In Place: What
Remains? The Loss of Family and Family Farm in Memoir
Kari Fisher, Faculty in English
Kevin Fenton and Jo McDougall came from fairly different
backgrounds. Fenton, a local writer
whose day job is in advertising, currently lives in St. Paul, but grew up as
the youngest child in Southeastern Minnesota. Fenton’s close-knit family
struggled to pay the mortgage and make ends meet. McDougall, a celebrated poet, is the older of
two daughters who lived a relatively privileged life on a successful rice farm
in Arkansas. Both writers have written
stunning memoirs that look without sentimentality or schmaltz at their
upbringing on a family farm. Fenton’s Leaving
Rollingstone: A Memoir and McDougall’s Daddy’s
Money: A Memoir of Farm and Family examine what it means to lose a parent
and a family farm.
Kari Fisher was drawn to both of these books while
completing her low-residency MFA program in creative writing. Her parents had built their retirement home
on her great grandparents’ farm site. As
she worked on her creative thesis, she became obsessed with her mother’s
stories of the family: from a patriarch who supposedly changed his name and
left Germany charged with stealing the king’s eel to his son who lived nearby
but didn’t speak to the father for more than forty years. This presentation will feature readings,
reflections, and research from these memoirs as well as discussing how our
families and the places we’ve had to leave behind influence where we’re going.
Biographical
Statement:
Kari Fisher teaches English at Normandale Community College.
Although a native Minnesota, she’s lived in five other states and has quit
counting her moves. She and her family
celebrate their fifth anniversary at their current home April 11. She’ll
complete her MFA from Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, Washington) in
Creative Writing this summer.
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