I just finished reading Terry Tempest Williams' memoir When Women Were Birds. The book wasn't so much a book as it was a meal. Every word settled on my tongue like a delicious bite of a slow, home-cooked meal. Reading this book felt like coming home from the longest day and being greeted by a piping hot plate of earthly goodness. I didn't realize I was ravenous until I peeled back the first page.
Terry Tempest Williams is the author of fourteen books, the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship and a Lannan Literary Fellowship in creative nonfiction. I had the opportunity to meet Terry when she came to Wake Forest to teach a four day course titled Writing Resistance: Sustainable Spiritualities in the Anthropocene. After this enlightening course where I learned about myself, the environment and life in general, I knew that I had to read something by my new role model.
This book explored Terry's relationship with her late mother and grandmother, the Mormon religion, DC politics, her husband Brooke, and the environment. She recounts stories of her life that are shocking and empowering. She tells readers intimate details of her life, creating this sacred space for growth within the pages of her book.
After reading the book, I wondered what my memoir would say. I wonder, do you have to be somebody with a bunch of books and fellowships under her belt to write a memoir? Or maybe you just have to be "someone" to have your memoir read. What is it that makes a voice worthy of an ear and a life worthy of a book? Is it a degree? Many travels? A refined taste? Unique ideas? A life-threatening experience? (Terry has all of these things, by the way).
Maybe when I am older I'll have more to write about. I think the thing that makes Terry's book so enrapturing is her open and honest love. Love of women in her family, love of her husband, love of birds, love of nature, love of life. Open love and honest words are the things that make Terry's memoir stand out in my mind. It doesn't matter much that she has a degree or fellowships. It is how she writes about her experiences that makes When Women Were Birds so riveting.
