is a most deserved honor for a committed member of our team.

9.1.2010 Issue 7 Contest Winners

Memoir (and) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:01:32 GMT

Congratulations to all of our Issue 7 Contest winners! We would also like to thank our fantastic submission readers and Editorial Board for all the hours they devoted to finding the best possible submissions for Issue 7.

Issue 7

Grand Prize Winner:
Laura Fonda Hochnadel / Prose: “Tangled Up in Blue”

Second Prize Winner:
Perry Glasser / Prose: “Excelsior”

Third Prize Winner:
Mary Ann Hogan / Prose: “Peniel (Ithaca)”

Prize for Graphic Memoir:
Corey Ginsberg / “The Rejection Collection: A Visual Poem”

Prize for Photography:
Bill Clark

Chansi comments on what my father did and did not bring home in 1943

Chansi — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:15:27 GMT

Every word holds its weight here. Absolutely beautiful how the different voices blend together. Amazing job Marcia.

8.16.2010 Reading Period for Issue 8 Now Closed.

Memoir (and) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:00:00 GMT

UPDATE AUGUST 16, 2010

SUBMISSION PERIOD MAY 1, 2010 THROUGH AUGUST 16, 2010 IS NOW CLOSED
The submission period for Memoir (and)’s Issue 8 is now closed. Many thanks to everyone who submitted their work! We received thousands of submissions and look forward to reading your work. Contest winners for this issue will be announced March 1, 2011. All those who submitted work during this submission period will be notified of the status of their submission no later than April 1, 2011.

Though the submission period has closed, our online Submission Manager will remain open to anyone with an existing account. Sign in as usual to update your account information, check the status of your submission, or withdraw your submission if it is no longer available for publication.

WHEN IS OUR NEXT SUBMISSION PERIOD?
Our next submission peroid—for works eligible for Issue 9 Prizes and publication—will open at noon Pacific time, November 1, 2010 and close at noon Pacific time, February 16, 2011. Snail mail submission must be postmarked no later than February 16, 2011 in order to be considered.

For more information, read our submission guidelines and contest details.

Vivienne Claire Rotte comments on The Boy I Said I Loved at Seventeen

Vivienne Claire Rotte — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:06:43 GMT

I love your poem!!!!!

Vivienne Claire Rotte comments on The Boy I Said I Loved at Seventeen

Vivienne Claire Rotte — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:06:09 GMT

I love this website!!!!!! lol

7.7.2010 New Submission Period Close

Memoir (and) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:41:30 GMT

Our current submission period for Issue 8 will be extended twelve hours and will now close August 16, 2010 at noon Pacific Time. All snail-mail submissions must be postmarked by August 16, 2010 in order to be considered.

Best of luck to all who submit. We look forward to reading your work!

Nerissa Nields comments on Town

Nerissa Nields — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:01:36 GMT

This is such a great idea for a piece! I love how Town is Every-town. I love your writing.

INSIDE ISSUE 5: VOL. 2 NO. 2

Memoir (and) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:49:00 GMT

PAUL LINDHOLDT
Magpie in the Window

AMBER ROSSINO
1974

BERNIE STRITZKE
A Sparrow Falls

RUSSELL REECE
Game Face

JOSE ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ
Eyes Down/Shoulders In: The Small Revolutions

DAVID ROMPF
In Mr. Hyoshi’s Building

NATALIE BROWN
You Throw Sand Against the Wind

SCOTT EUBANKS
Windbreaks of Eucalyptus Trees

IRENE MCKINNEY
Marginalia: Windows and Bones

PRIZE FOR BEST GRAPHIC MEMOIR

MARGUERITE DABAIE
The Making of a Woman Terrorist

Timothy Ree comments on what my father did and did not bring home in 1943

Timothy Ree — Sun, 30 May 2010 07:11:00 GMT

Incredibly taut, both of these, and i felt this intense love admiration for your father the musician the spontaneous giver . . . the form requires intense concentration, and it may be asking too much from your readers, though the content is strong, marcia. thank you. my father was also a musician, and he played piano while i played trumpet for many an impromptu concert for random guests (mom didn't know of before). thank you.

Timothy Ree comments on Pig Road

Timothy Ree — Sun, 30 May 2010 07:02:11 GMT

Evocative ending: the ambiguity of who the murdered girl is - you, yourself imagined as the girl, or happening simultaneously? I really loved this piece, and though I want to read the rest of it, somehow this is a good place to stop and entice . . . where's the rest?

Judy comments on Town

Judy — Sat, 29 May 2010 07:49:57 GMT

Beautifully written. Your words are so powerful that it brought me to relive the memories of my own. Will look forward to your future work.

5.19.2010 Issue 6 in Stores June 1

Memoir (and) — Wed, 19 May 2010 11:21:14 GMT

Starting June 1, Issue 6 of Memoir (and) will be available in independent bookstores, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Hastings, Indigo and Walden Books across the United States and Canada. If your local bookstore isn’t carrying us, ask them to order our new issue. As always, subscriptions may be purchased on the Subscriptions page of our website.

L. Dimode comments on Town

L. Dimode — Sun, 16 May 2010 18:26:46 GMT

http://leedimode.wordpress.com/ -- Already added comment above but wanted to include URL.

5.1.2010 New Memoir (and) Reading and Contest Period Opens Today!

Memoir (and) — Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:46 GMT

We’re excited about once again opening our doors to new submissions! Works come into Memoir (and) from all over the world. Whatever your story, we look forward to reading it.

SUBMISSION PERIOD DATES

The submission period opens May 1, 2010 and will close at noon August 16, 2010. Snail mail submissions must be postmarked no later than August 16, 2010 in order to be considered.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Read the Submission Guidelines.
Submit online with our Submission Manager, or submit by snail mail to Memoir (and) Submissions, PO Box 1398, Sausalito CA 94966-1398. To be advised of the status of your snail mail submission, include a SASE, or your email address.

WHAT IS THE DEADLINE?

Online: Noon, August 16, 2010
Snail mail: Postmarked no later than August 16, 2010

IN WHICH ISSUE WILL THESE SUBMISSIONS BE PUBLISHED?

Issue 8: 2011 | Volume 4, Number 1

HOW DO YOU ENTER THE CONTEST?

Just submit, and you will be entered into the contest automatically.
There is no contest entry fee.

WHAT ARE THE PRIZES OFFERED?

Click here to read all about our prizes.

WHEN WILL CONTEST WINNERS FOR THIS SUBMISSION PERIOD BE ANNOUNCED?

September 1st, 2010

WHERE CAN YOU READ ABOUT PREVIOUS CONTEST WINNERS?

Click here.

Questions? Email submissions [at] memoirjournal.com or call (415) 339-3142.

Toni Dietkus comments on Pig Road

Toni Dietkus — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:11:52 GMT

There is a lot to like in this piece, but it feels to me that the author is trying too hard; the piece feels too pre-chewed, too many bits flung out as if in hopes this idea or image will please, and if not, then that one.
It seemed to me that much ('familiarity,' as in, haven't I read this before?) could be trimmed by this author, and the trimmings need to be the triteness.

For instance, why do I need to be enticed by not only murder, but sex as well? Do I need to know such microscopic-trivia-detail as' bits of dirty scavanged cloth folded and put into a pocket'--? That's a lot of words wasted. There needs to be a fair amount of content per word.

