195. Incorporating Magic and the Occult in Memoir featuring Alex DiFrancesco

195. Incorporating Magic and the Occult in Memoir featuring Alex DiFrancesco

Alex DiFrancesco joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about using rituals and tarot as a framework in a manuscript, Italian folk tradition as a spiritual outlet, the sometimes difficult path to publishing, being sued for defamation, finding a publisher brave enough to publish our work, writing about sexual assault, thinking in sections, using books as inspiration, complex PTSD, hiding who we are, alters, saints, and card divination, taking it slow, keeping our body in working order, making our own magic, and their new memoir Breaking the Curse.

Also in this episode:

-anti-SLAPP laws

-seeking protection

-multi-tonal books

-Snakes and Acey’s Print Shop: https://www.snakesandaceys.com/

Books mentioned in this episode:

78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack

The Part That Burns by Jeannine Ouellette

Aura by Hillary Leftwich

Saint Dymphna’s Playbook by Hillary Leftwich

Glory Guitars by Gogo Germaine

I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well by James Allen Hall

Alex DiFrancesco is the author of ALL CITY, PSYCHOPOMPS, TRANSMUTATION, and BREAKING THE CURSE. Their work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Tim House, and more. They are a 2022 recipient of the Ohio Atts Council's individual excellence awards, as well as the first transgender awards finalist in over 80 years of the Ohioana Book Awards.

Connect with Alex:

Website: www.alexdifrancesco.com

Get the book: https://www.sevenstories.com/authors/453-alex-difrancesco?srsltid=AfmBOor0TGaH2gWxGoaqEPlv2rNOrjiALa2iEha3b-z1m0s6mFIosnja

Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.

She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank

Follow Ronit:

https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/

https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank

https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social

Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Avsnitt(241)

188. Reckoning with and Writing About Being Raised by Parents with Mental Illness featuring Natasha Williams

188. Reckoning with and Writing About Being Raised by Parents with Mental Illness featuring Natasha Williams

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187. Forgiving Ourselves, Forgiving Others featuring Ed Latimore

187. Forgiving Ourselves, Forgiving Others featuring Ed Latimore

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186. Broadening a Memoir’s Scale, Accessibility, and Audience featuring Mallory McDuff

186. Broadening a Memoir’s Scale, Accessibility, and Audience featuring Mallory McDuff

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185. Searching Hard for Self featuring Katy Grabel

185. Searching Hard for Self featuring Katy Grabel

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184. Writing About Childhood Sexual Abuse without Reliving It featuring Dr. Stacey Hettes

184. Writing About Childhood Sexual Abuse without Reliving It featuring Dr. Stacey Hettes

Dr. Stacey Hettes joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about therapeutic writing and how she crafted a memoir about childhood sexual abuse without revictimizing herself, metabolizing childhood t...

15 Juli 202545min

183. Becoming the Hero of Our Own Story featuring Deb Miller

183. Becoming the Hero of Our Own Story featuring Deb Miller

Deb Miller joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how her memoir began as a family project, being surprised to have become an author, discovering and latching onto a framework, using an “e” ...

10 Juli 202534min

182. Rewriting a Story About Medical Trauma featuring Kate Gies

182. Rewriting a Story About Medical Trauma featuring Kate Gies

Kate Gies joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the lasting effects of trauma on the body and mind, taking care of ourselves while writing by remembering our purpose, allowing early drafts ...

8 Juli 202537min

181. Proof of Life featuring Jennifer Pastiloff

181. Proof of Life featuring Jennifer Pastiloff

Jennifer Pastiloff joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about getting out of our own way, practicing curiosity, feeling like we have a right to tell our stories and be creative, finding a way in...

1 Juli 202535min

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