In class this week we discussed the differences between autobiography and memoir. One key distinction is that a memoir centers around a theme and everything that doesn’t help develop the theme is eliminated.

This week Diane Rehm interviewed Helen Macdonald about Macdonald’s memoir, H is for Hawk. The memoir is about Macdonald dealing with grief over the death of her father by raising a goshawk. As with all good memoirs, the theme is crystal clear, distinctive and compelling while also containing universal themes such as death, grief, loss, healing, the human-animal bond and more.  The hawk image is from the Diane Rehm Show.