I'd bet such trimming would reveal a strong talent.

Toni Dietkus comments on what my father did and did not bring home in 1943

Toni Dietkus — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:48:39 GMT

OK, I'm flabbergasted. Maybe even cowed! I've labored under the opinion, tatooed on me by teachers of the English language, that punctuation was, not to put too fine an edge on it: PARAMOUNT.

Yet here is this veritable--tapestry--without a single stitch. I loved the wealth of humanity displayed, the selfless values of bygone days that seem not even sane these days, and what a pity. The telling, however, is unique, up-to-date as computer graphics, yet timeless as apple pie.

This writer Marcia S. Popp is a stunner.

Toni Dietkus comments on In Mr. Hiyoshi's Building

Toni Dietkus — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:23:20 GMT

I scanned the offerings and immediately picked David Rompf's sample blurb to read--there wasn't even a close second. Why? Maybe because its attraction is the success secret, a scent that makes an editor tear into a writer's work--sheer engaging voice.
That has to be it, as this very simple beginning depends on no shock-value scene, no gore or violence, and yet my attention was (to put it tritely but accurately) riveted. Each detail pulled me deeper in, despite utter indifference to the situation and no desire whatever to visit this particular country.
A writer myself, need to know this secret allure. I must get this book, search every page, leave no phrase unturned. I shall make him tell me.

Jo Neace Krause comments on Mission

Jo Neace Krause — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:00:56 GMT

Highly impressed with this journal. As people live longer, art becomes more and more memory pieces.

Joan E. Chapman comments on Recovering Teacher

Joan E. Chapman — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:33:19 GMT

"Memoir (and)" congratulates the author of this work, Jo Scott-Coe: "Recovering Teacher" has been chosen as the winner of the 2009 NCTE Donald Murray Prize for writing about teaching. Through Coe's compassionate, honest memoir, Mr. Webb's life and legacy continue to teach and inspire.

A.P. comments on 3.1.2010 Congratulations to our Issue 6 Contest Winners!

A.P. — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:20:19 GMT

Yes, looking forward to hearing from you! Thank you!

Elsa Solender comments on 3.1.2010 Congratulations to our Issue 6 Contest Winners!

Elsa Solender — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:36:34 GMT

Please reply regarding other submissions sent for Issue Six ASAP.
Thank you.

John comments on 3.1.2010 Congratulations to our Issue 6 Contest Winners!

John — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:51:33 GMT

Congratulations to all the winners. Will you also be replying to the other submissions sent in for this issue soon? Thank you very much, John

3.1.2010 Congratulations to our Issue 6 Contest Winners!

Memoir (and) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:53:48 GMT

It is with great pleasure, that we at Memoir Journal may introduce to you, our fellow readers, writers, and artists, Memoir (and)’s Issue 6 prize winners for outstanding excellence in memoir prose and poetry.

Issue 6
Volume 3 | Number 1

Grand Prize Winner:
Joe Wilkins / Poetry: “Anniversary” and “Oblivion”

Second Prize for Memoir in Prose or Poetry:
Cynthia Helen Beecher / Prose: “The Backseat to Hell and Squalor: South Africa, 1992”

Third Prize for Memoir in Prose or Poetry:
Melanie Drane / Poetry: “Thoughts on the Number Four”

Prize for Graphic Memoir:
Margaret Kimball / “The Backyard of the House at 48 Northview Drive”

These authors and artists were selected from the thousands of submissions we had the distinct honor of reading for this publication. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to review and reflect on your personal stories, and we continue to be moved by your authenticity. Thank you to everyone whose individual contributions helped make this challenging selection process engaging, meaningful, and as always, interesting.

2.16.2010 Reading Period for Issue 7 Now Closed.

Memoir (and) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

UPDATE FEBRUARY 16, 2010

READING PERIOD NOVEMBER 1, 2009 THROUGH FEBRUARY 15, 2010 IS NOW CLOSED
The reading period for Memoir (and)’s Issue 7 is now closed. Many thanks to everyone who submitted their work! We received thousands of submissions and look forward to reading your work. Contest Winners for this issue will be announced September 1, 2010. All those who submitted work during this reading period will be notified of the status of their submission no later than November 1, 2010.

Though the reading period has closed, our Submission Manager will remain open to anyone with an existing account. Sign in as usual to update your account information, check the status of your submission, or withdraw your submission if it is no longer available for publication.

WHEN IS OUR NEXT READING PERIOD?
Mark your calendars: our next reading period—for works eligible for Issue 8 Prizes and publication—will open May 1, 2010 and close at noon August 16, 2010. Snail mail submissions must be postmarked no later than August 16, 2010 in order to be considered.

For more information, read our submission guidelines and contest details.

Terra Torelli comments on Recovering Teacher

Terra Torelli — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:43:23 GMT

Mr. Webb was my English teacher in 1998-00. I just moved back to my hometown and ran into one of my other English teachers from an earlier year. I was so saddened to hear the news that Mr. Webb had passed away after I inquired, as he was one of my most memorable, favorite teachers there. Mr. Melhewish gave me this website and told me I should read it with a box of tissues (he was right). I feel this gave a very good account of Mr. Webb and possibly introduced me to a side of his life I wish I had never known.

Mr. Webb was definitely "different" from the rest of the teachers there, but I think that's what made me like him all the more. He had this "fuck the school system" attitude about him, yet there was no doubt he was passionate about wanting us to learn. He was so intelligent; he had books memorized. I remember when we read "Grapes of Wrath" and there were times he would read out loud and not have to look at the book to guide him. That always impressed me.

There are many things about Mr. Webb that stand out in my memory, like, his smile that reminded me of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" when the Grinch finally finds love in his heart and he smiles really big - it was almost cartoonish. And his laugh, it was like the joker from Batman. I remember he had this singing fish that was on a plaque. He got so excited to show our class because when he'd push the button it would start singing Bob Marley's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" song, of which, he sang along with. One time he brought his parents into the restaurant I was working at and he got this sort-of childlike excitement when I met them. It was the first time I felt like I could imagine what Mr. Webb must have been like as a child. Every year (well, both years I had him) he would play the this Vietnam documentary (not sure why, but he did). He would always sit at the back of the class with his stained coffee mug and a box of tissues. Until then, I had never witnessed a grown man cry. He wasn't ashamed and I loved him for that. But my favorite memory, and one that endeared me the most to him, was actually before he was ever my teacher. I was waiting in the lawn in front of the school and it was pouring down rain and my mom was late picking me up. I didn't have an umbrella so I was getting pretty wet waiting for her. At that time I didn't know Mr. Webb couldn't drive, so I thought it was strange he was leaving on foot that way out of the school, but he saw me standing there and had an umbrella and came down and waited with me so I didn't get wet. I'll never forget that.

Regardless of his personal problems, he remains a great man in my mind and always will. His death is very sad and tragic and I miss him very much. I'm only sorry that I didn't get to say goodbye.

1.20.2010 Contest and Publication Date Changes

Memoir (and) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:13:42 GMT

Exciting news! Based on your thoughtful feedback (thanks to all our wonderful readers and submitters) Memoir (and) has a new release schedule! Issues will now be on sale in stores June 1st, 2010 and December 1st, 2010.

