Embracing Delusions: Theresa Okokon on Sharing Her Story and Helping Others Do the Same

Today, we hear from Theresa Okokon whose memoir in essays will be released on February 4. We talk about the power of delusions, controlling what your writing means to you, and letting go of the meaning others might try to assign to you. As Okokon says: “That’s not my problem.”Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Okokon’s latest books as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.Want to join our January write-a-thon. Go here for more information: 7amnovelist.substack.com/p/join-our-january-group-writeLooking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.Theresa Okokon is a Pushcart Prize-nominated essayist whose work (and bathroom selfies!) has appeared in Elle, midnight & indigo, Hippocampus Magazine, the Independent, WBUR's Cognoscenti, and Boston.com. A Wisconsinite living in New England, she is he co-host of Stories From The Stage. In addition to writing and performing her own stories, Theresa also teaches storytelling and writing workshops and classes, coaches other tellers, hosts story slams, and frequently emcees events for nonprofits. An alum of both the Memoir Incubator and Essay Incubator programs at GrubStreet, Theresa's memoir in essays about memory, family stories, and the death of her father -- WHO I ALWAYS WAS-- is available NOW on preorder, and officially publishes with Atria Books at Simon & Schuster on February 4, 2025. Theresa Instagrams gorgeous cocktails, food porn, and pics about Blackness, fatness, and her very cute senior dog on her Instagram at @ohh.jeezzz. She believes very seriously in capitalizing the B in Black and the W in White, and you can read more about that here, with Kwame Anthony Appiah. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com