"Spirography: A Memoir of Family, Loss and Finding Home" by Cara Stoddard

Event Details

When
May 03, 2025 from 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM
Where
Village Books readings gallery, Bellingham
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A Nature of Writing speaker series event, in partnership with Village Books

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Writing from ten years after her father's death, she traces her experiences of becoming a stepparent, carrying on her dad's legacy, and, in unimaginable ways, bringing him back to life. Spirography is a coming-of-age memoir about the bond between a father and daughter, their intertwined illnesses, and the enduring love that persists even after death. This memoir follows author Cara Stoddard's intersecting experiences of cancer, grief, and sexuality, rooted in the suburban Midwest of the late twentieth century—where idyllic lake life, water sports, NASCAR, Christian rock, and a willful ignorance around queerness define the landscape. Set in the author's childhood home on a lake in Michigan, this lyrical archive of a family navigating crisis is an elegy not only for the memory of her father but also the end of her childhood spent outdoors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cara Stoddard is a creative nonfiction writer and poet who grew up on a lake in Michigan. Their poems and essays have appeared in Fourth Genre, The Gettysburg Review, Terrain.org, and Ninth Letter. Currently, they live in Seattle and work as a grant manager for the University of Washington.

ABOUT OUR BOOKSELLER PARTNER
Village Books and Paper Dreams is a community-based, independent bookstore and gift shop located in the Historic Fairhaven Village on the southside of Bellingham. Since 1980, we have been "building community one book at a time." Village Books is a place to meet your friends, talk books, or just while away an hour or two among our shelves. Years of experience with local customers and knowledge of local interests helps us carefully select the books you love. Thanks to you, Village Books is able to continue keeping local readers in mind. If you're in the neighborhood come on in to explore!