Because of this revision, our Contest Winners announcement for Issue 6 has been updated to March 1st, 2010; for Issue 7, to September 1st, 2010.

Thanks for reading and thanks for responding!

Laura Longsong comments on Marginalia: Windows and Bones

Laura Longsong — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:52:34 GMT

Beautiful essay, necessary and understated. I appreciate the wry, quiet voice, honesty, and spare language that seems to stride cleanly yet gently.

jfh comments on Town

jfh — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:58:24 GMT

I love the sense of guarding in this "town". memories are guarded as closely as physical structures, lives, and the speaker's very self. and yet they cannot escape the insistent tugging and daring (innocent) speech at the end, which uncovers an emptiness, leaving the reader wondering if he is still in the town, or has been forced to exit, like eve from eden.

Jacquie Myers comments on Louisiana

Jacquie Myers — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:42:00 GMT

This is amazing - having lived in LA for 14 years (17 years ago) Seth brought the smells, sounds, feelings, memories flooding back to me - Thank you Seth!
I'm 61 years old, never owned a dog until 3 years ago-I hope someone with a heart like yours (Seth) manages to bring that dog to a warm home full of love, cheese filled with heartworm med's, good bones and entrails!
Seth, I'm glad you're in this world!

mef comments on Town

mef — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:41:42 GMT

Lovely. So close to the bone, it was hard to take in on first reading. Thank you.

at comments on Town

at — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:37:34 GMT

So touching and honest. Gets right down to the bedrock of human emotional experience.

k bales comments on Town

k bales — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:15:00 GMT

A beautiful unfolding. Each phrase more rich than the one before. Tears at the last. It is hard to write a comment about such powerful prose-- I am quite paralyzed. Thank you. Where can I read more?

LIANE KUPFERBERG CARTER comments on Love is Like This

LIANE KUPFERBERG CARTER — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:00:32 GMT

Visceral , moving and passionate.
Liane shares so honestly her experience, and we too, share her pain as we read.

As I revisit my charitable contributions, Autism Speaks will be added to the list.

Thank you for sharing your journey Liane, and our best to your family.

NK

mf comments on Town

mf — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:23:44 GMT

Creates a kind of stillness, and yet moving. Reminds me very much of my own Town

jfh comments on Town

jfh — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:22:14 GMT

I was so drawn into reflections about place and belonging that the final part about death caught me totally off-guard, and was all the more powerful for that reason. The poem strikes a lovely balance of playing with language (e.g. "ground," but other examples as well) without letting the cleverness distract from its contemplative force and emotional heft.

lynne comments on Town

lynne — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:10:43 GMT

amazing, I really think you and this poem are just amazing

Carrie comments on Love is Like This

Carrie — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:54:38 GMT

This is so lovely. I am tearing reading the words that I have felt but could never write down. It is so eloquent and honest. Thank you Liane for sharing your feelings.

DAC comments on Louisiana

DAC — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:11:18 GMT

Having never laid eyes on Louisiana myself, I can only surmise what the dog of the poem is truly meant to represent. Still, one detects something deeply meaningful and deeply sad in the relationship of the "I' and the dog: something of the necessity of dependence in the wake of tragedy, but also something of its impossibility. But then again, sometimes a dog is just a dog. And this one is terribly familiar in its mannerisms. Like a pal, like a best friend. I commend the author's tactfulness in encapsulating this relationship, in its closeness and its distance.

Bill Haney comments on In Mr. Hiyoshi's Building

Bill Haney — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:42:08 GMT

David Rompf's gracefully told account of his time in Japan, of Mr. Hiyoski, was taut, poignant and so evocative for me of my time in Japan and the graciousness of the friends I made there. His clean, spare prose perfectly complemented and illuminated his subject. What a fine and sensitive writer.

Merimee moffitt comments on Little Red Fire Truck to the Rescue

Merimee moffitt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:02:36 GMT

this is my favorite poem if yours all time--got me in the jab to the head/heart/eyes/tears/pictures n candy and little red wagon spot--rock on Zach man

Jordan's Mom comments on Love is Like This

Jordan's Mom — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:11:49 GMT

I barely could breathe as I read this beautiful essay. How can I assure this mother that it does get easier...that somewhere somehow you learn to relax a little and see more golden moments with your child. Mine will turn 24 this week, and I could never have conceived that he would attend his senior prom, have a girlfriend, work a couple hours a day at job. At 16 that would have been an impossible dream. I am learning like other parents of children with autism, that the impossible can happen but the miracles never will.

For his birthday he has chosen to go to NYC and see a Broadway show...and for his 25th he will go to London. Only by continually exposing him to the impossible have we been able to achieve these things. His brother like Jonathan still holds his breath in public when Jordan does something unusual or starts to have a meltdown. But those days are fewer now. I don't know what the future will bring, but what I have seen happen, develop, grow, create, whatever you want to call it, makes me positive that Jordan's life will be easier and harder than i had imagined. For Mickey, too, see the beauty and enjoy every moment.

D. Perez comments on Love is Like This

D. Perez — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:49:28 GMT

Many of us that walk in shoes like Liane's never find the right words to describe how we feel. Thank you Liane for this beautiful, and very real peek at your life and how you feel. I will always remember your words.

kT comments on Love is Like This

kT — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:42:15 GMT

Beyond words.. this is wonderful journaling. I have felt and been in similar situations and could not put it down on paper. well done and God Bless

FAQ

Memoir (and) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:10:22 GMT

You use the word “memoir” in a liberal way. What do you consider a “memoir” to be for the purposes of your journal?
Any creative work that is not fictional and that observes or describes, in one way or another, the author’s personal experience. In form, it can be prose, epistolary, experimental, poetry, narrative photography, graphic, and so on.

Is your journal an e-zine or a print journal?
We’re primarily a print journal that publishes some of its content online. We’ll be starting an e-zine section soon.

How many pieces of work may I submit?
We accept one entry per author per reading period. This entry can consist of:

ONE prose or graphic memoir

OR a maximum of five poems

OR five narrative photographs

I’ve never published before, or published very little. No one has ever heard of me. Does my work still really have a chance of getting published?
Yes. We engage in “blind reading,” the process by which the author’s name and publishing history are not attached to the work. This gives a level playing field to all submitters.

I write poetry and prose. May I send one submission in each genre?
No, unfortunately. However, we encourage you to submit your work to the journal more than once, as long as the submissions occur during different reading periods.

How can I be sure you received my snail mail submission?
You will receive an email confirming we’ve received your submission. If you do not include your email address with your submission, you must include a self-addressed, stamped postcard. We’ll put that in the mail when we receive your submission to confirm receipt.

How long will I have to wait until I hear from you about my submission?
You should hear from us within twenty weeks of the close of the reading period. If you have not heard from us by that time, you can assume your work has not been accepted for publication.

How will I be informed of your decision about my submission?
We will email you within twenty weeks of the close of the reading period. If you did not give us an email address, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your submission so that we can reply to you via snail mail.

Do you work with volunteer readers?
Yes, we do. We’re always looking for more qualified people to help us read and critique the diverse and interesting memoirs we receive. Our readers critique submissions from home using our online Submission Manager. If you’re interested in becoming a reader, contact kguis [at] memoirjournal [dot] com.

