A Quick Chat with Melissa Jordan Grey
I had the great honor of winning a spot in the International Memoir Writer’s Association’s 2022 San Diego Memoir Showcase at the Conrad Performing Arts Center.
Below is an interview with SDWMA’s Board President, Laura Engel:
Meet Showcase winner Melissa Jordan Grey, author of A WALK IN THE PARK!
The 8th Annual Showcase will take place at 7pm on December 8, 2022 at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center
LE: Congratulations on being a winner in the Showcase. In a nutshell – tell us about your winning memoir piece for the 8th Annual International Memoir Showcase.
MJG: "A Walk in the Park" is a comedic fish-out-of-water story about my time as an incurious enrollee at the Park Seven Modeling School. It's a humorous and satirical take on a time when charm schools like Barbizon were all the rage among aspiring Christie Brinkleys. But while many girls my age coveted the chance to attend, I saw my involuntary enrollment as a rejection of who I was: a small, ethnic spitfire with a love of jazz and disdain for the beauty standards of that age.
LE: What has been your experience taking classes/workshops and writing memoir in San Diego?
MJG: I continue to enjoy workshops at San Diego Writers, Ink, Finest City Improv, National Comedy Theater, and the La Jolla Playhouse, all excellent resources for the creative and the creatively curious. But the flagship place for all things memoir is, no doubt, the International Memoir Writer's Association which continues to blossom into a vast resource, platform, and community for memoirists. It's also one of my favorite non-profits.
LE: These past couple of years have been unsettling. How have you used writing to connect with others?
MJG: The internet has disrupted traditional publishing gatekeepers by providing a variety of accessible content platforms, such as Substack, Medium, Twitter, and even Facebook and Instagram. Now everyone is a publisher! As a result, I've shared my writing online as a way to connect with others during and since the pandemic. For example, through a series of essays, I've been able to shine a light on the plight of seniors in our city through my experiences as a volunteer grocery delivery driver for Project 19. Every route revealed a new tale. You can check out some of them here: https://mel.fyi/project-19.
LE: What are you excited about when it comes to participating in the 8th Annual San Diego Memoir Showcase?
MJG: I'm so eager to see my words and the words of others interpreted by actors. I'm equally excited to spend time with others in the writing community and support the work of the International Memoir Writer's Association. What an honor and dream! In addition, I hope that by hearing these stories, the audience will feel more understood and less alone.
LE: What advice would you give new memoir writers?
MJG: First, get it on the page. It doesn't have to be perfect, but once it's there, you have clay to mold—clay that can only be sculpted by you.
Second, don't hold back. As BAFTA-winning filmmaker Penny Woolcock once said to me, "Art is brutal, Melissa. Don't write what you think others want to hear. Write the truth. Because regardless of what you do, you will have to defend your work, and you might as well stand up for what YOU believe in." She was right.
And finally, your story is just that: YOUR story. Only you can tell it. It's ok if it doesn't resemble someone else's recollection. That's theirs to tell if and when they want to. So what are you waiting for? Write already!
Bio:
Melissa Jordan Grey is a multidisciplinary artist, entrepreneur, and changemaker based in San Diego—a passionate polymath, forever locked in an internal battle between the creative and logical. She tells vibrant stories through sound, motion, paint, and pen-weaving pathos with absurdity along the way. In her parallel life, Melissa serves as the Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of NewBlue, Inc., and Chief Creativologist at Mindsight, LLC. Most importantly, she serves as pre-frontal cortex for her husband and two sons, her greatest privilege and accomplishment by far. Connect with her at www.melissajordangrey.com.
