5th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase Memoir Showcase Winners: Q & A with Kenny Sucher & Susan J. Farese
SJF: In a nutshell – tell us about your winning memoir piece for the 5th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase.
KS: It’s called Elephant in the Room. It’s about a time in my life when I tried to date someone who had a very different outlook than me and I thought I could fix him. Also, he was a Republican.
SJF: What has your experience been taking classes/workshops and writing memoir in San Diego?
KS: It’s been great. It’s given me a supportive cohort of likeminded people, and reason to continue writing. It’s also helped get me from writing about my life to thinking about what really makes and shapes a story.
SJF: If you had a magic wand, what kind of opportunities would be available to memoir writers in San Diego?
KS: More time.
SJF: What are you excited about when it comes to participating in the 5th Annual Memoir Showcase?
KS: I really have no idea what I’m getting myself into. But I’ve shared my writing with a select few, so it’s exciting that more people are going to read it. Or at least be forced to listen to it.
SJF: What advice would you give to a new writer in San Diego?
KS: Stop writing. Kidding, I just figured everyone would say ‘Keep Writing’. But it’s true. Keep writing. Find a person or people that you just sit and write with each week. It helps with accountability and consistency. Like a gym partner. Carve out 20 minutes every day to write. Take classes. Turn off Bravo. Just kidding, it can play in the background if necessary.
SJF: Favorite Memoirs?
KS: I love anything by David Sedaris. Running with Scissors by Augustin Burroughs is great too. Loved Intimacy Idiot by Isaac Oliver and another little-known gem is I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell about a successful account executive by day and a drag queen by night.
SJF: Many thanks Kenny!