In honor of Mother’s Day this year I asked the writers in my memoir class to tell us about the traits they share with their mothers. This one is written by Michael Graff. The “Nancy” in the essay is his wife, and the “Pink House” he refers to is their family’s vacation home near Lake […]
Last week we published a post here listing questions my young friend Ali had while planning a trip with her boyfriend Joe from her college campus to a Chicago jazz club last Sunday. They were celebrating in advance — the actual date of their anniversary is today, April 24, so lift a glass or cup […]
A couple years ago we ran a guest post by our one-of-a-kind neighborhood friend, Steve Ferkau. Steve is, well, I think his message, written yesterday, will tell you more about him that I can. I hope you’ll give it a read, and when you’re done, you explore the links at the bottom of this post. […]
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” […]