natalie goldberg old friend from far away

These exercises divert the eye from the obvious and redirect it to the tactile details we miss, the embarrassments we pass over, and the complications we overlook in the blur of everyday living.

Old Friend from Far Away recreates her trademark workshop style with its terse, demanding writing “sprints” that train the hand and mind to quicken their pace and give up conscious control. Goldberg’s enormously popular workshops have given countless students the ability to heed the call to write. At once a beautifully written celebration of the memoir form, an innovative course full of practical teachings, and a deeply affecting meditation on consciousness, love, life, and death, Old Friend welcomes aspiring writers of all levels and encourages them to find their unique voice to tell their stories. Through timed, associative, and meditative exercises, Old Friend from Far Away guides you to the attentive state of thought in which you discover and open forgotten doors of memory. To write memoir, we must first know how to remember. Now, Old Friend from Far Away-her first book since Writing Down the Bones to focus solely on writing-reaffirms Goldberg’s status as a foremost teacher of writing, and completely transforms the practice of writing memoir.

Twenty-five years ago Natalie Goldberg’s classic, Writing Down the Bones, broke new ground in its approach to writing as a practice.

Natalie goldberg old friend from far away