I was fortunate to be on the Chills at Will podcast this week, a great podcast by Peter Riehl dedicated to the “visceral beauty of literature” (blush). I was talking about the structure of Growing Up Golem, and what it felt like to blend memoir with myth. You can listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Carnivals of Love
So much happened this month, and so much is about to be here! Lit Lit, the giant open mic for writers that I host in Beacon, NY, had its fifth anniversary, and I couldn’t be more proud. This democratic, ultra-grassroots event where 20 writers at a time get up and read their writing every month got written up in the Highlands Current, the mid-Hudson Valley’s paper of record. Then we had our actual anniversary event, where around 30 folks in a carnivalesque atmosphere performed music, dance, theater, and, yes, writing, while dining on cakes, candy, and champagne contributed by members. The event was dedicated to our brother Addison Goodson, a Beacon poet and towering spirit who we lost two weeks ago. The event drew over 100 people.
Next up: the Beacon book launch for my republished memoir Growing Up Golem, which mashes up a bad-mom memoir with high fantasy. The great science fiction writer Terry Bisson called it “Rich and wild, dark and funny, as fearless as her legendary journalism and as scary as a fairy tale. A serious writer at the top of her game. I love this book!” I would love to see you at this reading and party Thursday, May 21 at the Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St. at 7 PM. I’ll be talking about the book with Ruth Danon, poet laureate of Beacon and Dutchess County, signing copies, and serving you delicious tidbits and booze.
Stay tuned for some traditional storytelling events I am planning for the fall (think queer and radical versions of Greek myths and Bible stories). And the next Lit Lit is June 5! If you didn’t get to read at the anniversary Lit Lit and wanted to, talk to me! Hope to see you at some of these events soon.
Growing Up Golem Is Being Republished!
Hi everyone.
Apologies for crossposting, if you’ve seen this already!
I’m very excited that my memoir GROWING UP GOLEM is going to be republished by Indolent Books in an all-new edition, after 13 years. And preorders are available NOW!
The estimable lesbian critic and poet Julie Enszer said of the book, “Minkowitz presents herself as a golem, created and controlled by her wacky, needy, and sexually abusive mother.… The quest of the book is Minkowitz’s transformation from golem to human; she desires, secretly to be a servant no longer for her mother, her sister, or the women she dates. Through their quest, Minkowitz explores her early life with the requisite wry humor that makes the book highly, even compulsively readable.… Emotional complexity, fierce imagination and compelling prose.”
The Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science-fiction author Terry Bisson said of GUG, “Rich and wild, dark and funny, as fearless as her legendary journalism and as scary as a fairy tale. A serious writer at the top of her game. I love this book!”
“In Growing Up Golem,” the late novelist Ellis Avery said, “Donna Minkowitz comes to the unlikely, brilliant conclusion that she must have been her mother’s golem, a manikin formed from clay and garbage and sacred letters… Exciting, startlingly fresh. Donna Minkowitz takes a dazzling leap of fancy and then writes a new bridge into being behind her for the rest of us to follow.”
The book was shortlisted for both a Lambda Literary Award for memoir, and the Publishing Triangle’s Judy Grahn Nonfiction Prize.
But I always felt this memoir didn’t get quite enough attention when it came out, so I’m over the moon that Indolent Books is bringing it out again!
If you do me a favor and preorder now, it will help my small-press publisher with publication costs
You can order right now by clicking on this secure link (just $16):
https://buy.stripe.com/4gMbJ22qdcrV65GgvK6kg18
And save the date for my New York City launch event — Thursday, April 9 at the Bureau of General Services — Queer Division at 7 PM, 208 W. 13th St. I’ll be speaking with the great Griffin Hansbury! Or for my Beacon launch event, Thursday, May 21 at 7 PM at the Howland Cultural Center with Ruth Danon, 477 Main Street in Beacon, NY! Or my event in High Falls, NY at Blue Heron Books with Kristen Holt-Browning, 4 PM on Sunday, April 12.
Thank you so much —
Donna
Next memoir workshop starts January 21
Happy holidays, everybody! This is a quick note to let you know that my next memoir writing workshop begins Wednesday, January 21 on Zoom. The class goes for eight weeks, until March 11, and meets from 7 to 9 PM ET. Class size is small, limited to 8.
Please let me know if you are interested.
The focus is on craft, particularly on using emotion, sensuality, storytelling, lyricism, and voice. Folks will get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere. The fee is $325.
Writers at all levels are welcome. For more information or to register, please contact me at minkowitz46 AT gmail.
