Writers often mine their own lives for inspiration, turning personal experiences into groundbreaking narratives. From experimental memoirs, to autofiction, to works that blur the line between fiction and reality, these stories offer fresh perspectives on the self.
Join Sheila Heti (Alphabetical Diaries), Vigdis Hjorth (If Only), and moderator Jenny Niven, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, for an engaging conversation discussing how these authors transformed the raw material of their lives into creative works. In Alphabetical Diaries Heti collected 500,000 words from 10 years’ worth of journals, put the sentences in a spreadsheet, and sorted them alphabetically before cutting them down to a final 60,000 words. In If Only Hjorth writes a novel delving into the psyche of a writer having an affair with a married man. Heti will be joining virtually. Discover why these authors chose to expose their inner worlds through these works and the many different approaches to writing the self.
