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Listeners, what role does the body play in your book? Is it something you use to show the story—or is it the portal to the story itself? In this episode, I talk with Nina Lichtenstein, author of Body, My Life in Parts, a memoir in essays that uses the body as both structure and storyteller. Together, Nina and I explore how writing through the body can deepen our understanding of self, belonging, and resilience. As we prepare for this enlivening conversation, I invite you to take a deep breath, wiggle your toes and get ready for a conversation about what it means to write—and live—in a body. Let’s jump in.

Episode Highlights

• 2:00: The Power of Writing in Response to Body Parts
• 8:15: Tips for Crafting a Strong Live Reading
• 9:53: The Skin We Have in Our Stories
• 13:48: Navigating Time and Revelation in Essay Writing
• 21:29: Dealing with Tender Material
• 28:25: Navigating a Book Launch

Resources for this Episode: 

• Lucille Clifton’s poem “Homage to My Hips”
• “On Blurbs That Matter and How I Did It.” by Nina Lichtenstein
• “Skin in the Game” by Nina Lichtenstein

Nina’s Bio: Nina is a native of Oslo, Norway, now living in Maine. She holds a PhD in French literature from UCONN, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine, and is a “recovering academic.” Her writing has appeared in Tablet Magazine, Kveller, Brevity Blog, Lilith Magazine, The Washington Post, HuffPost, and AARP, among other places. She has blogged as The Viking Jewess (since 2014) now on Substack. Her work has been anthologized and her book, Sephardic Women's Voices: Out of North Africa was published in 2017. Nina is the founder and director of Maine Writers Studio and co-founder/co-editor of In a Flash Literary Magazine. She has three grown Viking Jew sons, all over 6'4" tall with the middle names Thor, Balder, and Odin. She has gleefully discovered pickleball, loves to kayak and hike, and does yoga to calm her monkey mind.

Connect with Nina: 

• https://www.mainewritersstudio.com/
• https://www.ninalichtenstein.com/
• https://ninablichtenstein.substack.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/vikingjewess/
• https://www.facebook.com/ninalich/
• https://inaflashlitmag.substack.com/

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Produced by Espresso Podcast Production