77. Embracing the Gift in Spiritual Memoir with Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew

Our writing is a gift – both to ourselves and others. That’s what Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew teaches, and we loved getting to explore these ideas in this week’s episode! In this wide-ranging conversation about spiritual memoir, we cover:

• Balancing marketability with honoring the complexity and authenticity of our experience
• The author’s “horseshoe” relationship with the reader in memoir
• Staying faithful to the gifts that you receive—and that you give—in your writing
• Does not finishing really mean failing at our book?
• Loving your writing for its own sake, not for what it “does”

Links mentioned:

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie TED Talk: “The Danger of a Single Story”
• Dolly Alderton’s memoir, Everything I Know About Love 
• Amy Poehler’s memoir, Yes, Please!
• Lewis Hyde’s book, The Gift
• https://www.elizabethjarrettandrew.com/ 
• The Eye of the Heart Center Writing Community – “The Gifts of Writing” Course
• Get Elizabeth’s book, The Release

Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew is the author of Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Memoir of Bisexuality & Spirit, now in its second edition; the novel Hannah, Delivered; a collection of personal essays, On the Threshold:  Home, Hardwood, and Holiness; the chapbook, A Map to Mercy, due out in 2025; and three books on writing: Writing the Sacred Journey:  The Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir; Living Revision: A Writer’s Craft as Spiritual Practice, winner of the silver Nautilus Award; and The Release: Finding Creativity and Freedom After the Writing is Done.  She is a founding member of The Eye of the Heart Center for Creative Contemplation, where she teaches writing as a transformational practice and hosts an online writing community.  She is a recipient of two Minnesota State Arts Board artists’ fellowships, the Loft Career Initiative Grant, and is a Minnesota Book Awards finalist.  She lives in Minneapolis with her wife, daughter, and two rambunctious cats.  You can learn more about Elizabeth at www.elizabethjarrettandrew.com and www.spiritualmemoir.com.