Maya Shanbhag Lang | What We Carry
Good Life Project
Jonathan Fields / Acast
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2020
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Simultaneously parenting her daughter while caring for a mom who was vanishing into dementia, Maya Shanbhag Lang, found herself reexamining nearly every part of her life, and reimagining how she wanted to tell her own story to her daughter. May's writing has been featured in The Washington Post, In Style, The Millions, and The Rumpus, among others. Her book, The Sixteenth of June was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, was an Audie Award Finalist for Best Audio Book. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A passionate teacher, she loves working with aspiring writers. Her new memoir is What We Carry. (https://amzn.to/3fqyo2Q)
You can find Maya Shanbhag Lang at:
Website : http://www.mayalang.com/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/mayaslang/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So what happens when the passionate pursuit of your own destiny? |
| 0:11.6 | Bumps up against raising a child while simultaneously taking care of a parent who is slowly drifting |
| 0:18.0 | into a form of dementia that requires you to, in effect, parent them as well. |
| 0:24.6 | What is a big part of what I explore with my guest today, Maya Shanbaglang, who has |
| 0:29.9 | written a beautiful new book, What We Carry, about this experience. |
| 0:34.4 | Growing up the daughter of immigrants, Maya had created a series of stories about her parents |
| 0:39.6 | painted a picture in her mind, especially around her mom and who she thought she was and |
| 0:45.1 | wasn't, that would come tumbling down and reveal so much, not just about who her mom really |
| 0:52.3 | was and is, but about who Maya was and is as well. |
| 0:57.2 | Beyond this deeply moving story, Maya's work has been regularly featured in the Washington |
| 1:01.8 | Post, In style, the millions, the rumpus, so many other places, and been nominated for a |
| 1:07.2 | push-cart prize and she teaches aspiring writers. |
| 1:10.8 | And we dive into all of this, zooming the lens out about the craft, her creative journey, |
| 1:16.4 | and her relationship with herself and her family, her craft, her devotion, her contribution |
| 1:22.7 | to the world and how it has all woven into this beautiful tapestry to leave her where she |
| 1:28.2 | is at this moment in life. |
| 1:29.5 | So excited to share this conversation with you. |
| 1:32.6 | I'm Jonathan Fields and this is Good Life Project. |
| 1:36.5 | It's kind of funny because we're where you are now, we came so close to moving actually. |
| 1:49.8 | I mean, literally like a heartbeat away from it and fell in love with the town, but I'm |
| 1:54.9 | on the upper side, you're in Hastings, New York right now. |
| 1:58.6 | You grew up I guess for a heartbeat in Queens, but then really in Long Island. |
... |
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