All Student Success Letters

Megan Barry

 Dear Gotham,

“Apparently the first casualty of memoir—is truth,” my husband says. He is reading one of the pieces I have written for Stacy Pershall’s Memoir I class and has found it more fiction than fact according to his recollections. I take the pages back and head up to join my next Gotham Zoom Memoir class—where I know my classmates and my instructor will help me shape my truths.

Over the next year or so, my instructors and classmates help me do just that—the heavy lifting and sorting of my story. They listen with patience and lend a fresh perspective, as together, we write and read and critique each other’s stories. 

I take Memoir I and then Memoir II and then Memoir I again, just to make sure I’m getting it right. At some point when I’m struggling to get it all down, I take my husband’s comments to heart and try a Fiction I class to which he says, “I don’t think you can just change our names and call it fiction.” I return to memoir. I go on to add an additional Nonfiction Book Proposal class and some one-on-one time with Stacy.

All of my classes and experiences with Gotham lead me to an agent and a publisher and to my November publication date. I am excited to say that my memoir It’s What You Do Next:  The Fall and Rise of Nashville’s First Female Mayor is now finally out in the world.

I definitely wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t had the gift of Gotham. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible—especially my amazing instructors and my classmates. Sometimes we lose our way and through Gotham, I was able to find my way back because it’s what you do next, that counts.

Best,

Megan Barry

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You can learn more about Megan and her writing at www.meganbarry.com.