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A memoir prologue is not a preview. It is not a summary, and it is not where you warm up before the story begins. It is, when written well, an act of seduction — a threshold that makes the reader unable to do anything but continue. Unlike in fiction, where prologues often supply backstory or context, a memoir prologue reveals the consciousness of the narrator and signals why this story matters now. It can frame the central question, introduce the wound beneath the plot, or offer a glimpse of transformation still to come. Join Samina to explore what makes memoir prologues work, when a memoir needs one (and when it doesn't), and the different forms a prologue can take. Writers will leave knowing how to craft an opening that bridges the life that was lived and the story that is being told.
Samina Ali is an award-winning author, curator, and popular speaker. Her debut novel, MADRAS ON RAINY DAYS, won France’s prestigious Prix Premier Roman Etranger and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in fiction. Her memoir, PIECES YOU'LL NEVER GET BACK, won the APALA Award for Best Nonfiction, is Shortlisted for William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and has been optioned for the screen.
A memoir prologue is not a preview. It is not a summary, and it is not where you warm up before the story begins. It is, when written well, an act of seduction — a threshold that makes the reader unable to do anything but continue. Unlike in fiction, where prologues often supply backstory or context, a memoir prologue reveals the consciousness of the narrator and signals why this story matters now. It can frame the central question, introduce the wound beneath the plot, or offer a glimpse of transformation still to come. Join Samina to explore what makes memoir prologues work, when a memoir needs one (and when it doesn't), and the different forms a prologue can take. Writers will leave knowing how to craft an opening that bridges the life that was lived and the story that is being told.
Samina Ali is an award-winning author, curator, and popular speaker. Her debut novel, MADRAS ON RAINY DAYS, won France’s prestigious Prix Premier Roman Etranger and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in fiction. Her memoir, PIECES YOU'LL NEVER GET BACK, won the APALA Award for Best Nonfiction, is Shortlisted for William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and has been optioned for the screen.