Challenges and Truth in Writing Memoir

Memoir, from the French “mémoire” or “memory” is a story drawn from life, recreated as the writer remembers it. A witness statement, if you like. More intimate than the who-what-where-when of autobiography, it can be tidy or messy, subjective, confessional, transformational. Writing memoir can be an ethical minefield and a thrilling journey of self-discovery. And you might not want your mum to read it!

Our panellists offer themselves to us through their memoirs with courage, honesty, generosity and humour. Their books are elegant, personal, surprising; sometimes heart breaking, always moving. Share their challenges and choices as they discuss the impact of memoir writing on them, their families and their careers.  

Literary Agent Abi Fellows will be joined by Dean Atta (Person Unlimited), Karen McLeod (Lifting Off) and Juano Diaz (Slum Boy) to share their experience of memoir writing.

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Karen McLeod is a writer, performer and creative writing tutor and writer-in-residence at Bookseller Crow. Her debut novel, In Search of the Missing Eyelash, was published by Jonathan Cape and won the Betty Trask Award and was translated widely. In June 2024 it has been celebrated by being republished by Muswell Press. 

She wrote In Search of the Missing Eyelash in hotel rooms across the globe while working as cabin crew. Coming full circle, her memoir, Lifting Off (Muswell Press, June 2024) is about the years she worked, and went into free-fall, as cabin crew. 

When she’s not writing, or talking about writing, or thinking about writing, she can be found treading the creaky boards at theatres, cabaret clubs and pubs as the self-appointed Poet Laureate of Penge, the rubbish lesbian poet, Barbara Brownskirt.

​Writer-in-Residence at the Bookseller Crow on the Hill she is also the shop’s Literary Events Co-ordinator. She holds an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths University, after being awarded the Isaac Arthur Green Scholarship. She is represented by Laura Susijn at The Susijn Literary Agency. (Pronouns She/Her)

Juano Diaz, born in 1977 in Glasgow, emerged from the Scottish Romany Gypsy community, into which he was adopted, instilling in him a profound love for storytelling that echoes throughout his artistic endeavors. Residing in Wiltshire with his partner and their son, Diaz is an internationally acclaimed artist celebrated for his diverse talents across photography, painting, and film.

With a penchant for private commissions, Diaz’s artworks adorn numerous esteemed private and corporate collections globally. His collaborations with influential figures like Gilbert and George, Grace Jones, the late James Bidgood, and David LaChapelle have broadened his artistic horizons, enriching his multifaceted portfolio.

Diaz’s creations serve as poignant shrines or ethereal windows into his subjects’ worlds, blending modern cultural influences with the narratives drawn from his roots. His work often embodies visual stories, intricately woven to encapsulate the essence of the human experience.

Notably, Diaz’s collaboration with the late James Bidgood, renowned artist and filmmaker, resulted in the creation of three significant works that stand as a testament to their combined creative brilliance. This partnership fueled Diaz’s artistic trajectory, offering invaluable insights and shaping his approach to artistry.

Juano Diaz’s contributions have been showcased in galleries worldwide, including exhibitions at esteemed institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and the Leslie-Lohman Museum Of Gay Art in New York. Additionally, he has been recognized as a muse for the renowned French art duo Pierre et Gilles and Manfred Thierry Mugler.

Diaz’s career-defining moment arrived with his debut film “(Deux Ombres),” screened and archived at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay Art in NYC in 2014, followed by a screening at the iconic MOMA in New York City in 2016.

Dean Atta is an award-winning Black British author and poet of Greek Cypriot and Jamaican heritage. He is the author of I Am Nobody’s Nigger, The Black Flamingo, Only On The Weekends, There is (still) love here, Confetti, and Person Unlimited: An Ode to My Black Queer Body.

Abi Fellows is a Literary Agent at DHH Literary Agency and was shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year at the British Book Awards (aka the Nibbies) in 2023. She has broad experience in the industry, having started in bookselling at Blackwell’s in 2001 following her BA in English Literature at Bristol University. After a stint on the sales team of Faber and Faber and a return to education to complete an MA in modernism and postmodernism at University College London, Abi began her agenting career in 2004. She has also worked as a literary scout, working with overseas publishers and TV and film production companies in the UK, but returned to agenting at The Good Literary Agency in 2019. Since then she has been building a list focused on amplifying and championing writers from backgrounds that had traditionally been marginalised. In 2023, Abi joined DHH Literary Agency. (She/Her)