Open Book: Writing Lived Experience

Open Book sessions centre on the work itself. Writers read from their books and speak briefly about the choices and discoveries that shaped the writing. Pearls by Tracy Crisp is a memoir that reflects on displacement and survival, tracing how early experiences continue to shape a life over time. A Secret Grief by Natalie Scott is a novel centred on a girl growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, grappling with her relationship with her mother—a relationship marked by emotional distance, misunderstanding and the stories we tell ourselves about being loved. In this Open Book session, Crisp and Scott read from their work and talk about writing lived experience — how personal histories, perceptions and memory are shaped into a story through memoir.