Prompt #23 Writing the Wider World

June 2022

Hi Friends,

Recently the public relations person at my press commented on how “political” my new collection of essays Animal Bodies is. At first, I said, “Political? My essays aren’t political. They’re about my life. They’re personal essays.” And then I realized many of my personal essays are about things like abortion, violence against women, gun control, losing friends because of political differences, environmental devastation…and I realized that though the essays about these topics are deeply personal, they have also become politicized, maybe more so than in the past.

So for this exercise, I want you to think about how your personal stories are in dialogue with the wider (public) world.