Melbourne author Sam van Zweden and I caught up over Zoom to talk about revisiting memory, writing mental health, the importance of having a dedicated “input day”, and how to turn a mango into a memoir.

The books that Sam recommends in this episode are The Writing Life by Annie Dillard and Intimations by Zadie Smith (which is a book of essays Smith wrote and published during the early days of COVID019). She also gave a well-earned shout out to Eloise Grills, Liminal magazine, and Sydney Review of Books (particularly the Writers at Work series).

Sam’s essay that I mention about periods of inactivity is ‘Learning to come back: on creativity and rest’, published in the Sydney Review of Books in 2019.

Her debut memoir, Eating With My Mouth Open, is out now - you can buy it here.