Are you writing a memoir or a research higher degree thesis? Do you need some guidance from someone who has been through the process? Or perhaps your work simply needs some fine-tuning? Either way, I can help. As a writer, I understand how important and personal the writing process is. As an editor, I have the distance, expertise and skills to help you with those next steps.
My own book, Ghost Wife: A Memoir of Love and Defiance, was published by Black Inc. in 2013, and my short memoirs and personal essays have appeared in literary journals and anthologies. I have a PhD in creative writing from the University of Queensland, and have helped many students edit their theses before submission. If you'd like to talk about how I can help, please contact me.
Testimonials
Some testimonials from authors whose memoirs I’ve worked on:
"Michelle provided me with a generous and insightful reading of my personal/political memoir, Once Upon a Mexican America. She effectively addressed pertinent structural questions and suggested major and minor edits, which reflected a nuanced and sensitive understanding of the book’s overall intention. I recommend her for both emergent and established writers, at any juncture along the road to publishing."
- Cherríe L. Moraga, co-editor of This Bridge Called My Back – Writings by Radical Women of Color.
"Writing a memoir is a personal questing for meaning, intentions, and interpretations. It’s a project that requires that the memoirist confront herself. Why did she select that memory to write about and reject the other? Did she really behave so badly or so grandly? How much more deeply can she draw on her imagination, empathy and other responses available to her? And that particular detail … there! that one! What is its significance? Why does it matter?
"These are just some of the questions by which Michelle Dicinoski led me to dig deeper when I was writing my memoir The Art of Being Deaf (Gallaudet University Press, 2014). Michelle is a gentle guide; her craftsmanship is sure and confident, graceful and lyrical. I am grateful for her role in making sure I gave the best of myself to my memoir."
- Donna McDonald, author of the memoir The Art of Being Deaf