What format do you prefer for submissions?
We accept Microsoft Word. If you use a different word processing program, please save your file as an RTF or text-only document before you send it.

How do I enter your contests?
All work submitted will automatically be entered in the contest. If you don’t want your work to be eligible for the contest, please let us know in your cover letter.

How much does it cost to enter my submission?
There is no charge to enter our contests. Zip. Nada. FREE.

Do I have to include a cover letter?
If you are submitting via snail mail, please include a cover letter that at least includes your name, address, phone and email. If you are submitting online, a cover letter is not necessary, but if you would like to include one, please paste your letter into the “Comments” section of our online Submission Manager.

Why must I leave my name off my document?
We engage in “blind reading,” the process by which an author’s name and publishing history are not attached to the work. This gives a level playing field to all submitters.

If I leave my name off my document, how do I know you won’t mix up my submission with someone else’s?
We use an online Submission Manager. It never misplaces anything.

If you publish my submission, does that mean I can’t publish it later in the full-length book I’m writing?
You should consult your publisher about that. However, we will not retain the rights to your work (we purchase one-time rights only), and all rights revert to you six months after the issue is published.

I’m working on a book. Can I send you four or five chapters?
Sorry, no. Though we would enjoy reading your book chapters, we only accept submissions that follow our guidelines. You might think about sending us your book material edited in such a way that it can “stand alone” as a submission.

I published a book. Can I mail it to you so you can see if there’s anything in it you like?
Unfortunately no. But if you make a selection under 10,000 words and submit it to us, we’ll be happy to read it. If you send it anyway, we apologize but it will go unread.

Will you publish critical or interpretive essays about others’ memoirs, or will you only publish actual memoirs?
Yes, we hope to publish critical and interpretive essays. We’ll be publishing writing about memoir as well as memoirs themselves. We have many questions about memoirs—Why are more memoirs being published? Can a poem really be a memoir? We want the journal to explore these issues in any way.

How frequently do you publish?
Twice a year: Spring+Summer and Fall+Winter. In 2008, we had three issues because of our Inaugural Re-Release.

I don’t see the information I need here.
We are happy to answer your questions. Email us at submissions (at) memoirjournal (dot) com or call us at (415) 339-3142.

Memoir–What Is It?

Memoir (and) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:04:58 GMT

Candida Lawrence,

Founding Editor

When we first considered publishing a journal focused on memoir, we were confident that we knew one when we read one, heard one, wrote one. After industrious spelunking into the fog of literary critical theory, book ads and blurbs, we have concluded that memoir will have to be defined by the submissions that come to us and our reactions to them. This position is a cowardly one, but we truly have looked so far afield that we cannot confidently erect a fence and say this belongs inside, this is definitely outside. We have even asked each other if a poem (Ginsberg’s “Howl” or “Supermarket in California”) or Kate Wolff’s song “Great Divide,” or most of Hopper’s paintings, or even Peanuts cartoons that Schultz claimed were childhood memories, are these memoirs? If not, why not? If so, why so?

What we call memoir usually is first person, but need it be? My three published books (Reeling and Writhing, Change of Circumstance, …Fear Itself,) my publisher calls ‘memoirs’ and he names me ‘memoirist.’ Yet they are not always in the first person. Sometimes I want the distance of third person, the music of a poem, the pretense of speaking from another’s mind. Could a series of photographs be a memoir? Is a child’s drawing of a jail with barred windows and bombs dropping down from on high, a memoir?

And here comes St. Augustine, of all people, placed in front of me at the kitchen table by Joan, our managing editor:

And when indeed I wish to speak of Carthage, I seek within myself what to speak, and I find within myself a notion or image of Carthage; but I have received this through my body, that is, through the perception of the body, and I saw it and perceived it, and retained it in my memory, that I might find within myself a word concerning it, whenever I might wish to speak of it. For the word is the image itself of it in the memory, not that sound of the two syllables when Carthage is named, or even when that name itself is thought of silently from time to time, but that which I discern in my mind, when I utter that disyllable with my voice, or even before I utter.

Clear?

And Thoreau:

…we hear and apprehend only what we already half know. If there is something which does not concern me, which is out of my line, which by experience or by genius my attention is not drawn to, however novel and remarkable it may be, if it is spoken, we hear it not, if it is written, we read it not, or if we read it, it does not detain us. Every man thus tracks himself through life, in all his hearing and reading and observation and traveling. His observations make a chain.

That chain is, I believe, memoir, in whatever form it assumes. If you think otherwise, argue with us please.

What's with the "(and)" in "Memoir (and)"?

Memoir (and) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:01:57 GMT

Joan E. Chapman,

Managing Editor Emeritus

These days, as you know, memoir is very popular, in many senses of that word. The Somebody, the Nobody, the Everybody—it seems that almost anybody can get a memoir published if it meets certain criteria. What criteria? We’re not sure. But we suspect the change in what’s getting published has something to do with the post-Marxist commoditization of our lives. Just a wild guess… Well, we searched our hearts, and that’s not why we started this journal.

When prospecting for a name, we noticed the word “memoir” can bring to mind a sepia-toned, how-grandpa-got-his-war-injury kind of publication. And though we find value in family stories, we had some concern people might get the wrong idea. Just so you know, we are not at all fond of sentimental. But we are looking for personal accounts, many of which are memoir, and we wanted a name that shouted that out. So what to do?

So we added the “(and).” Everything else seemed limiting; only the “(and)” seemed to open up the possibilities. And here we are.

Advertise

Memoir (and) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:00:14 GMT

Memoir (and) offers ad exchanges or free print advertising space to literary journals, writers conferences and other organizations that support memoir writers or memoir as a genre.

Contact admin (at) memoirjournal (dot) com or call (415) 339-3142 if you would like to advertise with us.

Who We Are

Memoir (and) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:57:48 GMT

Memoir (and) was founded in 2008 by Candida Lawrence, who enlisted Joan E. Chapman and Zoe Borkowski to mold Memoir (and) into the unique magazine it has become today. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the great work and guidance that Candida, Joan and Zoe gave each issue.

Candida Lawrence, Founding Editor
Candida Lawrence lives in Mill Valley and San Francisco with her dog Milo. She has published in Missouri Review, Chattahoochee Review, American Short Fiction, Ohio Journal, Sonora Review, Passages North, Soundings East, and various anthologies. Perhaps her most notorious accomplishment was to create new identities for herself and her two young children and escape detection for twenty years. The details of this story are found in her memoirs, Reeling and Writhing, Change of Circumstance, …Fear Itself, and Vanishing.

Joan E. Chapman, Managing Editor Emeritus
Joan E. Chapman worked as a feature film picture and sound editor in Hollywood on many films including Witness, Weekend at Bernie’s, and Serial Mom; trained as a clinical psychology intern at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco; and her essay Fields of Awareness was Editors’ Pick in the 2006 Fall Issue of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

Zoe Borkowski, Editor Emeritus
Zoe Borkowski received an MSW at Columbia University and was Executive of the International Institute, East Bay and San Francisco. She was founder of the Oakland Chinese Community Council, the Spanish Speaking Information Center, and the Filipino Information Center, Regional Director of the Seattle Camp Fire Girls, Youth Director of Henry Street Settlement, and a board member of Performing Arts Workshop and of The Positive Resource Center.

