Kitchen Tales
The Best Ingredients for Foody Memoir Scenes
Sunday, December 11, 2022 – 3 PM ET (eastern time, USA)

Diana Abu-Jaber teaches her daughter to crack an egg. Abigail Thomas bakes an apple cake. Jo Ann Beard doesn’t like admitting to Pringles. The vast majority of memoirs ultimately yield a kitchen scene—some of which are delicious and some of which are, well, dull. How can we make sure our kitchen scenes are alive with purpose and meaning? How do we go beyond lists (of ingredients, of menu fare) when writing the sweet and the spiced? Drawing from a wide range of literary and artistic sources, as well as my own attempts at the art, this illustrated presentation is designed to provoke new possibilities for your pages. I share a few takeaway prompts at the end.

Forty-five-minute lecture/Fifteen-minute Q and A session.