Janet Pocorobba

I am interested in building power and voice with language, and in writing personal stories that push the boundaries of self. I’m obsessed with narrative persona, as well as the narrative modes required to shape a story. I loved braided essays and hybrid memoirs, where the story is larger than the self. Another obsession is creative writing pedagogy, which I work on with writers who want to teach.

I work with my nonfiction writers via email, on the phone, over Zoom, however they need to work. “Who is this person writing the piece?” I want to know, “and how can I help them fulfill their intention and vision for the work?” I listen carefully—I’m a deeply intuitive writer—because writers often say out loud what they have neglected to say on the page. Speech is important to voice, and to catching the parts of ourselves that we reveal spontaneously and without censure. These are often the most important parts of the story.

But writing is not just self-expression. The poet Billy Collins said, “Form gives you an enclosed space to work within and keep it from descending into chaos or tantrum. “ We are here not to only say what we must but to find the most effective way to say it. Artfulness comes only when one applies a shape—even in nonfiction. The separation of the author and the narrator is critical. I don’t think that demystifying the writing process has to take the magic out of it. It can add to the awe.

For more information about Janet, visit her website: www.janetpocorobba.com

Work

Books

The Fourth String: A Memoir of Sensei and Me (2019)

Work has been published in the Writers’ Digest, Post Road, River Teeth, The Rumpus, Nixes Mate Review, Harvard Review, The Writer, Kyoto Journal, Indiana Review, The Journal, Provincetown Arts, and others.

Presentations/Readings

AWP, Grub Street Muse & Marketplace, BGSP, What Cheer Writers’ Club, Boston University, Writers’ Room of Boston, Brown University, Arlington Authors’ Salon, Japan Society of NYC, Harvard Bookstore, Smith College, Phoenix Bookstore, Galaxy Bookshop, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Porter Square Books, Water Street Books, Vermont Studio Center, and elsewhere

Awards

Turkey Land Cove Foundation Artist’s Residency, Vermont Studio Center Artist’s Residency, Bildner Creative Writing Scholarship, Bread Loaf Writing Scholar, Lesley Center for Teaching & Learning Grant

Affiliations Past & Present

Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), Authors’ Guild, NYC Center for Nonviolent Communication, Japan Society of Boston, Mud Season Review, Post Road, Writer's Room of Boston, PEN-New England, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, Grub Street, Simmons University, Lesley University Interdisciplinary Studies Master's Degree Programs, Lesley University Low-Residency Bachelor Completion Program, Japan Society of Boston

Education

MA in Psychoanalysis from the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
MFA in Creative Writing, Lesley University
MA in Linguistics, Northeastern University
BA in French Language & Literature, Smith College

In the News

The Japan Times

Janet Pocorobba's memoir explores Japanese culture, music and relationship from the perspective of an American.

Risky memoir writing

Janet Pocorobba's new book, "The Fourth String: A Memoir of Sensei and Me," is both a biography of her leather jacket-wearing sensei and her own complicated experiences abroad.

Listen to Janet Pocorobba's podcast episode

Work

Education

In the News

'The Fourth String'

Risky memoir writing