It’s no secret that
and I are fans of . What’s not to love? She’s smart, funny, and has a rapier wit so scathing and funny that you have to laugh, even if it’s impaling you. But what brought us together to begin with—and what keeps us enraptured—is her writing.Füsun has announced an ambitious plan to write and publish her first memoir on Substack—an autobiography of her first fifteen years, wherein she will publish a chapter each week on Sundays.
Her first chapter dropped last week, and it is a stunner. In “Prologue: Sea Glass in the Womb”, Füsun develops a new writing voice, different from her current memoir/ slice-of-life voice, and nails it.
In this chapter, she invites us to take her hand on the journey back to the boy she once was, with a riveting account of her birth alongside her twin brother.
In our conversation with her, we go deep. We talk about writing, writing voice, and memoir…and so much more.
Füsun ponders her status as a “writer,” and the Chat had a thing or two to say about that:
Wendy Fusun writes better than I do
Soso Yes, Damn Girl, you are a writer!!!
TLVH She’s my favourite writer!!!
You're publicly proclaimed as a writer
The One Minute Daily Boost ur a feakin' writer!!
Karen Marie Shelton Fusun your words make me cry
Sarah You are a writer and an inspiration to all of us aspiring writers
Your writing is phenomenal. When you think that it's not your first language, it puts the rest of us to utter shame.
Soso I can't wait to read the next chapter
Craig Nixon Füsun can write circles around me.
Shannon Whistler Fusun, you are an amazing storyteller
This is one not to miss. Füsun talks about creating the intimacy of the scene of being in utero with her twin as not a memory, “but the way I wish to remember it, if I could”. It blends seamlessly into a conversation with Dana about the nature of her relationship with her brother, and how that has changed over time.
Her description of the moment of her birth, handed down to her from family and community, is as vivid as a scene from a classic film, so adroitly told it is almost destined to be seen on the big screen one day.
And in what I think is an amazing mot juste, Füsun appropriates a famous line from Harry Potter to bury a future suckerpunch to Harry’s Author when this memoir is published (which it will be).
This conversation was one of my favorite things in the world: writers who love each other’s work talking about the craft of writing. I feel blessed to have had the chance to talk about memoir with Dana and Füsun—two of the best modern up-and-coming memoirists I know.
Thank you
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