Sharon Harrigan

Author Website

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Spring “Dynamite” Update

Dear Friends:

Many of you have asked for news about my memoir. I’m happy to report that five months out, Playing with Dynamite is going into its second printing. Thank you, thank you—for reading the book and sharing your responses with me and with others. Extra special kudos to those who wrote reviews on Goodreads or Amazon. I really appreciate your time and thoughtfulness. These reviews, apparently, make a much bigger difference than I ever knew. And if you haven’t written one yet but are willing to—huge thanks in advance!

If you don’t have a copy yet, there are lots of ways you can get one. Print and e-book versions are available through IndieBound,  Powells,  Barnes & Noble,  Truman State University Press,  Amazon, and elsewhere.

SPRING EVENTS

AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Conference Panel, “Truer Words Were Never Spoken: On the Challenges of Writing About Family in Creative Nonfiction/Memoir,” March 10, 3:00-4:15 PM, Tampa, FL

We had a packed house, standing-room-only, people sitting on the floor in the aisles for this wonderful panel. Here’s a photo of me with my fellow panelists, the wonderful writers Artress Bethany White, Lori Horvitz, and Bridgett Davis.

The Virginia Festival of the Book starts next week. I’ll be reading with Mike Smith and Panthea Reid. The amazing Jay Varner will be the moderator. Here’s a link to the event:

Details: “The Hearts Lives On: Memoirs on Love, Grief, and Resilience,” March 23, 10:00-11:30 AM, CitySpace, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville, VA

AWARDS

Playing with Dynamite is a finalist for the May Sarton Book Award. The winner will be announced later this month.

I have been awarded a fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Arts in Auvillar, France this fall.

MEDIA ATTENTION

Reviews

LitReactor: “The nature of memory, the mythology we create around our parents, love, marriage, and motherhood—Sharon Harrigan’s Playing with Dynamite is about all of these things, but also so much more. . . . This is the kind of memoir that will increase your emotional IQ, making you smarter about your own life, and maybe even the familiar mystery of your own family.”

San Francisco Book Review: “I earnestly recommend this excellently crafted personal history.” (Five out of five stars.)

Shannon Fox’s Isle of Books: “Beautifully written, engrossing, and artfully structured, it reminded me a lot of The Glass Castle.”

 New Pages: “With renewed media interest these days in the concept of truth, now is the perfect time to read Playing with Dynamite.”

Midwest Book Review: “Playing with Dynamite: A Memoir is an extraordinary, exceptional, deftly crafted and multilayered account that will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to community and academic library Contemporary American Biography collections.”

Kirkus Reviews: “A warm, engaging read about the ways in which memory distorts our understanding of family.”

Interviews/Podcasts (with links)

Interview on LITerally Podcast

Interview in The Rumpus

Interview in Split Lip Magazine

Interview in Huffington Post

Interview in The Nervous Breakdown

Interview in Streetlight

Interview on Deborah Prum’s blog:

Interview on Caroline Leavitt’s blog:

Happy spring, happy reading!
With gratitude,
Sharon

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Profile in Cville Weekly

“Playing with Dynamite is about finding the courage to ask questions, to question her own memory and ultimately to question the stories we tell ourselves. As she writes in the book, ‘It’s harder to untell than tell a story.’ But this is what her memoir does. It pulls at the threads to unstitch a story she has told herself all of her life, and then stitches together a retelling.”—Raennah Lorne, Cville Weekly

To read the whole article, follow this link.

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Interview in Corp! Magazine

I was delighted to talk to Michigan native Karen Dybis in Corp! Magazine about my Detroit metro connection. We also discussed why I write, my advice to other writers, and how my book and the first stop on my book tour were part of a long-awaited and complicated homecoming. See the full profile here.

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Happy book birthday

On October 1, 2017 Playing with Dynamite: A Memoir was released into the world. Happy book birthday to my debut memoir. I’m so grateful that it’s finally getting into the hands of readers, who have already started writing me such beautiful responses. “I didn’t want it to end.” “Spent the whole day reading one single book, which I haven’t done in 17 years.” “I cried. Many times.” “I wish Amazon would let me give it 42 stars.” What a gift to hear from you all!

If you don’t have a copy, you can get one from the publisher here or Amazon here. Or you can come to one of my readings (see the events page on my web site) or buy the book at one of the event city bookstores.

My audiences at Literati in Ann Arbor, Malaprops in Asheville, and Avid in Athens have been warm and welcoming. Now onward to my reading this week in Charlottesville, next week in Washington, DC, then Austin, Richmond, New York, and beyond.

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Join me in DC

I’m thrilled to be able to share the stage at East City Books in Washington, DC with Arielle Bernstein. She’s an amazing writer, cultural critic, and editor. We’ll both read from our memoirs, chat, and do a Q&A.  For more details, see the East City Books Facebook listing here.