Every single day I write, read, or think about writing. It gives me purpose and brings me joy. 

Marianna Marlowe – 28 February 2025

The Back Flap

Through braided memories that flash against the present day, Portrait of a Feminist depicts the evolution of Marianna Marlowe’s identity as a biracial and multicultural woman—from her childhood in California, Peru, and Ecuador to her adulthood as an academic, a wife, and a mother.

How does the inner life of a feminist develop? How does a writer observe the world around her and kindle, from her earliest memories, a flame attuned to the unjust?

With writing that is simultaneously wise and shimmering, nuanced and direct, Marlowe confronts her own experiences with the hallmarks of patriarchy. Interweaving stories of life as the child of a Catholic Peruvian mother and an atheist American father in a family that lived many years abroad, she examines realities familiar to so many of us—unequal marriages, class structures, misogynist literature, and patriarchal religion. Portrait of a Feminist explores the essential questions of feminism in our time: What does it look like to live in defense of feminism? How should feminism be evolving today?

About the book

What is the book about?

This book is about my evolution as a feminist. It is about how my particular identity as a feminist was shaped by a variety of influences: gender, class, and race, as well as family (with a Peruvian mother and a British-American father), religion (my mother was a Catholic and my father an atheist; I attended Evangelical missionary school for four years), media, academia, marriage, motherhood, places lived here and abroad (California, Seattle, the Philippines, Ecuador, and Brazil), languages spoken and understood (mainly English and Spanish) . . .  It is about trying to live a philosophy of feminism in a racist, sexist, colonialist world. It is about exploring the complexities of reality and the nuances of keeping faith in humanity.

When did you start writing the book?

I never thought I could write “creatively” until I turned 50. Until then, I believed my skill set lay solely in academic writing (I have a PhD in Literature). Then, in 2018, I turned 50, a milestone number, and also faced an empty nest. I had given up an academic career when my second son was born and I knew I would feel unmoored without some kind of purpose. I wish I could remember what it was, but something gave me the idea to try writing memoir. I took a couple of classes; I read memoirs of all kinds—literary, trauma, abuse, addiction, philosophical, hybrid, scientific—and craft books on writing nonfiction, essays, and memoir. I found not only that I could “do it,” but also that I loved it. Every single day I write, read, or think about writing. It gives me purpose and brings me joy.

How long did it take you to write it?

2-3 years.

Where did you get the idea from?

When I began writing memoir I didn’t know much about the craft or all the different subgenres of creative nonfiction. But I took a workshop with the Writing Salon in San Francisco that taught me what needed to know. Every two weeks we had to bring to class a piece of writing no longer than 2,000 words to read aloud to our small group. We wrote each piece from a prompt that was based on a sample essay or memoir chapter provided by the instructor. This format proved a great teacher to me. I learned so much from knowing I was going to read my piece aloud as I crafted and revised it within two weeks. Reading aloud and then getting supportive and kindly-delivered feedback is immensely helpful. I also learned so much from the sample pieces. One was about a woman who faces her fears by traveling alone to a completely foreign country. That piece prompted me to write my own essay about traveling for the first time to Damascus with my husband and in-laws as a newly married woman. I called It “Fear” and it was published by Hippocampus Magazine and now is a chapter in my second memoir about the intersections of a raced, classed, and gendered identity: Portrait of a Mestiza.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I struggled writing two chapters in particular—the one about date rape and the one where my friend is handcuffed at a dance club by security guards who are “saving her for later.” I didn’t want these chapters to seem salacious or purely plot drive or superficial. It’s hard, at least for me, to write about traumatic, sexually violent incidents in an artful way, with scene and maybe dialogue but also distance and reflection.

What came easily?

Writing about my mother. I’d always been close to her, and absorbed all her stories about growing up in Lima and the shenanigans of our extended family in Peru. I feel that she is a part of me and I am a part of her in an almost visceral way, so writing about her in a memoir came naturally.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Because I write memoir, my characters are all real world people.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

When I started writing, I was directly influenced by Abigail Thomas (Safekeeping), Naomi Shihab Nye (There Is No Long Distance Now), Vivian Gornick (The Odd Woman and the City), and Denise Levertov (Tesserae). Each of these authors write beautiful memoir in ways that inspired me to think that I could write about my life similarly: not always linearly; starting essays or chapters with small moments and connecting them to the larger world; using white space or line breaks; strategizing juxtaposition and placement; paying attention to cadence and pace.

Do you have a target reader?

