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On July 18th, Lemon Grove Writers hosted an Author Talk with Kaitlyn Teer! Kaitlyn is the author of the fantastic new essay collection, Little Apocalypses: Essays on Motherhood, Climate Change, and Hope at the End of the World.
Jessica Lohafer spoke with Kaitlyn about braided essays, revision, climate grief, publishing, book proposals, and sustaining a creative practice through uncertainty.
If you missed our talk, no worries! We have a recap with writing prompts, book recommendations, and highlights below:
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Begin essays with a question, not an answer.
Kaitlyn described writing as a way of thinking rather than proving a point. She began the essays in Little Apocalypses because she couldn't stop asking questions about parenting during the climate crisis. She reminded us that there is no need to know all the answers (or any!) before you begin writing.
Structure arrives during revision.
For Kaitlyn, drafting scenes and research came before discovering the essay's final architecture. Finding the right order and refining transitions were the work of revision. Another reminder to just begin writing, even if you can't envision the final shape of the essay.
Every essay has a central image or question.
As she revised, Kaitlyn found that identifying the essay's organizing image, whether frogs, a countdown clock, birds, or another recurring idea, helped organize and anchor the essay.
Visualize the shape of the essay.
Kaitlyn described many of her essays as spiraling inward. Each return to an image or idea draws the reader deeper until the essay reaches its emotional center. She also talked about the braided essay form: personal narrative, research, philosophy, and observation can coexist within the same essay. Rather than separating them, the braided essay allows these threads to strengthen one another.
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Our Favorite Craft Insight from Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn generously shared the process of having Little Apocalypses come out with HarperCollins this year. We learned that the origin of this collection was a column outline created for Catapult. She gave us great advice:
Imagine pitching a recurring essay column.
Write out:
- ten potential essay titles
- the central question for each essay
- scenes you might explore
- research you would include
She credited this exercise with helping her discover the shape of Little Apocalypses before the manuscript existed.
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Writing Prompt if you've read Little Apocalypses
After the conversation between Kaitlyn and Jessica, we transitioned into a 1-hour writing sprint. Kaitlyn read from pages 61-62 of Little Apocalypses and invited us to work on the following prompt:
The scroll: Write about a recent moment you encountered something unexpected on your phone — a photo from your past, a news alert, a social media post from someone else, a recipe, a funny meme, a video containing parenting advice — anything that evoked an emotional reaction. Now write it into a scene. What were you doing before you opened your phone? What was your mood? How did what you encounter shift things for you? Did you hold the shift, internally? Or, did it alter what you said or did next?
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Kaitlyn Teer is a senior editor at Cup of Jo. Her essays have appeared in Orion, Catapult, Electric Lit, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere, and she has taught writing at Western Washington University. She lives in Bellingham, Washington, with her husband and two children.
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More prompts inspired by Kaitlyn and her book
- Write about the last question a child asked you. Set the scene and follow the dialogue.
- Write about a habit you'd like to break, big or small. What does this habit offer you? What do you lose by giving it up? What do you gain?
- Write about something you know because someone else taught it to you. Who taught you this? Did you learn it right away or over time? Have you passed on this knowledge?
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Kaitlyn Teer's Recommended Reading
• Tell It Slant by Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola
• Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison
• Shapes of Native Nonfiction, edited by Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warburton
• On Immunity by Eula Biss
• The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
• Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
• A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit
• What If We Get It Right? by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
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Thank you to everyone who joined us for this conversation with Kaitlyn Teer! It was a thoughtful hour discussing craft, curiosity, and the writing life, and we're grateful to Kaitlyn for sharing so generously with our community.
If you enjoyed this recap, we'd love to see you at a future Lemon Grove Writers event! Our Author Talks and co-writing sessions are free and open to writers of all experience levels. Our next Author Talk will be announced soon!
Happy writing,
Megan, Caitlin, and Jessica
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