Foreward praises PERMISSION by Elissa Altman in starred review: “Life-affirming and reflective, the writer’s guide . . . explores concepts of creative validity and emergence”
Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create
Memoirist Elissa Altman’s encouraging writer’s guide is about pushing beyond doubt, fear, repression, and shame to craft stories of relevance and truth. A teacher of memoir writing, Altman details the integral concept of “ownership” in the creative process. Though people’s lives and histories deserve to be recounted, she says, extenuating influences like family disapproval can inhibit the sharing of details and even veracity. In Altman’s first memoir, she pondered a longstanding family “non-secret secret”: that her grandmother abandoned Altman’s father and his sister for three years. After her grandmother returned, no explanations were given as to why she made the “excruciating” choice to leave her young children. By publicly divulging the incident decades later, Altman damaged her family’s “veneer” and was ostracized by angry relatives. The book’s tone is welcoming yet exacting as it outlines key elements to writing memoirs of resonance. To access uncensored truths, Altman quotes Cheryl Strayed’s guidance to write “as though all parties are dead.” The book also notes that truth-telling can lead to communal resistance, as with Joyce Maynard’s memoir At Home in the World, which included troubling recollections of J.D. Salinger, outraging fans and critics. For those concerned that their experiences aren’t “important” or memoir-worthy, Altman asserts, “What story will you write, then, if not yours?” Through finding the quirky moments and humanity in life, or the “magic in the mundane,” all stories can become engaging and connective, she says. And while revenge might be a powerful “tell-all” motivator, it often twists memories into hateful patterns, diffusing “human complexity and possibility.” Life-affirming and reflective, the writer’s guide Permission explores concepts of creative validity and emergence.
MEG NOLA (March / April 2025)