Multicultural Books, Part II

Posted on September 26, 2008 by moonbridgebooks

I love books about half-American half-some-other-culture people because I am one of them. My Japanese mother still causes me consternation and I have been left with strange words and phrases known only to our family, such as “musical bridges” to describe those certain bridges that make noise as your car tires roll over them and “yellow voice,” meaning a high, nasal and usually off-key singing (who, me?). Not to mention odd food combinations: “sushi” with deli ham and mustard, seaweed sprinkles and sliced bologna on rice with soysauce, Spaghetti-o’s on rice for that ultra carb lunch. And so I love it when others share their unusual melding of cultures, usually resulting in both the comical and the frustrating. I feel a bonding of experience.

Last week I mentioned Iranian-American Firoozeh Duma’s latest book, Laughing Without an Accent. Her earlier book, Funny in Farsi, is on my reading shelf and I am currently working on Leslie Li’s Daughter of Heaven. I have greatly enjoyed Bento Box in the Heartland by Linda Furiya and the children’s books by Grace Li: Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat. If anyone has read other good cross-cultural books, let me know of them!

Related to having parents that are from the “old country” is that other problem we have of parents being of the “older generation.” Therefore, most of us have funny (or maybe not so funny!) stories of family life to share. I am only lately telling my daughters some not-so-funny-at-the-time stories from my childhood… the home haircuts, the prom debacle… Finally I can look back and laugh!

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in capturing memories, multicultural | 1 Comment

Multicultural Books, Part I

Posted on September 18, 2008 by moonbridgebooks

“It is not the job of the news media to report on the typical, to give insight into a different culture. It is up to the storytellers and jesters, the memoir writers, the ordinary mothers and daughters” and fathers and sons (my addition). So writes Annie J. Kelly in her review of Firoozeh Duma’s memoir Laughing Without an Accent about the everyday adventures of living in two cultures.

Duma, in a series of comedic vignettes, engages her American audience in a fun learning lesson of what it means to be Iranian – or rather, of what it means to have Iranian customs and ways of thinking in the very different culture of America. Instead of hearing all the bad news about Iran, we are treated to the good news of how the Iranian people have commonalities with us. Despite any physical or cultural differences, it is amazing how our family lives can be so similar!

My favorite reads are multicultural. How fascinating to open one’s mind to the realities of people who are not just like me. How easy to read the newspapers and write off another country and its people as fanatic, backward, violent, brainwashed, etc. Books like Duma’s engage us with the truth that people everywhere are more alike than different, and to use comedy to bring that message across makes for a warm good feeling.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in multicultural | Comments Off on Multicultural Books, Part I

Memoir Writing Groups and Classes

Posted on September 12, 2008 by moonbridgebooks

The popularity of genealogy mixed with a little history and a lot of personal experience seems to have resulted in the hot topic of memoir writing. Look at the best-seller lists of books these days and you’re sure to see a memoir or two amongst them. People like to read about other people’s lives – to learn, to compare, to be inspired, to heal, to satisfy our inherent nosiness… I mean curiosity. It’s easy for famous people to find readers for their life stories, but for us “everyday” people our readers will usually be our families and also our own selves because in writing our stories we reflect on our life and its meaning, lessons learned (or not!); we feel again the joys as well as sorrows and have the capacity to see with hindsight how our experiences shaped us. Writing our stories can be great therapy! Do you have a memoir inside you? I know you do!

Memoir writing workshops now abound. Libraries might have writing groups like this one in Harker Heights, TX, or host seminars (see Carol LaChappelle if you’re in the midwest), and online writing groups exist (see StoryCircle Network). Of course, many lifestory writing books await you. Take your pick, there are many ways to get inspired and get started.

For those interested in casual writing, it’s easy! Take a class, get tips online, don’t worry just spill it out! If writing for your family, do have a friend edit for understanding – you want your stories to make complete sense to the great-great-grandchildren you’ll probably never know. For those interested in creating a great read possibly leading to publication, you’ve got some real learning to do – you’ll need to work backwards in a sense, determining how best to interest your audience (whether family or buying public) and then writing what will please your reader instead of just yourself. Either way, stick your toes in the water and wade in!

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in writing skills | Comments Off on Memoir Writing Groups and Classes