Reflections on Creative Nonfiction, Memoir, (Auto)Biography, Life-Writing, and the Essay
21 Mar 2013 at 11:54
Julija Šukys
Academia, Conferences and Symposia, Epistolophilia, Events, Feminism, Friendship, Journeys, Nebraska, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Quebec, Uncategorized, Writing
Lately, I’ve been away from home a lot. And it’s all been in service of my book, Epistolophilia. My “book tour” — as my sister-in-law so generously called the series of lectures, conferences and readings that I almost single-handedly organized and raised money for — has, since November, taken me from Toronto to Chicago to NYC, [...]
07 Dec 2012 at 20:54
Julija Šukys
Academia, Adam Gopnik, Chris Arthur, CNF Conversations, Creative Nonfiction, Dylan Thomas, Essays, Georgia o'Keefe, Interviews, Ireland, Journeys, Ordinariness, Paul Valéry, Personal Essays, Reviews, Uncategorized, Writing
Chris Arthur, On the Shoreline of Knowledge: Irish Wanderings. Iowa City: Shoreline Books, 2012. The carefully crafted, meditative essays in On the Shoreline of Knowledge sometimes start from unlikely objects or thoughts, a pencil or some fragments of commonplace conversation, but they soon lead the reader to consider fundamental themes in human experience. The unexpected [...]
20 Sep 2012 at 20:18
Julija Šukys
Archives, Biography, Canada, Catholicism, Creative Nonfiction, Eastern Europe, Epistolophilia, Feminism, France, Friendship, Jerusalem, Journeys, Language and Multilingualism, Letters, Libraries, Life-writing, Lithuania, Memoir, Mothering, Ona Šimaitė, Paris, Translation, Uncategorized, Vilna Ghetto, Vilnius, Writing
Thanks to Ramunė Jonaitienė for this review in Tėviškės Žiburiai, the Lithuanian-Canadian weekly newspaper. Among the phrases I’m really grateful for is her description of my tone as “calm.” Ačiū, TŽ.
30 Jun 2012 at 11:23
Julija Šukys
Archives, CNF Conversations, Creative Nonfiction, Eastern Europe, Ellen Cassedy, Interviews, Journeys, Judaism, Language and Multilingualism, Lithuania, Translation, Uncategorized, Villages, Vilna Ghetto, Vilnius, Yiddish
We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust. University of Nebraska Press, 2012. We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust tells the story of Ellen Cassedy’s personal journey into the Jewish heartland of Lithuania – the land of her Jewish forebears – and then expands into an exploration of how Lithuania today is engaging with [...]
03 Jun 2012 at 13:05
Julija Šukys
Academia, Archives, Biography, Canada, Children, Creative Nonfiction, Domesticity, Eastern Europe, Editing, Epistolophilia, Essays, Exile, Feminism, France, Interviews, Journeys, Language and Multilingualism, Letters, Libraries, Life-writing, Lithuania, Marketing, Media, Mothering, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Research, Reviews, Uncategorized, Vilna Ghetto, Vilnius, Virginia Woolf, Writing
Here’s an interview I did with ForeWord Reviews, a great publication that focuses on books published by independent presses. You can access the original here (scroll down to the bottom of the page): Conversational interviews with great writers who have earned a review in ForeWord Reviews. Our editorial mission is to continuously increase attention to [...]
22 Apr 2012 at 16:22
Julija Šukys
Archives, Biography, Canada, Eastern Europe, Epistolophilia, France, Interviews, Journeys, Letters, Libraries, Media, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Radio, Uncategorized, Vilna Ghetto, Vilnius
Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of making a whirlwind trip to CBC’s studios in London, England, where I had an appointment record an interview with Michael Enright, the host of CBC Radio One’s Sunday Edition. I’ve heard other writers talk about what a pleasure radio interviews can be. This certainly was the [...]
22 Mar 2012 at 06:33
Julija Šukys
Children, Countdown to Publication, France, Friendship, Journeys, Judaism, Malta and Gozo, Mothering, North Africa, Research, SheWrites, Uncategorized
A few months ago, a friend asked me before departing to France on sabbatical if she should be concerned about anti-Semitism there. “Oh no,” I said, dismissing her concerns. Now, in the wake of the Toulouse Jewish school shooting, I see I may have been wrong to be so quick in my assurance that all [...]
15 Mar 2012 at 10:10
Julija Šukys
Countdown to Publication, Creative Nonfiction, Editing, Epistolophilia, Essays, Journalism, Journeys, Personal Essays, Publishing, Rejection, SheWrites, Structure, Uncategorized, Writing
I’m leading a writer’s workshop on the personal essay in the fall. I’m happy about it, because the essay is a form I love. I tend to write essays at the beginning of a bigger project, and use them as a way to test out ideas and to work through central questions of longer projects. [...]
16 Feb 2012 at 06:31
Julija Šukys
Archives, Biography, Children, Countdown to Publication, Creative Nonfiction, Domesticity, Eastern Europe, Epistolophilia, Friendship, Funding, Journeys, Letters, Libraries, Life-writing, Lithuania, Marketing, Memoir, Mothering, Ona Šimaitė, Publicity, Publishing, Research, SheWrites, Silence is Death, Uncategorized, Vilna Ghetto, Vilnius, Writing
The day before yesterday I received a note from my publisher saying that copies of my book had arrived in the warehouse, and that I could begin announcing its publication. Though my official date of publication is March 1, 2012, the baby’s come early. It’s a strange and great feeling to know that my book [...]
19 Jan 2012 at 04:22
Julija Šukys
Academia, Algeria, Archives, Biography, Catholicism, Children, Christianity, Countdown to Publication, Creative Nonfiction, Domesticity, Eastern Europe, Editing, Epistolophilia, Grad School, Journeys, Libraries, Lithuania, Mothering, Ona Šimaitė, Paris, Research, Residencies and Fellowships, Russia, Saints, SheWrites, Siberia, Silence is Death, Tahar Djaout, Uncategorized, Writing
This is Who-Man. My son and I invented him over breakfast this morning. Who-Man is a superhero whose arch-enemy is a many-eyed monster called “Crime.” Who-Man wears a bumpy suit (as you can see in Sebastian’s rendition of him above). The suit can shoot fire, but our hero rarely has to use this weapon. He [...]
