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What does it mean to grow up in a world that doesn’t fully reflect your identity? In this episode, covering memoir, race, religion, the stories we’re told, and the ones we learn to write ourselves, I chat with writer and memoirist Shannon Luders-Manuel, author of The One Who Loves You: A Memoir of Growing Up Biracial in a Black and White World.
Shannon shares the deeply personal journey behind her memoir, which explores her childhood growing up mixed-race in a predominantly white family, her complex relationship with her Black father, and how those dynamics shaped her identity, relationships, and voice as a writer.
In This Episode
- The story behind the book’s title and structure
- How Shannon used personal artifacts, like journals and letters, to write memoir
- The challenges and emotional truths of writing about family
- Her experience as a sensitivity reader and why nuance matters
- How religion, race, and belonging intersected in Shannon’s upbringing
- Writing scenes, trusting memory, and tips for memoirists
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About Shannon
Shannon Luders-Manuel is the author of The One Who Loves You: A Memoir of Gorwing Up Biracial in a Black and White World (Lawrence Hill Books, 2025). Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, JSTOR Daily, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among others. She holds an M.A. in English literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and performs sensitivity reads for major publishers, providing feedback on Black and mixed-race characters and issues.
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Watch Estelle’s TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond
In her widely shared TEDx Talk, Estelle Erasmus reveals how to command attention in a noisy world—starting with a chaotic moment involving Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s bold, funny, and packed with real-world strategies for writers who want to be seen and heard.
Watch, comment, and share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ
About Estelle
Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, author of Writing That Gets Noticed (named a “Best Book for Writers” by Poets & Writers), and host of Freelance Writing Direct—2025 Podcast of the Year (Education), American Writing Awards. A Contributing Editor for Writer’s Digest and adjunct instructor at NYU, she’s written for over 150 outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP: The Magazine, and has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.
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Email me at freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com to get on the list for my fiction class in September and my next personal essay writing class in October. Spots are very limited.
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