Topic: Telling Your Truth
In this session, author Louise Nayer (Burned: A Memoir—an Oprah pick) will talk about the process of writing her story: how writing challenged her and ultimately helped her heal. Her mother and father were severely burned (and her mother facially disfigured) when she was four years old. The nine-month separation, her mother’s facial disfigurement and 37 operations, as well as her father’s depression were something the family rarely talked about. Writing—first poetry—then a memoir--saved her from an unbearable silence and helped her through panic attacks that took over her body at 21. Louise will talk about the process of writing and share what she has learned through her 50-year career as an educator and author. Mainly, she will talk about how sharing her story made her a stronger person and talk about how she calmed herself when writing about traumatic memories.
Louise Nayer, Child of Burn Survivors
Louise Nayer is an educator and author of five books. Her most recent book is Poised for Retirement: Moving from Anxiety to Zen. Her previous book, Burned: A Memoir (2010 and republished 2016) was an Oprah Great Read and won the Wisconsin Library Association Award. She has also written two books of poetry, and co-authored How to Bury a Goldfish: 113 Rituals for Everyday Life. She now teaches at OLLI UC Berkeley and at the Writer’s Grotto. She has two grown daughters and a step-daughter and lives with her husband and dog in San Francisco. www.louisenayer.com