5th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase Memoir Showcase Winners: Q & A with Elizabeth Oppen Eshoo & Susan J. Farese

SJF: In a nutshell – tell us about your winning memoir piece for the 5th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase.
EOE: When the wake-up bell rings at midnight on the upper slope of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Elizabeth readies herself for the final push to the summit, mustering what’s left of her strength after enduring a pre-climb heartbreak, a cancer scare, an injured knee and most recently a fever of 104. Her determination and her capable Tanzanian guide NN (and perhaps his magical feather) have managed to get her to the base camp at 15,500 feet, but can she overcome her pain and find the inner strength to get to the summit at 19,341 feet? When danger looms, she is faced with an unexpected decision, but the winds of Kilimanjaro take her exactly where she needs to be. 

SJF: What has your experience taking classes/workshops and writing memoir in San Diego?
EOE: The writing community in San Diego, particularly for memoir writers, has the good fortune of including master teacher and visionary, Marni Freedman. I’ve been so fortunate to be in her Feisty Writers Thursday Read and Critique group for several years and originally found her through writing workshops at the San Diego Writers, Ink. Additionally, The San Diego Memoir Writers’ Association is a terrific way to build my writing network as well as hone my craft. The Memoir Showcase is a tremendous platform builder for writers and Tracy Jones and Marni Freedman are to be commended and thanked! 

SJF: If you had a magic wand, what kind of opportunities would be available to memoir writers in San Diego?
EOE: The upcoming San Diego Writer’s Festival in April 2020 is a magic wand moment for memoir writers in San Diego. It’s a tremendous day of creativity, connection, education and opportunity to be fully immersed in the writing scene here.  

SJF: What are you excited about when it comes to participating in the 5th Annual Memoir Showcase?
EOE: I had the good fortune to be chosen for the 2nd annual Memoir Showcase so I am looking forward to the moment when my story gets read on stage. It is surreal to hear your words performed on stage and I am looking forward to having that experience again. This time around, I am also excited to be involved in the table read with the directors and actors. The follow up anthology is also a great experience, to be able to do readings at libraries and bookstores across the county. 

SJF: What advice would you give to a new writer in San Diego?
EOE: Join the San Diego Memoir Writers’ Association, find a read and critique group and come to the Writer’s Festival in April. 

SJF: Favorite Memoirs?
EOE: The Middle Place by Kelley Corrigan, The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr, Deep Creek by Pam Houston
When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams, Wild by Cheryl Strayed

SJF: Many thanks, Elizabeth!

Bio: Elizabeth Oppen Eshoo was an award-winning advertising executive for People, Life and Sports
Illustrated magazines when a climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro inspired her to jump off the corporate ladder to
pursue a new adventure teaching English as World Teach volunteer in Costa Rica. Her short
story, Maasai in the Mirror was performed on stage for the Memoir Showcase in 2016 and is currently
published in, Shaking the Tree: brazen.short.memoir. She is currently working on
two memoirs, Beyond the Peak and Dancing with Epilepsy, in between being a mom to two amazing
teenagers, an advocate and speaker for the Epilepsy Foundation and a founding Board Member for the
San Diego Memoir Writers’ Association.

Photo credit: Doug Gates

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