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on the unfamiliar
When I first moved to Iquitos, a city deep in the Peruvian Amazon, I felt farther from home than I’d ever been. Nothing was familiar. Motos screeched around corners—many with small children, many with women nursing babies. It was 100 degrees, but people stood on sidewalks grilling whole fish. Cumbia rhythms poured through windows. Yet…
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on discovery
One fall Saturday while visiting my parents in upstate New York, we went to the town’s famous annual shindig: the Hilton Apple Fest. We parked at a church nearby, and on the way back to the car, we passed what looked like overgrown brush. Until: “Is that okra?” I said, stepping off the path. “Where?”…
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on wonder
“Why is it important to preserve Kukama culture?” someone asked. “Because the plants don’t speak to us in Spanish,” answered Pascual. “They speak to us in Kukama.” * On Friday I got back from five days in the Amazon. (When I’m not writing, I volunteer with an NGO called Minga Peru. Usually that means meetings…
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on detours
From Charleston, it’s about two and half hours to Tybee Island. Day 2 of my round-country road trip, and I’m already off course. Instead of driving to see my sister in Atlanta, like I’d planned, I’ve come here, entirely because yesterday someone said, “You haven’t been to Tybee? You’d love it!” I am gluttonous for…
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on arriving
And one cold day in January 2020, I arrive in Charleston. * It’s my first stop on a solo road trip around the U.S.—my circuitous search for where I belong. I’m instantly enthralled. Walking through downtown, I start picking out where I’d live if I lived here. I see the sparkling nights, the easy friendships,…
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on being interesting enough
“My sister might be the only person I know who’s interesting enough to write a memoir,” my friend Cayla told me recently, when I mentioned The Memoir Circle. I laughed out loud. “You know it’s not about being interesting!” I said. Then I paused.Maybe she didn’t know that. Writing a memoir isn’t about being interesting.It’s…
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on leaving
It is January 2020. I am driving around the country, starting in New York. From there, I’ll drive south, then west, then up and back east, possibly through Canada. Several people have told me that this trip is adventurous, and that I’m brave. I don’t feel that way. To me it just feels necessary. It is…
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the memoir circle
Everyone has a story worth telling. But writing it can feel daunting. Where do you start? How do you put a life on the page? The Memoir Circle is a small, guided writing group for women ready to begin their memoirs in a supportive, structured, and inspiring space. What You’ll Get Logistics Imagine sitting with…
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on writing a memoir
“Want to join a memoir-writing group with me?” my friend S. asked me one day in 2019. This was pretty random. We’d never talked about writing memoirs before, and I wasn’t ghostwriting them yet. I liked reading them, but my specialty was fiction. “Yes!” I said right away. “When do we start?” Shoot, I thought…
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on moving
Moving day. Everything’s moved in, so now it’s a matter of organizing. This is my favorite part. Deciding what goes where, that glimmer of satisfaction when I put something its new home. I don’t have much stuff (and thank God the apartment’s furnished). Each object I own tells a story of where or who it…
Kimberly Bunker, MFA 