OFFICE STAFF

Claudia Sternbach, Editor in Chief; Chair, Editorial Board
Claudia Sternbach has been a columnist and feature writer for the Santa Cruz Sentinel for more than fifteen years and is a feature writer for Santa Cruz Magazine. She has written often for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune and the San Francisco Examiner. She has also been published in Redbook Magazine as well as several anthologies. Her memoir, Now Breathe was published by Whiteaker Press in 1999.

Above all, however, she has known Candida Lawrence for almost two decades. She was fortunate enough to be a member of Candida’s writing group when Candida lived in Santa Cruz and still misses her thoughtful input.

Sarah Schafer, Associate Director
Sarah grew up in Southern California and attended UC Santa Barbara, where she majored in Art History. Prior to joining Memoir Journal, she worked as an administrator for various Bay Area arts and education organizations. She lives in Oakland with a cat and a chef.

Ted Stokley, Technical Director
Ted Stokley is a communications graduate of the University of North Carolina. A resident of San Francisco, he passes his spare time exploring his city, watching Red Sox games and trying to figure out Bay Area weather.

Jessica Yarris, Marketing, Sales, and Distribution Manager
Jessica Yarris holds an MBA from Mills College, and a BA in Multi-Media Art and Design from the University of Oregon. When she is not working hard at Memoir Journal, she deeply enjoys reading, painting, petting animals, pruning roses, bike riding, brainstorming, traveling to new places, and much, much more. Jessica’s background includes marketing strategy, media buying, advertising, retail managing, interning, catering, tea serving, babysitting, and kumquat selling when she was nine.

EDITORIAL BOARD

Karen Benke
Karen Benke has been published in Ploughshares, Hawaii Pacific Review, Poetry East, Rockhurst Review, Tiferet, online at Poetry Daily, and elsewhere. The author of RIP THE PAGE! Adventures in Creative Writing (Shambhala/Trumpeter, 2010) and Sister (Conflu:X Press, 2004), she’s also a teacher and writing guide who, since 1993, has indulged her love of learning from the Masters by leading poetry workshops for children through the California Poets in the Schools Program. She lives in Mill Valley, California, with her family and a cat named Clive.

Larry Connolly
Larry Connolly writes, edits and lives in Vermont.

Rosanna Oh
Rosanna Oh, originally from Long Island, New York, is a graduate of Yale University. She is currently pursuing an M.F.A in poetry from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.

David Rompf
David Rompf has written essays for Harvard Review, Creative Nonfiction, The Missouri Review, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. His work has been cited in the Best American Essays series. He lives and writes in New York City.

Carl Rosenstock
Carl Rosenstock was born in Albany, New York, and grew up on a farm near there. He has a B.A. in Asian History from Union College, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Vermont College. His work has appeared in various journals, and anthologies, and he has curated several reading series. He lives and works on the westernmost end of Long Island, in Brooklyn, New York.

ADVISORY BOARD

Jessica Cohn
Jessica Cohn is a middle school teacher and poet living in Sausalito, California. Her published work includes “Rattlesnake Road,” which is one poem in a large, as-yet-untitled collection of linked poetry that is near completion. In her free time, she enjoys practicing yoga and spending time with her husband

Bo Niles
Bo Niles is a former magazine editor and the author of a number of books on design and lifestyle subjects, as well as a travel memoir, A Window on Provence (Viking/Penguin) illustrated with her own line drawings. She is currently involved in writing poems, several of which have been published. She is married and lives in New York City with her husband, Bill; the Niles have two sons, both working in the architectural profession, a daugher-in-law, who is a psychologist, and one granddaughter.

Katey Schultz
Katey Schultz is the author of Lost Crossings and editor of two fiction anthologies. Her achievements include the Linda Flowers Literary Prize and the Press 53 Open Award for Short Story, among others. She formerly served on the staff of Silk Road and is Associated Editor of TRACHODON, a dinosaur of a little magazine. She will spend 2010-2012 serving as Writer in Residence for various organizations across the country.

Loren Stephens
Loren Stephens is president and founder of Write Wisdom, and Provenance Press which provide clients with memoir writing and publishing services. Loren is Executive Producer/Writer of awarding-winning documentaries produced for PBS including Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist, and Los Pastores. Her personal essays and short stories have appeared in Tapestries, MacGuffin, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Oracle, the Hudson Group of Newspapers, the Sun Magazine, the Jewish Women’s Literary Annual, the St. Louis Jewish Light and the anthology, Thanksgiving Tales, among others. She teaches “Writing Memoir,” to all level of students.

Mission

Memoir (and) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:21:21 GMT

“This is the age of memoir,” proclaims William Zinsser in Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir. If he’s right, memoir will come of age in our century. As a form, it will outgrow the constraints bound upon it for so long, as the novel did in the twentieth century.

Memoir (and) is a nonprofit literary journal born with these ideas in mind. Our mission is to publish traditional as well as nontraditional forms of nonfiction allied with memoir. This includes, but is not limited to, autobiography, diary, personal and critical essay, reportage, autobiographical fiction, alternative histories, “flash memoir,” narrative poetry or “poemoir” (it’s okay to groan, we did) and graphic memoir.

We strive with each issue to include a selection of:

* prose

* poetry

* graphic memoirs (for examples, visit Gutter Geek)

* narrative photography

…and more. The editors particularly invite submissions that push the traditional boundaries of form and content in the exploration of the representation of self. We also just love a memoir well-told.

No submission is too unusual—modern, postmodern, or hypermodern—for us to consider. We look forward to the ways you will surprise, delight and perhaps shock us, or move us to tears.

New! Check out Memoir (and) in the Literary Spotlight of the current issue

of The Writer (November 2008). Article by Melissa Hart.

Editors’ Notes:
Memoir—What Is It? (Candida Lawrence, Founding Editor)

What’s With the “(and)”? (Joan E. Chapman, Managing Editor Emeritus)

kaz comments on Transpiration

kaz — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:37:35 GMT

I've come back to this poem several times and it always strikes true. It's a powerful piece.

INSIDE ISSUE 4: VOL. 2 NO. 1 (2009)

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:18:45 GMT

GRAND PRIZE WINNER FOR MEMOIR IN PROSE OR POETRY

JESS WIGENT
What I Did to the Littlest

POETRY

TERESA SUTTON
Transpiration

CARL ROSENSTOCK
Frost on a Stone-Boat

RALPH DRANOW
Macar

GENIE COTNER
My Daughter Doesn’t Remember

BRIAN CRONWALL
Questions about Schizophrenia

RENEE EMERSON
Malden, MA

NIN ANDREWS
A Brief History of Melvin, My Own Personal Bull

ANEMONE BEAULIER
Postcards

ERIC DAVID LOUGH
Hometown

PAM O’BRIEN
The Boy I Said I Loved at Seventeen

MURIEL FISH
The Cure

JOANNE PREISER
Summer Dusk

MADELINE SHARPLES
The Last Night
Thursday Morning

PROSE

J. MALCOLM GARCIA
For Now You Are Here

LACY M. JOHNSON
White Trash Primer

TERESA CHUC DOWELL
Year of the Hare

AVERY COLT
Secrets

NIN ANDREWS
For the Love of Cows

JAMES WARREN BOYD
Slucham

RICHARD GILBERT
Remembering Paul

JO SCOTT-COE
Recovering Teacher

VERONICA CHATER
Flea Spit

BEST GRAPHIC MEMOIR

DAN ARCHER
They Won’t Learn

INSIDE ISSUE 3: VOL. 1 NO. 3 (2008)

