"The Chronology of Water story was an 11-page story written in tiny fragments. And the MFA program I was in, they told me, that's not a story. It's a poem or something. It's a list of fragments. I'm like, 'Fuck you!' My whole enterprise has been to trouble the edges," says Lidia Yuknavitch, bestselling author of several books, most recently a memoir titled Reading the Waves.

Lidia Yuknavitch makes her thrilling return to the podcast, this a live recording of the show at Gratitude Brewing in Eugene in partnership with the revival of the Northwest Review. My understanding is that there’s a significant literary prize, including creative nonfiction essays. You might want to try you filthy animals. The Northwest Review was the first place that ever published Lidia, a short, 11-page story called the Chronology of Water, so, maybe YOU could be the next Lidia Yuknavitch, though we know that’s impossible so don’t even try.

She’s the author of eight books of fiction, nonfiction, and the editor of an essay collection on menopause called The Big M. She’s best known for her memoir, or anti-memoir called The Chronology of Water, the novels Thrust, Verge, and The Small Backs of Children. And her most recent nonlinear, fractured memoir is the brilliant Reading the Waves.

She won the Oregon Book Award in 2016 and also stood on the TED stage and delivered a beautiful talk about misfits. Her work has appeared in Guernica, Ms., and Another Chicago Magazine. She founded the workshop series Corporeal Writing in Portland, Oregon. She is a very good swimmer.

We talk about:

Getting rid of the good/bad binary
Writing in a group setting
Inventing your own rituals
The beautiful and the brutal living next to each other
Taking your turn
Troubling the edges
Being good compost
And how her market days are over and she’s cool with that

You’ll want to pair this episode with 217, Lidia’s first time as well as:

Episode 447: Brooke Champagne Sits Back from the Suckitude
Episode 498: Sasha Bonet on Not Holding Back, and
Episode 123: Elena Passarello on Listening to the book, Polaroids, and Self-Doubt

Dig it, friend.

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Show notes: brendanomeara.com

Episode 523: Lidia Yuknavitch Troubles the Edges

The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara

Episode 523: Lidia Yuknavitch Troubles the Edges