Tonight, April 11, 2018, at 9 pm Central Time, memoir-writer Audrey Mitchell and I will be interviewed by Justin Kaufmann, host of The Download on WGN Radio 720. Audrey is one of the many writers from my memoir-writing classes whose stories intertwine with mine in my latest book, Writing Out Loud. What will we talk […]

In January Regan Burke and I were on WGN Radio 720 touting the benefits of memoir-writing with Justin Kaufmann, host of The Download. Last month 81-year-old writer Bob Eisenberg shared some of his Chicago stories on The Download, and now it’s Audrey Mitchell’s turn. Audrey is another writer whose stories intertwine with mine in my […]

During Oscars week this year I asked the writers in my memoir classes to choose a title of one of the films nominated for best picture. “Use that title as the writing prompt for your next 500-word essay.” No one chose Dunkirk. And just like at the Oscars, “The Shape of Water” won the most […]

I’m piggybacking on the Mondays with Mike post about civics this week with an essay written by Mel Washburn. Mel is a writer in one of the memoir-writing classes I lead for The Village Chicago, and the essay he came up with for the prompt, “A Song from Your Teenage Years That Sticks With You” […]

…don’t despair! our interview with Justin Kaufmann on The Download is already available online. Just link here to the WGN Radio site and hit the button marked “play.” I’m about to do that myself right now to see how we sound — the interview went by so quickly it’s all a blur! I’ll say goodbye […]