A quick bio for me: Donna Minkowitz has taught memoir writing for 27 years, at venues ranging from the 92nd Street Y and the Mt. Chocorua Writing Workshop to the JCC of Manhattan, the New York Writers Workshop, and The Kitchen. Her autobiographical novel DONNAVILLE was published in October. Her most recent memoir, Growing Up Golem, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and the Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award, and she won a Lambda Literary Award for her first memoir, Ferocious Romance. A former columnist at The Village Voice, she has also written for Slate, The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, New York magazine, and Salon.
Made/Up at the Newburgh Fringe Festival!
Hey, I’m thrilled to let you know that I’ll be performing a hyper-interactive show, Made/Up, in the very first Newburgh Fringe Festival, Saturday, October 24 at 1 PM! Tickets are $10 (plus $2 facilities fee). Location: The Ritz Theater, 107 Broadway in Newburgh, N.Y.
Made/Up combines writing by me about my life with writing by YOU, the audience. Those of you interested in memoir writing might especially want to come to this!
What stories do we tell about ourselves, and what happens when we want to change those stories? In this highly interactive performance, memoirist-turned-fiction-writer Donna Minkowitz reads selections from all three of her “defiant, playful, dark and funny” books (Kirkus), and invites the audience to come up with on-the-spot micro-memoirs and micro-fiction stories about themselves.
My students (or people who have been my students) are especially invited to come.
This is the show for you if you’ve ever wanted to write about your life and wondered how to go about it. It’s ABSOLUTELY for you if you’ve ever thought about writing a fairy tale about yourself, or imagining yourself as an inanimate object. (The Port Authority Bus Terminal? A poisoned peach? A subway train? The Vietnam War? A vibrator?)
For tickets, click here:
https://secure.qgiv.com/for/newburghfringefestival/event/madeup/
(You can also get tix with $12 cash at the door.) Would love to see you there!
Donna
Summer Memoir Workshop!
Hey friends, I’m teaching a six-week memoir workshop this summer, on Wednesday nights starting July 16. The last class date is August 20, and we meet from 7 to 9 PM ET on Zoom.
The workshop focuses on craft, especially on using emotion, the senses, lyricism, storytelling, and voice. Students will get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere. Class size is limited to 8. The fee is $300.
Let me know if you’re interested! You can contact me at minkowitz46@gmail.com.
Here’s my bio:
Donna Minkowitz has taught memoir writing for 27 years, at venues ranging from the 92nd Street Y and the Mt. Chocorua Writing Workshop to the JCC of Manhattan, the New York Writers Workshop, and The Kitchen. Her most recent memoir, Growing Up Golem, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and the Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award, and she won a Lambda Literary Award for her first memoir, Ferocious Romance. A former columnist at The Village Voice, she has also written for Slate, The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, New York magazine, and Salon. Donna earned a BA in Literature from Yale University and received an Andrew D. White Fellowship in Comparative Literature from Cornell University. She founded the Lit Lit literary series in Beacon, and has served as a judge for four book awards. She was recently inducted into the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival LGBTQ Writers Hall of Fame.
September 25 Memoir Writing Workshop on Zoom!
Hey, I’m teaching my eight-week memoir writing workshop again, on Wednesday nights starting September 25 on Zoom! The class meets from 7-9 PM ET, and the last class is November 13.
The workshop focuses on craft, especially on using emotion, the senses, lyricism, storytelling, and voice. Students will get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere. Class size is limited to 8. The fee is $325.
Let me know if you’re interested! You can contact me at minkowitz46@gmail.com.
Below is some more information about my background:
Donna Minkowitz has taught memoir writing for 24 years, at venues ranging from the 92nd Street Y and the Mt. Chocorua Writing Workshop to the JCC of Manhattan, the New York Writers Workshop, and The Kitchen. Her most recent memoir, Growing Up Golem, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and the Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award, and she won a Lambda Literary Award for her first memoir, Ferocious Romance. A former columnist at The Village Voice, she has also written for Slate, The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, New York magazine, and Salon. Donna earned a BA in Literature from Yale University and received an Andrew D. White Fellowship in Comparative Literature from Cornell University. She founded the Lit Lit literary series in Beacon, and has served as a judge for four book awards.
What’s New for January
Hey campers, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
We got a lot going on in January here In Donnaville:
- On Thursday evening, January 12, I will teach A FREE MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP at the Howland Public Library, 313 Main Street in Beacon, 6 PM- 7:15 PM. Please register here.
- My next 8-week memoir workshop starts Wednesday, January 25 at 7 PM. It goes for eight Wednesday nights, from 7-9 PM, and the cost is $325. See here for more info.
- The next LIT LIT is Friday, January 20 at the Howland Cultural Center at 7 PM, 477 Main St. in Beacon. If you’re interested, come on down! Some reading slots will be available at the door, or just come and listen 😎