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:18:22 GMT

MEMOIR (AND) CREATIVE NONFICTION

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

RAFAEL TORCH
The Naming of Frank Torch

POETRY

DENA TAYLOR
Fire Season

DARIEN CAVANAUGH
A Small But Pleasant Light

LIANNE SPIDEL
Lea at Ninety-Five
16MM Movie, Florida, 1938

ROCHELLE JEWEL SHAPIRO
Barbara Just Home From the Ashram

JESSICA GRUMET
Rattlesnake Road

VALERIE BENDER
Never Sang

PROSE

KATHY CHETKOVICH
How I See It

ZOE BORKOWSKI
Some Things I Will Never Forget Are…

ROBERT WEINBERGER
The Year of Living Nervously

JILL WIDNER
Aquarium of the Night

ROBERT HAMBLING DAVIS
A Captive Audience

INGEBORG GUBLER CASEY
Hiding 1946-47

ANNE MASLIN DORST
My Sister

GLEN WOOD
The Road to Bonnaroo

KYLE DEACON
Voice Messages

WILL GEORGE
A Glass of Water

BEST GRAPHIC MEMOIR

KELLY CLANCY
Silence

INSIDE CURRENT ISSUE 6: VOL. 3 NO. 1 (2010)

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:14:06 GMT

GRAND PRIZE FOR MEMOIR IN PROSE OR POETRY

   JOE WILKINS
   Anniversary
   On Oblivion

SECOND PRIZE FOR MEMOIR IN PROSE OR POETRY

CYNTHIA HELEN BEECHER
A Backseat to Hell and Squalor: South Africa, 1992

THIRD PRIZE FOR MEMOIR IN PROSE OR POETRY

MELANIE DRANE
Thoughts on the Number Four

POETRY

   KENNETH SALZMANN
   Planting the Hyacinth Bean Vines
   Marginal Lives

MATTHEW THORBURN
To the Net Master

CAROL KANTER
The Advanced Course

PRARTHO SERENO
Temple of Bees

MELANIE DRANE
Home

   MARGARET ROZGA
   After the First Tour
   Returning to Duty

CANDACE BLACK
The Presidential Gate

   KRIS WOLL
   History
   Liturgy

VIOLETA GARCÍA-MENDOZA
Guatemala

PROSE

PETER LEVINE
On Arriving Early…

ANN LIGHTCAP BRUNO
On Flight

MARK KREWATCH
Veneer

RAE GOUIRAND
The Museum of Small Apartments

SCOTT RICKETTS
Toss-Up

JESSIE DAWSON WILSON
The Last of Annie

FANI PAPAGEORGIOU
Relative Velocity

CAROL COLLINS
And After This Our Exile

BO NILES
Hindsight

MONICA BERLIN
[When the painter arrives the day before]

BEST GRAPHIC MEMOIR

MARGARET KIMBALL
The Backyard of the House at 48 Northview Dr.

Memoir, a Noun: Voices from Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:10:50 GMT

Current Issue
Volume 5: With Us, For Them
Single Issue: $3

By 1984, things had gotten pretty dark in San Francisco. A new disease, then shrouded in mystery and fear, was killing young gay men. By 1986, Castro Street was still there. The gym was still there. The party was still over.

—Excerpt from “Gone and Back Again” by Ray Rudolph

Volume 4: I Could Not Rock
Single Issue: $3

When you have a dream…
a dream that will make your
family proud of you, and that dream
might encourage others to try to
do better,
and you make a mistake that’ll ruin everything you’ve
been working
towards…
how do you get back on track
to succeed your dream?
The more days you’re gone,
the more time you waste,
the more…think about it;
you start to think like a failure
and feel like a failure!
That’s why I’m going to follow
my dream to be the best I can be.

–Excerpt from the poem “Best I Can Be” written by Dana

Volume 3: Stunt as a Bumble Bee
Single Issue: $3

I remember the time when you was strong and healthy,
dressed to impress, but also stunt as a bumble bee.
Giving me life, learning, lecture
so I could think about my future.
But as days, months, years go by,
you started feeling weak.
Then ended up getting sick.
Then sicker.
That’s when reality hit me.

–Excerpt from the poem “First I Cry” written by Ulala

Volume 2: While I Bleed in This Page
Single Issue: $3

My life used to be good. I don’t know what happened, just every one
started dying and people started lying, and I just keep all my anger
trapped inside me like a Siberian tiger in a cage, just wanting for
somebody to let me out so I can bounce on my prey.

I refuse to be at the bottom o’ the food chain, so I just lay low not
because of fear but just to get a better aim, I’m just in this cage waiting…

–Excerpt from an untitled poem written by Young Fee

Volume 1: Keep My Shine
Single Issue: $3

Memoir…
A noun, an autobiography, an account
of something noteworthy.
Memorabilia…
A noun, something worthy of remembrance.
My experience in juvenile hall…
A verb, fast paced, consistent, repetitive.
On-going.
Depressing, when surrounded by a group of guys who do not have
the same purpose
in life as you…
to succeed…

–Excerpt from the poem “Memoir” written by Dante

Memoir (and)

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:08:53 GMT

SUBSCRIBE TODAY for the most innovative and imaginative literary journal exclusively dedicated to the exciting genre of memoir! Complete your collection by adding back issues to your literary library. Or give the gift of memoir to your favorite friend, memoir enthusiast, newly-wed, co-worker, teacher or grandchild. You know whom you have in mind…

Click here to subscribe by credit card.

To pay by check or money order, mail payment to:
Memoir (and), P.O. Box 1398, Sausalito, CA 94966-1398

Two Years (4 issues): $39
One Year (2 Years): $20
Single Issue (current issue): $12

Save when you renew: $5 off when you renew for one year, and $10 off when you renew for a two-year subscription. Please click here to renew your subscription.

Library and Institution Information:
EBSCO # 563-732-810
Single: $15 | One-Year: $25 | Two-Year $45 (frequency is twice per year)
Contact Sarah Schafer for help placing your order.
Email: sschafer [at] memoirjournal [dot] com Phone: 415-339-3154 Fax: 415-339-4136

CURRENT ISSUE
Issue 6
Volume 3 | Number 1

For then she might have understood that we are owed nothing, that the world asks permission of no one, and then she might never have given herself to him, that sad and terrible man with the rainwater eyes, the one who loved her better and harder than you, than anyone. She might’ve settled for the quiet boy, for morning chores and afternoon cigarettes, for every once in a while rolling up her jeans and wading barefoot in the cold river beneath the stars.

-Excerpt from “On Oblivion” by Issue 6 Grand Prize Winner Joe Wilkins

BACK ISSUES
Issue 5
Volume 2 | Number 2
SOLD OUT!

Things started to fall apart the year the girl was murdered up on Pig Road, little more than a rutted trail, and along it the charred remains of a pig farm that had burned down so many years before that no one remembered. My sisters and I played there, among the ruins, inside the blackened cement foundation, digging around for treasures: canning jars, leather shoes, pieces of cloth we folded and stuck in our pockets.

