This post is part of an interview series featuring the authors of Family Stories from the Attic, an anthology of essays, creative nonfiction, and poetry inspired by family letters, objects, and archives. Monday posts are featured on the Hidden Timber Books website, and Wednesday posts are featured here. Learn more about Family Stories from the Attic at the bottom of this post. Without further ado, let’s meet Jessica Schnur, author of “Schnur Family Announcement.”
Jessica Schnur
Q: Did you write “Schnur Family Announcement” with a particular person/reader in mind?
Jessica: This piece was a eulogy for my mother. I had collected emails and stories from family members in the days leading up to the funeral. I then took all the memories people have shared with me and l used them to put the eulogy together the night before the funeral. Since then, I have done some revision and shaping of the piece, but the majority remains true to the original.
Q: What is a fun, interesting, or unusual fact to share with your readers?
Jessica: When I am not teaching or writing, I run. A lot. My husband and I are trying to run a marathon in every state. Since last October, we have run one about every six weeks. We now have three states coming up in a seven week stretch of June and July.
Connect with Jessica
Jessica and her husband.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Family Stories from the Attic features nearly two dozen works of prose and poetry inspired by letters, diaries, photographs, and other family papers and artifacts. Editors Christi Craig and Lisa Rivero bring together both experienced and new writers who share their stories in ways that reflect universal themes of time, history, family, love, and change.
Available now from Boswell Book Company, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers.
Ramona: I did not start “Without Words” with a specific person or audience in mind; I wrote it because by writing and researching the silver service that she left behind, I was able to understand more about my mother-in-law and consequently, about what it means to communicate when a conversation is not possible. It helped me to understand a part of her life with her husband and sons that we had not discussed. So many of us can relate to the need to learn more about those who are no longer with us to answer our questions.
Annilee: I used to teach at an inner city middle school in Houston. Most of my students were Hispanic, and many of them had very strong family ties and cultural identities. One day while we were discussing a piece of literature that grappled with the theme of family, I mentioned that I didn’t know my grandparents very well. The eyes of one of my students grew wide with alarm. “You don’t know your grandparents? Are you okay, Miss? I mean, did it hurt you?”