This week on Voice Lessons, I had the privilege of chatting with Helena Fagan, an award-winning poet, memoirist, and young adult fiction writer from Juneau, Alaska, and Cape Meares, Oregon. We reminisced about our years in a writing class together, where our friendship began, and then discussed her distinguished writing career and a recently published work, 'Stalking Truth.'
This deeply personal piece resonated with many readers due to its honesty and vulnerability, addressing the universal quest of understanding oneself through the lens of family and personal history. Helena shared insightful anecdotes about her experiences writing about family members and navigating their responses, as well as the challenges and rewards of staying true to one's voice despite external pressures.
She also shared some advice for writers striving to uncover and claim their unique voices, emphasizing the importance of honesty, embracing fear, and allowing oneself to be surprised by the writing process. We also touched on Helena's extensive teaching career and how she taught young writers to find and express their voices using moments from their own lives.
Our conversation offers a rich exploration of the intersections between personal experience, family dynamics, and creative expression. It was a pleasure to hear Helena's thoughts and experiences, and I hope you find our conversation as enlightening and inspiring as I did.
Key Topics:
- About Helena’s recent work, ‘Stalking Truth’ and how it deeply resonated with so many readers
- How writing ‘Stalking Truth’ helped Helena explore her innate “goodness” through past journal entries through the lens of a family conflict
- How the responses to Helena’s writing reignited an old friendship, and changed her life for the better
- Navigating the inclusion of family and close friends in writing — especially when dealing with different people’s truths
- Letting go of the need to ask for permission to share your story
- Clinging to honesty and truth in writing — no matter the opinions of others
- Going for the moment in our writing
- Being afraid, but telling your hard truths anyway
- Writing can bring about the discovery of your truths — be surprised by them
- Do what you would do if you weren’t afraid
Connect with Helena online:
Read Stalking Truth: https://chicagostorypress.com/literary-journal/f/stalking-truth-by-helena-fagan?blogcategory=Essays
Find more from Jill:
Email: jill@thewritersrefuge.com
Website: https://www.thewritersrefuge.com/
Writing Coaching Programs: https://www.thewritersrefuge.com/coaching
Sign up for my free 3x weekly writing session: write to jill@thewritersrefuge.com for ZOOM info
Special thanks to LVDY for allowing us to use their song, Saltwater, in the intro and outro of the podcast!
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com