About me
Lara Lillibridge sings off-beat and dances off-key. She writes a lot, and sometimes even likes how it turns out. (She/zher)
Lara's middle grade fantasy novel, Dragon Brothers is out now.
She is the author of two memoirs, Mama, Mama, Only Mama: An Irreverent Guide for the Newly Single Parent—from Divorce and Dating to Cooking and Crafting, All While Raising the Kids and Maintaining Your Own Sanity (Sort Of) and Girlish: Growing Up in a Lesbian Home a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist. Lara co-edited an anthology with Andrea Fekete entitled Feminine Rising: Voices of Power and Invisibility (Cynren Press, 2019), A SIlver INDIES Book of the Year winner.
Lara is a graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College’s MFA program in Creative Nonfiction. In 2016 she won Slippery Elm Literary Journal’s Prose Contest, and The American Literary Review's Contest in Nonfiction. She also was a finalist in both Black Warrior Review’s Nonfiction Contest and DisQuiet’s Literary Prize in Creative Nonfiction.
She is the Interviews Editor for Hippocampus Magazine and was awarded their Literary Citizen of the Year for 2019. Lara judged AWP's Intro Journals Project for 2019 and serves as a mentor for their Writer to Writer program.
Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Listen to an interview with Lara on Ideastream, Cleveland's NPR affiliate (At around 36:40) or watch her interview on WXXI.
Headshot: Adrianne Mathiowetz
Past Events:
Write Your Memoir From Scratch 6-week class through Literary Cleveland starting August 5th at 6:30 pm (on zoom).
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HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers August 13-15, Lancaster, PA.
Moderator, Debut Author Panel
Co-presenter, Powering Through the Post-Publication Doldrums with Amy Fish
Flash Session Presenter: Should You Self-Publish Your Memoir?
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Author's Hour at the Chautuqua Institution August 19, 2021 at 12:15. Reading from Girlish and Mama, Mama, Only Mama.
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Teen Workshop: World Building for StoryTellers at the Cleveland Inkubator, Thursday, July 15 and Thursday, July 22 from 12-1pm on Zoom.
Lightening the Load
Saturday / March 27 / 10-11 am / $20 Early Bird / $30 Regular / Instructor: Lara Lillibridge
Many memoirs are paths out of darkness, but let’s be honest—the material can get a little heavy at times. Readers crave a chance to catch their breath before immersing themselves back into the depths of despair. How do we add these moments of lightness to our work, without disrupting the emotional truth of our story? We will discuss several techniques to lighten the load. Click Here to Register!
Weirding It Up: An Exploration of Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction
Saturday / April 24 / 10-11am / $20 Early Bird / $30 Regular / Instructor: Lara Lillibridge
We’ve all struggled with pieces that were incredibly meaningful to us when they happened, but when we try to recreate them on the page, the narrative goes flat. We’ll explore several different experimental/hybrid forms to shake up our writing practice and unlock emotional resonance for our reader. Click Here to Register!
Mapmaking for Storytellers (A Teen Writers Class)
Thursday / April 8 / 7-7:45pm / $10 / Instructor: Lara Lillibridge
Teen writers class! We’ll examine several types of maps and draw a map of our world (real or imaginary) as we discuss how various aspects of setting (landscape, flora & fauna, weather, distance) come into play in our stories. We’ll have some time to write together using our expanded knowledge of our story’s world. Note: you don’t have to be good at drawing to participate! The goal is to expand our knowledge of our fictional world, not to wind up with an artistic masterpiece. Click Here to Register!
Feminine Rising Pride Panel, available online!
READ WRITE LOCAL Avon Lake Library Nov. 9, 2019 10m-4pm.
Kent State Book Festival October 5, 2019 11 am-3 pm.
Beyond the Book Jacket August 21, 2019 7:00 pm. Cleveland Public Library Brooklyn Branch
Joint reading with Ruth Hanford Morhard, author of Mrs. Mohard and the Boys. September 5, 2019, 7pm, Lakewood Public Library
Speaker, HippoCamp: Hippocampus Magazine's Creative Nonfiction Conference August 23-25, 2019
Mothers Who Write Panel, June 27, 2019, 7:00pm. Belmont Books 79 Leonard Street, Belmont, MA 02478
A Reading from Feminine Rising July 11, 2019 7:00 pm, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Loar Hall.
Book Release Party and Celebration of Mothers Who Write, May 10, 2019, 7:30pm. Visible Voice Books, 2258 Professor Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113
Moms Night Out: Literary Edition May 18, 2019, 6:30 pm. Gathering Volumes Bookstore, Perrysburg, Ohio
Lakewood Public Library's Meet the Author Series, January 31, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Lakewood, Ohio.
Kent State University Bookstore Book Festival October 19, 2018 12:00-1:00 pm, Kent, Ohio
HippoCamp 2018 Presentation with Amy Fish: The Humor Makeover: How to Take Your Existing Work and Make it Funny August 25, 2018 Lancaster, PA
Joint Reading with Mary Imo Stike, WVWC Visiting Writer Series. July 7, 2018, 7pm. Buckhanon, WV
Lit Cleveland at Pride in the CLE Festival Saturday, June 2 at 12 PM - 6 PM
Joint reading at Gathering Volumes Bookstore, Perrysburg, Ohio Saturday, June 23rd 4:00 pm
Joint reading with Jennifer Brown, Amy Poeppel, Abby Fabiaschi, and Crystal KingMay 9, 2018 7pm at Belmont Books. Belmont, MA
Reading at LitCleveland's Spring Mixer April 25, 2018 6:30pm - 9:00pm Nighttown's Secret Garden Patio, Cleveland
Book Release and Reading, April 6, 2018 Visible Voice Books, Cleveland, Ohio
Book Release and Signing, April 3, 2018 Writers and Books, Rochester, NY
HippoCamp 2017 September 8-10, 2017
Lara is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and of Moving Forewords, a memoir writers collective that celebrates perseverance through the telling of true personal stories.
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