By Genevieve Hilton
There is more than one way to bring an author’s own life into their writing. This was the central takeaway at the WiPS event held at the AWA on October 16, Life Writing: Capturing Life on the Page.
Three inspiring writers shared their views with a sizeable and avid audience on how elements of personal life can be incorporated into writing. Moderator Rinkoo Ramchandani chaired a lively discussion between memoirist Sonia Leung, verse novelist Ritu Hemnani, and short story author Susan Lavender who each showed how elements of our lives can be transformed into classical memoirs and also inspire other genres.
Hemnani’s Lion of the Sky takes place during the British Partition of India. “Writing a verse novel is like being the Pied Piper, leading the reader,” Ritu told the audience at the event. While researching the story, Ritu treasured the opportunity to interview many people who have since passed away. “They didn’t realise the triumph in their courage.”
Susan, a corporate lawyer and theatrical actress, is more accustomed to bringing the voices of others to the stage. But a stressful time of transition from Montreal underpinned her own written work. “It’s the sadness of the story – what might have been,” she explained. Susan is a published writer of poetry and prose and is currently writing her first full-length novel.
Sonia’s book, The Girl Who Dreamed, traces what happened in her life after the unthinkable occurred. Sonia reminded the audience that retelling the events of your life matters, but what matters more is writing about what your reaction was. In this way, she used the classical memoir writing technique of binary voices: me then, versus me now.
The writers agreed that emotional vulnerability was necessary when writing from life. As Sonia put it, “It’s your memories, and your interpretation of the rest.” But all agreed that Life Writing can take many different forms, and the genre you eventually decide on will be the right one for you.