Here's what you missed in February
A full recap of our welcome back reading!
It’s been a few weeks since we kicked off this year’s Must Love Memoir readings, so we are SUPER late in getting this recap out to you.
We are sorry, but feel free to blame it on (everything?)
As we are all collectively watching the news and thinking of ways to fight while staying productive and hopeful, we know it’s exhausting. So if you didn’t make it out this past month, we get it.
It was a another amazing night, with powerful readings, deep feelings and just enough humor to lighten the room. And while the state of the world feels like a lot to take, we feel it’s especially important right now to share and listen to each other’s stories—from the sad and the funny, to the absurd and the historical—and we’ll keep them coming every month as long as you keep showing up.
To everyone who came despite the freezing temperatures, we hope the drinks and the readings warmed you up inside. And for those who weren’t able to be there with us, here is a recap of what you missed.
♥️ ,
Krystal and Hope
Kori Closson was our first reader of the night, courageously reading her work publicly for the first time! She read a moving piece about her mother passing away slowly and painfully. Doctors said she would go relatively quickly, but instead she held on for weeks, while Kori, Kori’s sister, and Kori’s father could do nothing but watch and wait. Kori wrote that it felt like the time “Hope jumps off a cliff.” She described her father clinging to the edge of that cliff, scraping himself all the way down, holding onto hope.
Following Kori was myself, Hope Elizabeth Kidd. Since Valentines Day was around the corner, I decided to read a love-themed piece. I read a personal essay in which I speak very candidly about how difficult my marriage can be sometimes, and how often, it feels like it would be easier to give up and leave. I told the story of how early in my marriage, I had foot surgery on both feet, and leaving me unable to care for myself for a few days. During those days, my husband was attentive, cleaned up my vomit after a pain medication made me sick, and helped me bathe with my feet hanging over the side of the tub. I wrote that the kind of love that has “seen the ugly” and yet still stays is definitely a special kind of love.
Next up was Connor Renfroe, who also decided to keep it love-themed. He read a humorous piece about dating on Hinge, and kept his listeners both chuckling and rapt. Connor wrote about the emotional parasites that are sometimes on Hinge. He wrote about realizing he needed to do work on himself so he could attract the kind of love he is worthy of having. He wrote about the frustration of trying to be deep with another person on the Hinge chat, only to be met with the response “LOL.” He asks, “What happens when the dating world is saturated with people who don’t actually want love?”
After a short break, Jodi M. Savage took the mic. She read a couple of sections from her book The Death of a Jaybird: Essays on Mothers and Daughters and the Things They Leave Behind. One section she read was about her name, and how the name Jodi doesn’t mean something meaningful, but rather “dog.” But her name was also given to her with a deep meaning attached; her mother lost a baby before Jodi was born. That baby was also named Jodi, so Jodi M’s name signifies a second chance for her mother. She also read a section about her Pentecostal grandmother and the enormity of her faith. As an elderly woman, doctors assumed she was crazy, but Jodi writes, “Believing that God talks to her is her normal kind of crazy.”
Following Jodi was Rebecca Suzuki, whose hybrid memoir When My Mother is Most Beautiful was published in 2024. Rebecca shared new work with us, reading a section from her memoir in progress about her family and Japanese heritage. She wrote about how her great grand parents were seaweed makers in Japan. Her great grandmother lived through the war and was no-nonsense about some things, like drowning a litter of kittens when she knew she couldn’t care for them. Rebecca wrote beautifully about being connected to her ancestors, acknowledging them, and thanking them.
Finally, we had Irvin Weathersby, Jr., reading from his new book In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Spaces, published just last month! Irvin’s book, a memoir in essays, is not just a memoir, but also a history and a call to action. He wrote that the promise of America comes with conditions. In the chapter he read, he considered various works of art having to do with Blackness, such as a bust of an unknown soldier and flags with stars that represented people killed by gun violence in 2019. There was also a video of photos of Breonna Taylor that deeply moved him. We’re thrilled me made Must Love Memoir part of his book tour!
Next month we’re back with another fabulous line up of readers. Please join us at Jake’s Dilemma in the Oak Cellar Room on March 11. All the info is below, and we’ll be back soon with a full bio lineup.
