The Elemental Journey of Purposeful Memoir

Jennifer Browdy grew up in Manhattan and spent weekends in the Berkshires as a child. After earning her B.A. in English and Journalism from Bard College at Simon's Rock, she worked as a professional journalist for several years in the Berkshires and New York City before returning to academia to earn her M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from New York University in 1994. An Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, Gender Studies and Media Studies at Bard College at Simon's Rock, Jennifer engages students in issues of global social and environmental justice through writing, literature and digital media. Since 2002, Jennifer has hosted an annual conference in observance of International Women's Day and in 2011 she founded the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers to cultivate the voices and visions of women writers of all ages and many walks of life in the Berkshire region. Jennifer has published widely on women's world literature, and is the editor of two other anthologies of women's writing, Women Writing Resistance in Latin America and the Caribbean (Beacon Press, 2017) and African Women Writing Resistance (University of Wisconsin Press, 2011). She has published widely in academic compilations and journals, as well as The Berkshire Edge, Berkshire Magazine and Yes! Magazine. Her memoir, What I Forgot....and Why I Remembered: A Journey to Environmental Awareness and Activism Through Purposeful Memoir, was published in 2017, along with a writer's guide for memoirists, The Elemental Journey of Purposeful Memoir: A Writer's Companion. She has presented papers and given lectures and workshops at numerous conferences at colleges, universities and other venues nationwide. Her blog, Transition Times, dedicated to exploring issues of social and environmental justice from a personal perspective, has received more than 130,000 visitors from all over the world in its first five years. She offers workshops, author coaching and editing services for memoirists at every stage of their writing journey.