Rachel Syme Teaches You How to Write a Memorable Letter

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

New Yorker writer Rachel Syme loves letters — their content, the paper they are written on, the envelopes that enclose them. For Syme, “A letter is a vessel that can gently cradle family drama that would otherwise explode at Thanksgiving dinner; it is the ideal medium for giving voice to what is difficult to say out loud, and for reconciliation, forgiveness, and clarity.” In her new book, “Syme’s Letter Writer,” she offers advice on how to develop a letter writing style, how to write about juicy gossip, and how to write your mother. We talk to Syme, and hear from you, what’s a letter you’ve written or received that changed your life? Guest: Rachel Syme, staff writer, The New Yorker; during the pandemic, she founded a pen pal exchange that attracted 10,000 members from over 75 different countries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort on 4,000 acres in the mountains of Baja, California, just 45 minutes from San Diego.
0:09.4	Family owned and operated since 1940, Rancho La Pueerta offers adult summer camp-like vacations for anyone who enjoys hiking, mindfulness, and fitness classes.
0:19.8	Special rates and offers are available for summer stays and
0:23.3	first-time guests. Learn more at Rancho LePuerta.com. Support for Forum comes from Broadway
0:29.4	SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer
0:36.8	Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank, a new story. From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and
0:39.9	Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused
0:46.6	of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice,
0:53.6	and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:57.8	plays the Orphium Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
1:04.6	at Broadway, sF.com.
1:08.3	From KQED.
1:09.8	Music From KQED. From KQED. From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:24.6	These little intros to our shows are almost letters, aren't they?
1:29.3	A bit of correspondence, a promise for the future, an acknowledgement of a moment we're about to share.
1:35.0	While I write to you today with some great news, we'll be joined by New Yorker writer Rachel Seim,
1:41.1	who's going to tell us how to become letter writers.
1:44.1	She's got a new book out about her adventures in the postal arts,
1:47.7	and it being Valentine's Day, perhaps she'll even help you craft a beautiful little note to a loved one.
1:53.1	We're reading letters, we're writing letters, we're ignoring for an hour, most other things.
1:57.8	It's all coming up next after this news.
2:12.6	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
	...

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