memoir

John Edgar Wideman counters the official record of Emmett Till’s father with a more empathetic version.

D. L. Mayfield wanted to help Somali refugees. She ended up mostly baking them cupcakes.

Do women have to trade intimacy for trust in ways that men do not? If we do, should we stop? Are we playing into stereotypes? Are we inviting people to take us less seriously?

Susan Faludi’s memoir reveals the deep complexity of her father’s many identities.

Reading Steve and Sharol Hayner's cancer story, I found myself taking on the role of Job's adversary.

More jobs would help, says J. D. Vance. So would a stronger work ethic.

Baylor transformed itself from a regional Baptist teaching institution into an internationally recognized Protestant research university—but not without scandal.

Even in the jagged edges of life, God’s glory shines. And we are the cultivators of this glory.

Honest and harrowing, this spiritual autobiography testifies to God’s persuasive presence in a life that bears family legacies of slavery, alcoholism, abuse, and mental illness.

Honestly facing the conflict of self with self—and choosing words that reveal its particular manifestations in one life—is hard, hard work.

A memoir becomes explicitly Christian when it derives its literary power from the power of the gospel. It doesn't preach, it shows.

Kaethe Schwehn's memoir of loss, quest, and initiation begins by introducing the special spiritual geography of Holden Village.

When Jeanne Bishop learned of her sister's murder, she found herself saying aloud, "I don't want to hate anybody."

In a guinea pig memoir, the intrepid narrator tries on a practice for a period of time, often a year, in the hope that the project will lead to personal or prophetic insight, renewed hope for the future—and a book deal.

"Isn’t that an off-brand religion?” One of my son’s soon-to-be-relatives asked this question when he was introduced as having grown up in a Mennonite family.

If Mennonites are off-brand to many Americans, then Pentecostals might be known as firebrands. The average person knows very little about either faith. Rhoda Janzen, who has moved from the former to the latter, brings awareness to both.

I talked to Leymah Gbowee
about the writing of her memoir of the Liberian Women's Mass Action for Peace,
Mighty Be Our Powers.