Lindsey Salatka, author of “I am Ajumma”. Winner in the 2020 San Diego Memoir Showcase. Interview by Laura Engel, SDMWA Board President 

LE:  Congratulations, Lindsey! In a nutshell—Please tell us about your winning memoir piece for the 6th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase. 

LS: My piece, Am Ajumma, is about my experience dancing in a mostly Asian, middle-aged flash mob, Ajumma EXP. (Sidenote: I am not Asian.) It is a call to action for middle-aged women everywhere, regardless of our ethnicity or how we identify, to reclaim our relevance because we are worthy and deserving, no matter how long it takes us to get vertical after picking something up off the ground. The focus of Ajumma EXP is to highlight and applaud middle-aged badassery, and my piece heralds this message. It is time for women in their new, improved prime to sweep aside disempowerment and twerk all the way to the top.  

LE: What has been your experience taking classes/workshops and writing memoir in San Diego? 

LS: I mostly prefer to wield my personal angst in the fiction genre, although I have another personal essay that will be published in Volume Three of the Shaking the Tree anthology soon, and I write about my perspective and experiences on my blog, fishheadology. I have taken several classes with Marni Freedman and have worked in a wonderful writing group led by her for eight years. Marni has been an amazing writing mentor, coach, and friend to me and has been instrumental in the progression of my writing. I would love to take more classes, but I have three kids and a job, so it gets a little hectic in these parts. I feel lucky to be a part of such a rich, vibrant writing community and hope to take more advantage of it when time allows. 

LE: This year has been unsettling in so many ways. How do you think that has affected your writing?  

LS: This has been more of an editing year for me, as my first novel, which took me ten years to write, is being published by She Writes Press in July 2021. I had no idea how stifled my creativity was until the election was over, and bam! The floodgate was pulverized! I wake up to more ideas every day than I’ve had in four years. This has been an excellent season to work on my next novel, and Covid-19, while devastating in so many ways, has provided an excellent excuse to keep my butt in the chair.  

LE: What are you excited about when it comes to participating in the 6th Annual Memoir Showcase? 

LS: This is my first Showcase, and I’m excited about everything! It has been a great experience so far, and I am humbled to be included in such an amazing group of authors and moved by all of their incredible stories. 

LE: What advice would you give new memoir writers? 

LS:  My best advice is 1) Butt in chair, and 2) Don’t censor yourself. Give your magic an opportunity to flow; it is only waiting for an unhindered pathway. 

LE: Thank you so much, Lindsey. We are all looking forward to watching “I Am Ajumma” on Facebook Live at the Memoir Showcase on Dec. 5th at 7 p.m. 

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