I could not be more excited to launch the new (14th!!) season of Family Secrets with my first guest of the season, @belleburden , with whom I had one of my favorite conversations ever. I hope you’ll listen! There’s a reason her memoir STRANGERS has soared to the top of so many bestseller lists and discerning readers’ stacks. It is beautiful, honest, smart, and brave. As is she. Link in bio!
Five days in LA. Great speaking gig at @lomalindauniv with the loveliest people, great visits with dear friends @yogisanonymous and @trevoralbertart , and the best family time with my men. I came home with a full heart and a clear mind. Deep breaths, everyone. On we go. 💗
This boy is 27!!! Happy birthday, @jacobmaren_ !!! Watching you grow into the man you are today is the greatest joy and privilege of my life. I love you all the way around the moon and back. Thank you for making me a mama and allowing dad and me to be both your parents and best friends. 💗💗💗💗💗
We are thrilled to announce that Dani Shapiro will be joining us as faculty at the Kauai Writers Conference this November. 🌺
Dani is the author of eleven books, including the national bestseller Signal Fires and the New York Times bestselling memoir Inheritance, both winners of the National Jewish Book Award. She is also the creator and host of the hit podcast Family Secrets and the co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy.
She will be leading an in-depth master class in memoir, designed for writers with a project in progress. Participants will submit their opening pages to be workshopped in class, with a focus on what makes a powerful beginning—storytelling, structure, and the art of shaping lived experience into narrative. Together, you’ll explore how the personal becomes universal, and what it means to write with honesty, courage, and clarity.
We cannot wait to welcome Dani—and you—to Kauai for meaningful work, deep conversation, and creative breakthrough, all set against one of the most inspiring backdrops in the world.
Join us in November. Bring your pages. Let’s get to work. ✨
#writersconference #writingcommunity #writinginspiration #memoirs #kauailife
Life lately! Three weeks away was a balm to my spirit. From exquisite Modena and the extraordinary hospitality of @laratgilmore and @massimobottura to the ongoing wonder that is @sirenland_writers_conference with beloved @carlapositano , @antoniosersale , Jim and Karen Shepard, @hannahtinti and @smdanler , to a sneak peek of @sirenusemare which will be the talk of the Amalfi Coast for many years to come, to a theater and art-filled week in London with @libbysav and @chaslayton , all with @mmaren by my side — my cup is full. Now, back to work! Diving into edits of Kaleidoscope, out next spring. Friends, I am deeply aware of this bounty, all the more so because of how close we have been to a very different story.
Once upon a time, at a dinner party in Connecticut, a couple of writers were introduced to a family who had the vision to turn their villa in Positano into one of the most beautiful hotels in the world. The family asked the writers if perhaps they’d like to bring some writers over, and just like that a writing conference was born. So many books, friendships (even marriages and babies!) have come into the world since that evening eighteen years ago. So many lives changed. So much laughter and joy and creativity. Now the family has expanded its vision and created a magical beach club just a short boat ride away. It isn’t open quite yet, but this summer @sirenusemare will be the talk of the Amalfi Coast and beyond. We were lucky enough to have a preview.
Forty years, Dad. I almost didn’t post this today, because that’s a very long time and I shouldn’t still be grieving you, right? No. I will always grieve that you never knew me as an adult, never met @mmaren or @jacobmaren_ . I feel you with me now, more than ever. I am more aware, with each passing year, of my connection to you and the life it gave me. Paul Henry Shapiro 8/27/21 - 2/23/86. Your memory is a blessing.
LIVE PODCAST SPOTLIGHT! 🎥🎞️✨
Today we’re highlighting BOY FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY by @sam__sussman . Here are some of our favorite moments from his panel with the incomparable @daniwriter at @thewhitby_hotel .
(Join our next two immersive live podcast experiences on March 1st and April 8th! Go to our link in bio for tickets.)
✨ “So you ask why I didn’t write a memoir, and I’ll try to explain it this way. Samuel Beckett has a great line where he says, as a writer, you have to find the form that fits the mess. So for me… at the center of this story is my growth into a depth of appreciation for the mother who raised me, and a desire not to be defined by any other feature or possible feature of myself. And so I chose the novel, which says, I’m not going to tell you what’s true or what’s not true. That is the form. That is the form that fits the mess of my life.”
✨ “I used to feel that I needed him… I used to look at his photograph when I was a teenager and look between his photograph and my reflection and feel that I needed him. And when I was young, my mother would say to me: “you are loved, you are protected, you are free.” And I didn’t understand what she was saying. And now at this point in my life. I feel it so deeply every day. I feel her love. I feel the love of other people in my life. I’m loved. I’m protected. I’m free. I didn’t write the book for Bob Dylan.”
✨ “I’m dealing with death, love, mothers, fathers, paternity, and when I finished the book, I remember there was a day where I closed the laptop and I walked around the woods behind my mother’s house, and I thought to myself, the only thing larger than everything I’ve just written is love.”
Listen to the full episode now! 🎧
Hard to fathom that it has been forty years since their car accident. My heart is full of love and sorrow. This moment is all we ever have. And so: in my parents’ honor, a reminder to do what we can with what we’ve been given.
