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About this episode: In this summer rewind episode, I revisit my conversation with Margaret Lee, author of the highly acclaimed memoir Starry Field. In it we explore the impacts of intergenerational trauma on our identity, the challenges of writing a researched memoir, staying motivated over the long haul, and the problem of getting an agent too soon. Since recording this episode, Starry Field has been named a best book of 2024 by the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Independent Review of Books and Largehearted Boy. It was also the winner of the Discovery Prize for Nonfiction by the Writers’ League of Texas.

Episode Highlights

• 4:00 Why Explore the Past?
• 7:00 The Impact of Intergenerational Trauma
• 9:00 The Role of Stories in Identity Formation
• 15:00 Maintaining Your Momentum Over the Long Haul
• 20:00 Getting an Agent Too Soon
• 22:00 Structuring a Researched Memoir
• 26:00 The Miracle of the Memoir Process
• 29:00 Turning Yourself into a Character
• 35:00 Understanding Situation versus Story

Resources for this Episode:

• Starry Field with Margaret Juhae Lee and Grace M. Cho Interview for the Korea Society

Margaret’s Bio: 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 alum and has been awarded residencies at the Mesa Refuge, 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 Rumpus and Writer's Digest.

Connect with Margaret:

• Website: www.margaretjuhaelee.com
• Instagram: @mjuhae
• Twitter: @margaretjuhae
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-juhae-lee-2b95905/

Visit https://lisacooperellison.com/yourdesign/ and use promo code RESILIENCE to get 30% off your foundational report.

Visit https://lisacooperellison.com/yourdesign/ and use promo code RESILIENCE to get 30% off your foundational report.

Building Better Memoir Scenes: https://janefriedman.com/building-better-memoir-scenes-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/

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