The rest of the road was undeveloped; woods on one side, marsh on the other. The air was heavy with a rot that made us feel drunk as we ran through the weeds, our legs scratched and bitten beneath the cheap shorts we wore.

-Excerpt from “Pig Road” by Issue 5 Grand Prize Winner Cinthia Ritchie

Issue 4
Volume 2 | Number 1
Single Issue: $12

“Calm down or you’re not gonna play.” I know he won’t continue to wiggle and risk exclusion. I’m right. While Oklahoma’s winter winds plead against the windows, he is quiet. He awaits instruction. “We are playing Slap the Face.” He looks confused. “I’ll go first,” I continue. He looks a tiny bit terrified.

-Excerpt from “What I Did to the Littlest” by Issue 4 Grand Prize Winner Jess Wigent

Issue 3
Volume 1 | Number 3
Single Issue: $12

At the bottom, the name is all the gestures he has in him and presents to the world. Who is this man, at root, to go so carelessly into the New World with this new name? The title seems to have reconciled a silent deal that was made at Ellis Island. It was the last balance to be transferred. You agreed, Frank Torch. You walked away from the inspection desk and into Manhattan with it. You wandered into the Lower West Side with it among other peoples, tall buildings, small crowded streets. Frank Torch fit all the possibilities of the here and now.

–Excerpt from “The Naming of Frank Torch” by Issue 3 Grand Prize Winner Rafael Torch

Issue 2
Volume 1 | Number 2
Single Issue: $12

Special Double Issue: Two Grand Prize Winners!

I am returning to Laos. It is 1993. I lived here as a child, a ten-year-old transplant from an Oregon farm. It was 1963. As the wing of the plane dips right, I press my head against the window. I see the silver snake of the Mekong, see rice fields of dry gold, see coconut palms that cluster near villages, see roads of burnt orange. I am home.

–Excerpt from “The Warp of Memory” written by Issue 2 Grand Prize Winner Nancy Penrose.

Issue 1
Volume 1 | Number 1
Single Issue: $12

When I was a toddler, I used to gather minute pieces of lint off the front lawn and bring them to my father, who would happily stuff them in his navel. I know this is true, because I’ve seen it on home movies: Me, pudgy, intent, butt-up in the green grass, retrieving something too small for the camera to record; him in a lounge chair, seeming to examine it, tucking it into his navel, and giving me a big grin. Well, some of us are Daddy’s girls or aspire to be, and if lint was what it took, lint it would be.

–Excerpt from “The Thread of God” written by Issue 1 Grand Prize Winner Candy B.K. Schille

What We Do

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:01:10 GMT

Memoir Journal publishes the literary journal Memoir (and), and new periodical series Memoir, A Noun. We are expanding our outreach efforts through the programmatic development of The (in)Visible Memoir Project which generates the content for publication series.

The essence of memoir is that everyone has a distinct and compelling story to tell. By publishing a diverse set of the finest and most compelling works, Memoir Journal is helping to build a collective sense of community through the art of storytelling. Memoir Journal’s mission is to encourage the perception that the landscape of memoir writing is changing—in form and expression—and that our readers and writers are at the leading edge of this exciting genre. We are humbled by the tremendous support our organization has received from the writing and arts community, and grateful to have you, reader, on this wonderful journey.

Contest Winners

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:58:53 GMT

Issue 7

Grand Prize Winner:
Laura Fonda Hochnadel / Prose: “Tangled Up in Blue”

Second Prize Winner:
Perry Glasser / Prose: “Excelsior”

Third Prize Winner:
Mary Ann Hogan / Prose: “Peniel (Ithaca)”

Prize for Graphic Memoir:
Corey Ginsberg / “The Rejection Collection: A Visual Poem”

Prize for Photography:
Bill Clark

Outreach

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:56:28 GMT

Today’s economy of celebrity is a threat to the heterogeneity of personal narratives. The mission of The (in)Visible Memoir Project is to publish—make visible—the diversity of individual stories, highlighting those outside the cultural status quo. The Project serves people of all ages and backgrounds, and encourages them to express their unique voice, gain confidence with written and non-textual narratives, discover new value in artistic expression—and see their efforts in print: Memoir Journal’s new periodical, Memoir, a Noun.

The (in)Visible Memoir Project began as a writing workshop held at Woodside’s Juvenile Justice Facility in San Francisco. The program was developed by Kathy Guis, a former Memoir Journal Editor, and Rose Tully, a San Francisco-based writer and teacher. Incarcerated youth attended a series of writing workshops, and their memoirs were published in the inaugural issue of Memoir, a Noun, Volume 1: Keep My Shine. To download a free PDF of Memoir, a Noun: Volume 1, click here.

Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of Memoir, a Noun are already available for purchase in Bay Area stores and on our website. Volume 4 is on the way. All proceeds from publication sales help fund this important work and develop future outreach initiatives. Rose Tully and Megan Mercurio, an English teacher at Woodside, are currently finishing Volume 4, an issue focused exclusively on young women and girls in the juvenile justice system.

The (in)Visible Memoir Project has seen tremendous growth over this last year. This year, Memoir Journal will expand the reach of these memoir writing workshops to serve other “invisible” communities. If you would like to work with us or if you would like to suggest a group that would benefit from our program, call: 415.339.3142 or drop an email: jyarris [at] memoirjournal com

Intern Program

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:55:32 GMT

Who We Are
Memoir (and) is an up-and-coming literary magazine formed to explore and support memoir as “the” genre of the 21st century. It’s available in print in over 700 bookstores in the U.S. and Canada, including Borders, Barnes and Noble and independent bookstores. Memoir (and) is published by Memoir Journal, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Sausalito, California.

We strive with each issue to include a selection of prose, poetry, graphic memoirs, epistolary memoirs, narrative photography, lies and more … We particularly invite submissions that push the boundaries of traditional form and content in the exploration of the representation of self. We also just love a memoir well told. With each issue, Memoir (and) holds two contests that award cash prizes, The Memoir (and) Prize for Creative Nonfiction, and The Memoir (and) Prize for Graphic Memoir.

Internship
Memoir (and) offers college students and recent college graduates an opportunity to participate in many aspects of literary publishing, including editorial, production, and administration. We require a minimum commitment of five hours a week and a consistent schedule. The internship is unpaid, but we offer a one-year subscription to the magazine and assistance in converting the experience to university credit.

There are two internships offered:

1. Onsite
Intern responsibilities include:
• Reading and critiquing submissions
• Assisting with circulation, subscription fulfillment and general maintenance
• Assisting with website maintenance and development

2. Offsite
Intern responsibilities include:
• Reading and critiquing submissions
• Web-based submission and subscription promotion

Please e-mail a cover letter and resume to Sarah Schafer, Office Manager, at sschafer [at] memoirjournal [dot] com. Please put “Internship Application from [your name]” in the subject header.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sarah Schafer
Office Manager

Reader Program

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:54:25 GMT

If you love to read, email Office Manager Sarah Schafer–we may have a job for you! Our Reader program presents an engaging opportunity for you to help us succeed in our mission to publish the highest quality memoirs from emerging and established authors. Memoir Journal utilizes a “blind reading” submissions process to ensure unbiased evaluations from our qualified readers and judges. It is imperative to Memoir Journal that equal opportunity be given to all submitters.

