How They Did It: High-Stakes Memoir

“In some ways, writing a memoir is knocking yourself out with your own fist, if it’s done right.”

—Mary Karr

Writing anything for public consumption is an act of bravery, but writing memoir and autobiography requires next-level courage. How can you share a true story that demands to be told—even if it might harm relationships, revisit trauma, unearth secrets—and portray your own life honestly and vulnerably, without the benefit of an Instagram filter?

In the latest “How They Did It” conversation co-presented by Litquake and LitCamp, we’ll hear from five intrepid authors of recent memoirs, all of whom took the heroic step of committing their fascinating stories to the page. Eddie Ahn (Advocate), Sylvia Brownrigg (The Whole Staggering Mystery), Margaret Juhae Lee (Starry Field), Susan Lieu (The Manicurist's Daughter), and Carvell Wallace (Another Word for Love) bravely unfurl stories of family, memory, ambition, healing, and love. Our moderator is Rachel Howard, author of the memoir The Lost Night. What did they risk on the page? What, if anything, do they regret? And how can they stir other would-be memoirists to take up the mantel of bravery and write their stories, no matter the stakes?

We'll gather at the Page Street Co-Working space in San Francisco, where in addition to the conversation, we'll enjoy time for casual networking. We'll be pouring Prosecco, wine, and fancy nonalcoholic drinks. Proceeds from ticket sales will support both LitCamp and Litquake.

About the Speakers

Eddie Ahn has been an environmental justice attorney and nonprofit worker for fifteen years. While working as the executive director of Brightline Defense, a San Francisco–based environmental justice nonprofit, he was inducted into the State of California’s Clean Energy Hall of Fame for his work in equity and clean energy. In addition to his nonprofit work, he has served as president of the San Francisco Commission on the Environment as well as a commissioner on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Bay Conservation and Development Commission. He is a self-taught artist who has been recognized as a Cartoonist-in-Residence by the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. His new graphic memoir is Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice.

Sylvia Brownrigg is the author of several acclaimed works of fiction, including the novels Morality Tale; The Delivery Room, winner of the Northern California Book Award; Pages for You, winner of the Lambda Award; and The Metaphysical Touch; and a collection of stories, Ten Women Who Shook the World. Her latest work is a memoir, The Whole Staggering Mystery: A Story of Fathers Lost and Found. Brownrigg’s works have been included in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times lists of notable fictions and have been translated into several languages. Her novel for children, Kepler’s Dream, written under the name Juliet Bell was published in 2012 and turned into a feature film. Brownrigg lives with her family in London and in Berkeley, California.

Margaret Juhae Lee is an Oakland-based writer and a former literary editor of The Nation magazine. She has been the recipient of a Bunting Fellowship from Harvard University and a Korean Studies Fellowship from the Korean Foundation. She is also a Tin House scholar and has been awarded residencies at the Mesa Refuge, the Anderson Center, and Mineral School. In 2020, she was named “Person of the Year” by the Sangcheol Cultural Welfare Foundation in Kongju, South Korea, for her work in honoring her grandfather, Patriot Lee Chul Ha. Her articles, reviews, and interviews have been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, The Advocate, The Progressive, and The Rumpus. Her new memoir is Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History.

Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese American author, playwright, and performer who tells stories that refuse to be forgotten. A daughter of nail salon workers, she took her autobiographical solo theatre show 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother on a 10-city national tour with sold out premieres and accolades from L.A. Times, NPR, and American Theatre. Eight months pregnant, she premiered her sequel Over 140 LBS as the headliner for ACT Theatre’s SoloFest. Within one year she held 60 performances to over 7,000 people. Her award-winning work has been featured at Bumbershoot, Wing Luke Museum, The Moth Mainstage, On The Boards, The World Economic Forum, RISK!, CAATA ConFest, Viet Film Fest, and she has spoken at more than a dozen universities around the country. Susan lives with her husband and son in Seattle where they enjoy mushroom hunting, croissants, and big family gatherings. The Manicurist’s Daughter is her first book.

Carvell Wallace grew up between southwestern Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles. He attended the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and worked as a stage actor before spending fifteen years in direct-service youth nonprofits. He has covered art, entertainment, music, culture, race, sports, and parenting for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Slate, GQ, Pitchfork, MTV News, and other outlets. As a podcast host, he has been nominated for a Peabody Award and won a Kaleidoscope Award. He is the coauthor of Andre Iguodala’s New York Times bestselling basketball memoir, The Sixth Man and his own forthcoming memoir Another Word for Love. He lives in Oakland and has two adult children, a comfortable couch, and a lot of plants.

Rachel Howard (moderator) is the author of The Risk of Us, a novel, and The Lost Night, a memoir about her father’s unsolved murder. A 2024 National Endowment for the Arts literature fellow, she has published fiction and nonfiction in Zyzzyva, StoryQuarterly, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New York Times Magazine, and elsewhere. For more than 20 years, she has also written dance criticism, primarily for the San Francisco Chronicle. She studied at the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, where she later served as Joan Beebe Teaching Fellow and interim director of undergraduate creative writing. Living with her husband and child in Davis, California, she recently finished a book-length lyric essay and is revising a memoir about learning to sing at Oakland’s oldest piano bar.

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About Litquake

Since being founded by Jane Ganahl and Jack Boulware in 1999, Litquake has hosted 10,500 authors for 275,000 attendees and distributed 12,000 free books to San Francisco schoolchildren. With over 225 literary partners, Litquake functions more than ever as an umbrella organization stitching together the Bay Area’s literary scene. In its lively, diverse and inclusive celebration of San Francisco’s thriving contemporary literary scene, Litquake, which celebrates 25 years in 2024, seeks to foster an interest in literature, perpetuate a sense of literary community, and provides a forum for Bay Area writing as a complement to the city’s music, film, and cultural festivals.

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About LitCamp

LitCamp exists to help writers hone their craft, navigate the world of publishing, and find community. Each year, the organization holds two conferences at the stunning Bell Valley Retreat Center in Mendocino County: one focused on craft, the other on the business of being a writer. Lit Nights events, held at the Page Street co-working space in San Francisco, give emerging writers the opportunity to read their work in front of an audience. LitCamp's in-person and online classes, taught by published writers and experienced instructors, help writers develop their craft. Retreats, held at some of the most secluded and beautiful locations in Northern California, give writers the time and space they need to write.