Libby Knapp author of “My Day with A Homeless Criminal”. Winner in the 2020 San Diego Memoir Showcase. Interview by Laura Engel, SDMWA Board President
LE: Libby, Congratulations! In a nutshell – tell us about your winning memoir piece for the 6th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase.
LK: On a visit to see my adult sons in Arcata, Ca, in November of 2019, I offered to give a homeless person a ride from the small airport where I was renting a car to the Greyhound bus station. I learned right away that he had been released from Pelican Bay Prison 8 days earlier. He was in for Breaking and Entering and had been in prison this time for two years. We ended up spending the day together and had a few adventures and some amazing conversations. I bought him a $150 ticket to take the Greyhound bus back to Los Angeles, Ca to hopefully reunite with his family and friends. He could have gone back to his drugs on the one more night he spent homeless in Arcata, but he met me at the bus station the next morning and I watched him get on the bus with tears in my eyes.
LE: What has been your experience taking classes/workshops and writing memoir in San Diego?
LK: I think I first learned about the Writers Ink organization when I attended a Book Festival at Liberty Station in 2018. I was in awe of all those authors and all the rest of the people involved in editing, publishing, and teaching newbies like me how to write their stories. I was in love immediately with this community. I took a couple of classes in 2018 and 2019 and was introduced to the San Diego Memoir Association and knew right away I wanted to get the Memoir Certificate. I love certificates and degrees and I love learning, so I embarked on this journey and do not plan on giving up until I get my memoir written.
LE: This year has been unsettling in so many ways. How do think that has affected your writing?
LK: The hardest part of this year for me has been not being able to go to the home of my medically fragile, developmentally disabled student that I had been tutoring for 7 years. Getting used to not substitute teaching for my favorite special education teachers and sheltering in. Just like everyone else in this world, it has been a struggle to be motivated and to figure out that I do not have to figure out what is in my future. So, writing has been a blast, and learning so much from the class with Marni, Traci and all my classmates has been a lifesaver.
LE: What are you excited about when it comes to participating in the 6th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase??
LK: It has been such an honor to be selected, and my excitement has been all over the place. Each step is just like writing a book, not knowing what is coming next fuels the excitement, anxiety, and joy in the whole process. I loved the Table Read, I loved my actress Susan, and I feel so proud of my story when Susan acted the part of me. I cannot wait to see the Facebook Live showing and hopefully some of my friends and family will get to watch it also. I have gotten a lot of congratulations from friends and family and that feels so good, I may just have to write more short stories.
LE: What advice would you give to new memoir writers?
LK: I would advise them to join Writers Ink and the SDMWA and whatever other organizations they feel like they would connect with and take classes and start writing. Do not judge your own writing, just write, and keep believing in yourself. As they say, “Knowledge is power”, learn, learn, learn, and write, write, write. Do not give up. Period.
LE: Libby, such great advice. Thank you and we cannot wait to see your scene performed at the 2020 Memoir Showcase on Dec. 5 at 7 pm!