#159 Writing the Body as Memoir with Nina B. Lichtenstein

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Nina B. Lichtenstein

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What if your life story weren’t told in a straight line, but through the map of your own body—your heart, your hands, even your nose?

That’s the imaginative approach Nina B. Lichtenstein takes in her memoir-in-essays, Body: My Life in Parts (Vine Leaves Press, 2025). Across sixteen body parts, Nina explores how our physical selves hold memory, metaphor, and meaning—tracing the ways identity, history, and transformation live in flesh and bone.

I had the joy of chatting with Nina on Freelance Writing Direct. Our conversation wove together craft, memory, and empathy, and offered so many insights for anyone working on memoir.

In This Episode 

  • How focusing on body parts can open doors to memory and metaphor
  • Why senses—especially smell and music—are powerful entry points for memoir
  • The importance of empathy when writing about people in your life
  • How structure can emerge organically when working in essays
  • Why she chose to add prompts at the end of her book as an act of generosity

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About Nina

Nina is a native of Oslo, Norway, now living in Maine. She holds a PhD in French literature from UCONN, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine, and is a “recovering academic.” Her writing has appeared in Tablet Magazine, Kveller, Brevity Blog, Lilith Magazine, The Washington Post, HuffPost, and AARP, among other places.  She is known for her popular blog The Viking Jewess (since 2014). Her work has been anthologized and her book, Sephardic Women’s Voices: Out of North Africa was published in 2017. Nina is the founder and director of Maine Writers Studio and co-founder/co-editor of In a Flash Literary Magazine. She has three grown Viking Jew sons, all over 6’4″ tall with the middle names Thor, Balder, and Odin. 

Connect with Nina 

Website

Learn more about Maine Writers Studio

In A Flash Literary Magazine

Nina’s Substack

Nina’s essay in On Being Jewish Now Substack: Kol Nidre in a New Key

Get More from Estelle

Webinars:

  • New Substack Post (plus an offer for paid subscribers): Why Every Memoir Needs the “Echo Effect”
  • Sign up for my free online Editor-on-call NYU event on October 29th Inside Slate: An Unfiltered Conversation with Senior Editor, Rebecca Onion. Register here
  • Sign up for my webinar on October 9th in collaboration with Writer’s Digest Mapping Your Memoir: How to Find the Heart and Shape of Your Story. Sign up here.Mapping Your Memoir Webinar

New Essay:

Read my latest essay on Another Jane Pratt Thing. It Happened to Me: I Deliberately Ruined My Nasty Co-Worker’s Wedding Video.

I loved telling my story all these years later. And don’t miss the episode with Jane #155, where we dished all about Sassy, XoJane and more.

TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond
In my talk I blend personal storytelling with actionable strategies for standing out—starting with a chaotic moment involving Thomas the Tank Engine.
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