Yes. My target reader is a woman and a feminist (and/or someone who is trying to make sense of gendered identity in the United States and the world). My target reader can also be a mother trying to raise feminist sons or give protective analytical tools to their daughters. She can be an immigrant or a daughter of immigrants. She can be a woman of color who understands how difficult it can be to navigate the intersectionality of race and gender. She can be a daughter given mixed messages about ideal femininity by her parents. He or she or they could also be a person wanting to read about someone trying to live a liberating philosophy in an unfree world.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

I don’t write everyday on a predetermined schedule. But I try to write a few times a week, at least, and I’m always thinking about writing, even while doing chores, taking walks, or visiting museums. Once I wrote an idea for what became a chapter on the margins of a piano recital schedule while waiting for one of my sons to take the stage. Recently, however, a friend of mine, who is also a writer, and I started our own little DIY accountability group. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning we text each other at 8 to say that we are sitting down to write. Then after an hour we get on the phone to debrief. It really works to ensure writing gets done even if you are feeling uninspired or just plain lazy. Since beginning my dissertation, I’ve written mostly on a living room couch or on my bed. Very rarely at a desk. I’ve written and revised in cars waiting for my children to finish school or sports, in recitals like I said, in planes and trains (but not automobiles because I get carsick), at cafes alone or with friends.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

I don’t outline. Sometimes an outline forms in my head—but never anything permanent.  Official outlines don’t make sense for me because I write mostly shorter stand-alone essays or chapters and only after most of them are written does an appropriate order for a thematically-linked book reveal itself.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I mostly edit as I go. This might be a habit kept from academic writing.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I usually do.  But always baroque or classical. I need beautiful music that also serves mostly as soothing background. Any words would distract me from the ones I’m trying to craft!

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

I did once, to 10 agents. But when I received silence from 8 and polite noes from 2, I became impatient. I couldn’t wait months, maybe years to “land” an agent, then more months and maybe years to get a publishing deal, then even more months and maybe years for editing etc.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

My impatience with the traditional route that involves agents and editors. It was both a particular event (getting rejections from my first and only batch of queried agents) and a gradual process. When I began my writing journey, I came across Brooke Warner, one of the founders and the editor of the hybrid publishing company She Writes Press. I was attracted to the collaborative model at SWP and the fact that all their authors and employees are women. I also loved that it is based in Berkeley, just over a bridge from me and where I went to university. I also loved the speed of the submission and acceptance process. I submitted my first 50 pages, an author bio, and chapter summaries and shortly thereafter got the “green light” that SWP had accepted my manuscript. I also appreciated the transparency that Brooke brings to the publishing process. She explains so much in clarifying detail through Facebook posts, Substack, and her weekly Zoom office hours where she answers everyone’s questions live. Authors working with SWP do have to pay money upfront at different stages of the publication process, but I appreciate that I don’t have to juggle all the pieces involved from proofreading to formatting to cover design to distribution. The support of sister She Writes authors is also a huge plus.

 Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

SWP did it for me, with my input and my final ok.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I hired a publicist who is really helpful because there are so many different opportunities and venues and platforms out there and it could easily become a full-time job just doing publicity for your book. Having said that, I also have to acknowledge that I am middle-aged and less technologically erudite than maybe a younger person. The people on my publicity team are two delightful young women with so much enthusiasm and know-how. 

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Keep faith in yourself as a writer and in your writing as worthy of being published and read even as you research Indie options to find the one that is best for you and your writing project. It’s an ever-changing publishing landscape out there and it pays to be realistic about the process and the results.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in different places with my family’s home in Marin County serving throughout as home base. I grew up in Manila, Quito, and Rio de Janeiro, with frequent visits to my mother’s family in Lima.

Where do you live now?

In a small town in the middle of Marin County, California—just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The same town that served as home base throughout my childhood, and today my house where I live with my husband and children is just a few minutes up the hill from the house where I grew up.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I grew up reading every day, then majored in English by default when UC Berkeley threatened to deny me reentry my junior year if I didn’t decide on a major ASAP—and at the time I only had the requirements fulfilled to declare an English major. I went on to get a PhD in English and taught for a few years. My more recent discovery of creative writing has only cemented my passion and gratitude for the opportunity to live a life saturated with the written word.

What are you working on now?

I recently had my second memoir, Portrait of a Mestiza, accepted for publication by She Writes Press and am in the middle of writing my third, Portrait of a Reader.

End of Interview:

For more from Marianna Marlowe check out her website and follow her on Instagram.

Get your copy of Portrait of a Feminist from Amazon US.