Featherstone 
When it comes to memoir, are you open to writing and reading the weird stuff?
Thanks to all the memoir writers out there, you consistently enrich my life!
Memoirs surprise, entertain, teach, enrich, shatter, inspire and help me grow. They make me laugh, gasp, feel and cry out loud and always, always give me a richer understanding of the world, humanity, and how others experience it.
Recently I was walking up the long esplanade from the Sydney Olympic car park to Book Fair Australia and ahead of me were two groovy-looking bookish types. Strangers, but obviously going in the same direction, we got to talking. I learned their names were Bo Kitty and Clemence Overall.
Clemence is a writer, poet and anthropologist who has written many things including Down to the Bone a memoir about connection, community and shared culture from her time in Guatemala and Haiti (on my to read list). She also produced A Landscape That Breathes a gorgeous, little square poetry pocketbook illustrated by artist Mark Wotherspoon.
Bo Kitty was her table-sharer at the book fair, there with her new memoir Always Eat the Weird Stuff: A rebel woman’s quest for love, identity and belonging.
At first glance at the striking cover, I wasn’t sure if it was sci-fi or a whole new genre of romantasy–but the sub-title revealed it was memoir…and obviously not a cookie cutter one at that.
I love memoirs written by ordinary-not-really-ordinary-at-all people like Bo. Why? Because they easily outshine celebrity and political memoirs.
Bold, yet every day authors, show up on the page. They have no brand to protect, no sponsors to please and can be fiercely and fabulously themselves. They’re often unique, vulnerable and brave too.
The memoir Always Eat the Weird Stuff is about seeking, secrets, non-conformity, growth, the human experience, hope, love (of others and self) and found family versus blood family.
It’s a personalised tour of trauma, belonging, travel, mishaps, compassion, adventure, creativity, community, risk taking and entrepreneurship. It sparkles and flares, shatters and shelters, evokes and entertains.
Writing memoir takes courage, hope, generosity, commitment, compassion, openness and determination. And I think reading a memoir often needs all those things too!
Bo’s lived experience ranges from laugh out loud funny, for example, being a volunteer at Rave Safe where she sat with a guy on a drug induced trip who took ‘phone calls on his Lebanese cucumber all night’.
Through to the deeply personal and profound: ‘If my story ends with me on my own with no kids and no guy, is that enough? Can I borrow all these other families? Will they love me when I’m old and grey or do I have to be continually, perpetually amazing for them? I’m not sure if I can. I’m sure, actually, that I can’t.’
This book was confronting, challenging, heartwarming, surprising, uplifting, thought provoking and wonderful. The huge twist/turning point comes a fair way in – and it’s one of those moments where you feel so much for the author, and everything makes sense.
This book is not for the prudish, it’s for wonderer’s and wanderers and anyone who wants to understand just a little bit more about how others experience and rip into life.
I also found the book a great commentary on creativity, life, travel and choices. It prompts the reader to ask questions about our own lives, and it’s funny too.
I’m still thinking about Bo’s take on the bucket list, a ‘legacy list’ – it’s worth reading for that alone. And that’s the sign of a good memoir – it actually prompts you to make change in your own life – and I’ve begun writing a legacy list of my own (lots of fun!).
I was delighted to hear Bo had got her hands on a copy of Look-It’s Your Book!– but, unfortunately, only after she’d published. She’s been tapping into the marketing and leveraging sections and will be able to learn from her first book as she writes and produces her next – am sure that will be a cracker too.
I didn’t know what to expect with Bo’s memoir but I’m glad it found me! Sometimes that’s what memoirs do. You can find out more about Bo, her businesses and her memoir ‘Always Eat the Weird Stuff’ at bokitty.com.
And if you’re writing memoir–full of your own precious weird and wonderful stuff–I’m here if needed for guidance and encouragement