Purposeful Memoir as a Quest for a Thriving Future
Inspiration for Writers & Seekers
Images & Text by
Jennifer Browdy, PhD
Gold Medal Winner of the 2022 Nautilus Awards!
Winner of the 2022 Independent Press Awards, writing & publishing category!
Award-winning author Jennifer Browdy, PhD, creates a magical tapestry of inspiration and exploration, weaving her own story together with the inspiring voices and visions of more than 15 of the writer-activists she calls “worldwrights”—writers who write to right the world, including such beloved mentors as Joy Harjo, Audre Lorde, Jane Goodall, Terry Tempest Williams and many more.
Jennifer and the worldwrights invite you on a series of eight Quests, centered around positive qualities that we need more of in life: Clarity, Courage, Vitality, Guidance, Love, Community, Joy and Freedom. Each Quest opens a path for you to explore your life experience through a series of stimulating writing prompts designed to catalyze your memories and imagination, complemented by Jennifer’s stunning photos of the natural beauty of Nova Scotia.
Join Jennifer on the elemental journey of purposeful memoir, a contemplative practice that opens new portals through which to explore the past, with the goal of understanding the present more fully, and stepping with greater intention into the thriving future we all desire.
Praise for Purposeful Memoir as a Quest for a Thriving Future:
A work of radical generosity, Jennifer Browdy’s Purposeful Memoir as Quest for a Thriving Future is a balm for us all in these troubled times. This visionary guide to writing and being is food for the spirit, demonstrating how through channeling the creative mind we can be our best selves and act now to heal our ailing planet.
An impassioned, eloquent work of heart, soul and graceful erudition by a writer of genius.
–Carol Bruneau, author of Brighten the Corner Where You Are: a novel inspired by the life of Maud Lewis
Jennifer Browdy offers us an overflowing cornucopia of prompts, images and questions, designed to take you into your great storehouse of memories. Pick one and follow its thread into the deep spaces of your inner landscape. It will lead you to your very heart center, and there you will discover your life purpose, your essential values, and the abiding energy you will need to bring it all into your world. It is the path of healing, gloriously reflected in her stunning photographs—healing yourself, your community and the world.
–Penny Gill, author of What in the World is Going On? Wisdom Teachings for Our Time
REVIEWS: Purposeful Memoir as a Quest for a Thriving Future:
No matter how dispiriting life might seem, Browdy affirms that we “we have the power to change the world with our vision, our understanding, and the choices we make day by day”—and she offers this impassioned volume, and the eight “quests” at its heart, to help inspire writers, seekers, and “worldwrights” toward embracing the “alchemical potential” of their creative imaginations and ushering us all toward a brighter future.
At the heart of Browdy’s vision is the practice of “purposeful memoir,” which centers an effort to understand how humanity got to this place and to “align the personal, political, and planetary threads of our existence” with the goal of transforming lives—and our world.
Takeaway: Big-picture inspiration and practical prompts for seekers eager to better themselves and the world.
Great for fans of: adrienne maree brown’s Pleasure Activism, Natalie Goldberg’s Old Friend from Far Away.
In her latest book on coaching writing, Browdy states her aim of providing “thought-provoking, open-ended starting points, provocations and stimulations, rather than instructions” for her readers as they embark on a process of self-improvement through writing.
Browdy herself is a fine writer, well experienced in the tactics of encouraging nonwriters to commit to the writing process. “Let your heart sing as you write!” she urges her readers, and her writing exercises and effervescent personality combine to help direct the process. Even the most writing-averse reader will be tempted to give it a try.
A lovely, ultimately uplifting book about improving your life through writing it down.
Jennifer Browdy | About the Author
Jennifer Browdy, PhD, is a professor of comparative literature, writing and media arts at Bard College/Simon’s Rock, where she has taught for more than a quarter-century.
Passionate about using the arts to spark social justice and a deeper connection of humans to the natural world, Jennifer’s classes and workshops encourage participants to develop their own potential as worldwrights, writing to right the world and create a thriving future for us all. She also offers author coaching and manuscript review.
Her environmental memoir, What I Forgot …And Why I Remembered, was a finalist for the 2018 International Book Awards. Her writer’s guide, The Elemental Journey of Purposeful Memoir, won a 2017 Nautilus Silver Award.
She is a longtime summer resident of Nova Scotia, Canada, where she loves to photograph the natural beauty around every turn.
Find out more at JenniferBrowdy.com.
