Author: noemikjames
Writing as a Hostile Act
This is the second paragraph of Joan Didion’s “Why I Write,” which was originally delivered as a speech at University of California, Berkeley ...
Identities that Define Me
{Our most recent writing assignment was about unpacking the different identities that we feel define us. This is what I wrote.} Woman First and foremost, I iden...
The Beacon
{I’m struggling lately with how to determine if my thoughts and feelings are valid, if they have any basis in reality or if they are simply constructs of ...
Vignettes
I pull up to the house and put the car in park. I open the gate, then the front door and immediately hear my children bustling upstairs with their grandparents....
Friendship Lost
A couple months ago, a dear friendship in my life came to an end. The constraints of physical distance had come between us over the years, but we always kept in...
This Too Shall Pass
Sometimes I think the only thing I’ve really learned in the last 34 years is that no matter how bad it feels now, it will get better eventually. This too ...
The Revelation
So a funny thing happened the other day: I realized I didn’t want anymore kids. This might not seem like an Earth shattering revelation to some–espe...
My Literary History
This past week I started a Creative Non-Fiction class through Berkeley Extension. Our first assignment was to submit our writing and reading profile. This is wh...