Our reader volunteers use an online portal to review submissions, so you can work at home or in a favorite cafe—any location that has internet access. We do request a commitment to reading a certain amount of submissions on a regular basis, but it can be as little as four submissions per week, if that is what your schedule permits.

If it sounds like we are speaking to you, please call or email today and confirm your interest: 415.339.3154 or sschafer [at] memoirjournal com

Press

Memoir (and) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:53:26 GMT

Download our press kit here.

If you would like a copy of Memoir (and) to review or recommend, or for more information about our organization, please contact Jessica Yarris at 415.339.3142 or drop an email: jyarris [at] gmail com and she will be happy to talk to you at length and answer any questions you may have and perhaps answer some questions you didn’t know you had, as well.

INSIDE ISSUE 2: VOL. 1 NO. 2 (2008)

Memoir (and) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

MEMOIR (AND) GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

FALL 2007 CONTEST WINNER: JOHN PHILIPP
Ginne–After, Despite, Because

SPRING 2008 CONTEST WINNER: NANCY PENROSE
The Warp of Memory

POETRY

KATHY CHETKOVICH & CANDIDA LAWRENCE
Maude Meehan 1920-2007

MAUDE MEEHAN
Washing the Stones

   SALLY LIPTON DERRINGER
   Verlaine
   Cultivation

MARSHALL D. DURY
Steps

DIANE GAGE
My Brother’s Keeper

DANNY ROSEN
Twenty Miles North of Baggs

CB FOLLETT
Danny

KAREN BENKE
Gun

   YVONNE CANNON
   Slippage
   Land of Stars

EDDIE BELL
Twenty-First Century Man

PROSE

RICHARD COSTELLO
2 or 3 Things I Know About a Brain Injury

ANNE MATLACK EVANS
Basin, Pool and Ocean

CANDIDA LAWRENCE
Sartorial Notes

ANDREW YOUNG
You Can Let Go Now

JOY WILSON-YOUNG
The Broomstick and the Leper

MARIAH BURTON NELSON
Write About Your Life

JAMES RANDOLPH JORDAN
A Death in the Family

FRANCES PETTEY DAVIS
A Cure for Scarring

BONNIE SINGER & MARILUZ OTERO
Life Without Railings

GLENN DEUTSCH
Hoyer Lift

DAVID TIPPETTS
What I Didn’t Know

LINDA COLEMAN
Horses

M.B. MCLATCHEY
ISMs, an excerpt from the memoir “Worlds Within You”

ANNE WARREN SMITH
Reeds Shall Bend

SALLY BELLEROSE
Tripping

BONNIE J. MORRIS
When Mix Tapes Ruled the Earth

SCOTT LUCERO
The Good Samaritan

ZAYRA YVES
Under the Ribs

RACHEL DACUS
Big Bang

GRAPHIC MEMOIR

GORDON MCALPIN
Persepolis 2.1

Frances Caballo comments on Recovering Teacher

Frances Caballo — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:46:09 GMT

Haven't we all known someone like Mr. Webb? This was a beautifully written, deep piece with amazing detail. Kudos to the writer!

Terri French comments on White Trash Primer

Terri French — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:21:00 GMT

I too enjoyed this immensely. The long sentence length worked well with this piece, keeping the momentum going. The voice was authentic. I grew up in Michigan, but have lived in the South for over 20 years, whether you are from the South or not I do not know, but this piece definitely has that vibe. Well done.

Zachary J. George comments on For Now You Are Here

Zachary J. George — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:05:59 GMT

This is writing that matters. Thank you for your insight into a world I may not otherwise see. I am trying to do the same thing with experiences I had in SE Asia. I only hope to come near providing the compassion and love that you passed on to this reader. Best to you.

Zach

Lavern comments on Transpiration

Lavern — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:29:38 GMT

Brilliant - absolutely!

Lavern comments on What I Did to the Littlest

Lavern — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:28:35 GMT

Ouch!

I loved this...

...Yet, it made me sick to my stomach!

Helen O'Neil comments on Recovering Teacher

Helen O'Neil — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:32:54 GMT

The above comment is mine. I misunderstood who the 'author' is.

I loved this story and could see the teacher very clearly, almost into his heart.

The greatest thing that ever happened to me as a teacher came about one afternoon, when I wandered into a florist shop after work. The girl behind the counter was Sarah, who had been in my seventh grade class. She had entered the grade mid-year, having just immigrated from Armenia.

It was such fun catching up with her that day in the flower shop. She told me she was in college and seemed to be doing so well. She wrapped up the daisies and when I took out my wallet to pay, she said'Oh,no, Ms. O'Neil. I don't want you to pay. Remember, you gave me your own personal workbook?'

I remembered that there had been no workbooks left. I also remebered I didn't want to give her mine but felt asking another student to share would have made Sarah's adjustment to a new school, within a new culture even harder. I sensed she had to feel as autonomous as possible.

I enjoyed those flowers so much and felt happy that all those years before I had made a kind and wise decision for someone. I hope the teacher in the article came to see what he had done for others, at least some of them. I hope those students who appreciated him told him so or, if they didn't, that they tell someone else, who's still around, what they mean to them.

Jo Scott-Coe comments on Recovering Teacher

Jo Scott-Coe — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:14:20 GMT

Such a sad story of decline but I related, as a former teacher, to the indignities suffered upon sensitive, intelligent souls. As they say in AA, 'alcohol is but a symptom.'

Kamille Jennings comments on Postcards

Kamille Jennings — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:43:53 GMT

This poem is beautiful. I love the journey you take us on. Stellar!

Frances Mancuso Durler comments on Transpiration

Frances Mancuso Durler — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:30:47 GMT

Regarding poem Transpiration by Teresa Sutton - Such a powerful ending to this poem, coupled with the memory of wild blueberries. Excellent flow of stanzas, ending a surprise. Thank you

Eugene G. Schwartz comments on White Trash Primer

Eugene G. Schwartz — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:39:03 GMT

This is a beautifully driven narrative driven by its authenticity, wonderful descriptive detail, acceptance of life as it comes, and the writer's life affirming and forward-looking spirit. She makes a spare and simple circumstance rich with possibility.

I started reading while browsing the site and couldnt stop till I got to the end.

Kristine Bruneau comments on Flea Spit

Kristine Bruneau — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:45:58 GMT

It was such an emotional rollercoaster of a story that I smiled, chuckled, gasped in fear, and at the end I cried.

Kathleen Melton comments on Recovering Teacher

Kathleen Melton — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:07:15 GMT

Mr. Webb remains one of my favorite High School memories and teachers. I am grateful for having been in his Latin class for two years, and to you for this beautiful memoir of a man I, and many others, have always remembered, perhaps too late.

Stacy Davies comments on Recovering Teacher

Stacy Davies — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:41:01 GMT

WOW. This is an amazing piece - exceptionally written and so very moving. Wonderful.

Piccone comments on Macar

Piccone — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:24:32 GMT

This was my favorite out of all the poetry!

klaudia oliver comments on About the Cover

klaudia oliver — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:16:33 GMT

Superb photo Deb! I've been a fan of your both your fotos and your writings on mexican culture. THanks for the many contributions you have given to PortalSanMiguel.com and Inside/Dentro Mag.

RESPECT!!!

Klaudia