Category: Interviews

Our archive of interviews with authors, publishers, agents, filmmakers, and other literary and publishing professionals.

Interview: Linda Joy Myers, President and Founder of National Association of Memoir Writers

linda joy meyers

There is a wide divide between reality and remembering, and the memoirist is often left alone in his or her struggle to straddle that gap.

That’s why organizations such as the National Association of Memoir Writers, or NAMW, are so vital to a memoirist’s world. It’s the most important thing you can do for yourself as a writer: surround yourself with other writers. And for memoirists in particular, it’s often therapeutic to meet and converse with others who are facing the same challenges.

Review: Queering the Tranny by Alex Drummond

cover of queering the tranny

A transgender and Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapist from the United Kingdom, Alex Drummond is out to help a 21st world better understand the notion of gender. In reality, western society in general takes gender for granted: We are born either male or female. It is a black-and-white issue with no room for asterisks, footnotes or alternatives.

Interview: Literary Agent Weronika Janczuk by Amye Archer

When I was in college, as a naive twenty something, I imagined a literary agent to be on par with a unicorn: a magical being that can transport you from one place (unpublished) to another (published) in one swoop. They lived in a faraway place (NYC) and no one ever really saw them, or could prove their existence. Yet, we needed to believe in them… Just as I was giving up hope, I met Weronika Janczuk, a literary agent with Lynn Franklin Associates in New York City.

This is Your Brain on Memory: A Conversation with Cognitive Psychologist Jean Pretz by Donna Talarico

I decided to peer into the brain itself and see why we remember the things we do, and why the squishy mass inside our heads will often play tricks on us. I am fortunate to work at a college with an excellent psychology program, so all I had to do was stroll across campus to speak to Dr. Jean Pretz, assistant professor of psychology at Elizabethtown College. She answered some of my burning memory questions from the perspective of a cognitive psychologist.

Interview: Beverly Donofrio, memoirist/essayist

beverly donofrio side profile

When they announced Bev’s name, I think I half expected Drew Barrymore to walk out onto the stage. I had just watched Riding in Cars with Boys only weeks earlier and, despite having read the book first, the image of a brown-haired Barrymore with a Brooklyn accent still resonated in my subconscious. Instead, a slim, tall woman with a very full wig, a funky hat and a glittery dress walked out onto the stage.

Interview: Anthony Youn, M.D., author of In Stitches

tony youn md author of in stitches

Youn may shape breasts (and other body parts) by day, but here, he sculpts a beauty of a memoir. I spoke with Tony in mid-July and, in our almost hour-long phone conversation, we talked about his book, his family, his media experience and the challenges he faces as the author of “a doctor” book—and whether or not I should consider liposuction for my problem area.