Beth Kephart

Profile Photo

Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of three dozen books in multiple genres and an award-winning teacher at the University of Pennsylvania. Her new memoir in essays is Wife | Daughter | Self (Forest Avenue Press). Her new craft book is We Are the Words: The Master Memoir Class, from which this essay was adapted. More at bethkephartbooks.com.

Stories

Cover Photo: Two human figures in silhouette having a conversation
A Memoir Should Be a Conversation, Not a Monologue

It’s about suggesting, right there on the page, that the writer is no more important than the reader.

Aug 16, 2021
Cover Photo: Photograph by Yousef Salhamoud/Unsplash
Make New Memories, Our Story is Enough

I call our son. Mom, he says, after he has tapped the symptoms into Google, have you ever heard of transient global amnesia?

Mar 30, 2021
Cover Photo: Photograph by Takahiro Taguchi/Unsplash
Three Car Crashes and the Long Afterward

The story is no longer me and my vehicles but my mother and hers. We called it an accident, but it wasn’t.

Jul 22, 2019
Cover Photo: Photograph by Beth Kephart
Here If You Need Me: Learning to Be Present While Fighting for Your Father

When fighting on behalf of the father you love, who do you become?

Jan 10, 2019
Cover Photo: Ceramics & photography by William Sulit
The Tides of Success: A Two-Artist Marriage Confessional

You loved his talent first. You hope that he will not love you less, for all that you do not now achieve.

Sep 06, 2018