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Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write – A Sumptuous Guide to Getting Your Creative Juices Flowing
Get Your Creative Juices Flowing A sumptuous, sensuous writing guide from the author of the award-winning The Book of Dead Birds
- GenresWritingNonfictionPoetry
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
18 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Gayle Brandeis
23 books189 followersGayle Brandeis is the author, most recently, of Drawing Breath: Essays on Writing, the Body, and Loss (Overcup Press). Earlier books include the memoir The Art of Misdiagnosis (Beacon Press), the novel in poems, Many Restless Concerns (Black Lawrence Press), shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Award, the poetry collection The Selfless Bliss of the Body (Finishing Line Press), the craft book Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write (HarperOne) and the novels The Book of Dead Birds (HarperCollins), which won the PEN/Bellwether Prize, Self Storage (Ballantine), Delta Girls (Ballantine), and My Life with the Lincolns (Henry Holt BYR), chosen as a state-wide read in Wisconsin.
Gayle's essays, poetry, and short fiction have been widely published in places such as The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, O (The Oprah Magazine), The Rumpus, Salon, and more, and have received numerous honors, including the Columbia Journal Nonfiction Award, a Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Award, Notable Essays in Best American Essays 2016, 2019, and 2020, the QPB/Story Magazine Short Story Award and the 2018 Multi Genre Maverick Writer Award. She was named A Writer Who Makes a Difference by The Writer Magazine, and served as Inlandia Literary Laureate from 2012-2014, focusing on bringing writing workshops to underserved communities. Gayle teaches in the low residency MFA programs at Antioch University and University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. She currently lives in Highland Park, IL with her husband and youngest child.
Gayle's essays, poetry, and short fiction have been widely published in places such as The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, O (The Oprah Magazine), The Rumpus, Salon, and more, and have received numerous honors, including the Columbia Journal Nonfiction Award, a Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Award, Notable Essays in Best American Essays 2016, 2019, and 2020, the QPB/Story Magazine Short Story Award and the 2018 Multi Genre Maverick Writer Award. She was named A Writer Who Makes a Difference by The Writer Magazine, and served as Inlandia Literary Laureate from 2012-2014, focusing on bringing writing workshops to underserved communities. Gayle teaches in the low residency MFA programs at Antioch University and University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. She currently lives in Highland Park, IL with her husband and youngest child.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 14, 2012
when i found this book, some years ago now, i couldn't not buy it.
it is one of those investments, discovered, appropriately when i was running creative writing workshops and feeding myself on words.
i have a beautiful collection of books on writing and this is one of my favourites!
wonderfully organic...i have a notebook just for fruitflesh.
this book is full of my,your,her stories...they are all there hiding between the pages, in waiting..
difficult not to be inspired, utterly sensual, beautifilly feminine...don't hold back...one of those rare books i wish i had written....that is also encouraging me to do so!
it is one of those investments, discovered, appropriately when i was running creative writing workshops and feeding myself on words.
i have a beautiful collection of books on writing and this is one of my favourites!
wonderfully organic...i have a notebook just for fruitflesh.
this book is full of my,your,her stories...they are all there hiding between the pages, in waiting..
difficult not to be inspired, utterly sensual, beautifilly feminine...don't hold back...one of those rare books i wish i had written....that is also encouraging me to do so!
December 20, 2007
Probably the most "womanist" book on writing I've ever encountered; if you're interested in approaching your writing through gender, then this book is for you. Also, it helps to like fruit. *A LOT* of fruit.
July 25, 2008
This book is a terrific resource for writers in need of inspiration or prompts. It will help you tap into more sensory aspects of your writing as well as give you new ways to see the world. I keep it beside my bed and flip through to find random ideas when I'm feeling unproductive and uninspired.
Currently reading
January 24, 2010A friend just gave me a boatload of encouraging writing books. I could cry. Ask if you want to borrow any.
August 19, 2015
Read my interview with the author here:
http://beingandwriting.blogspot.com/2...
http://beingandwriting.blogspot.com/2...
May 9, 2020
I am grateful to Brandeis for teaching me through her writing what it means to be my own woman, my own writer. For me, being my own woman who writes will mean taking on the subjects that are personal and specific to me and letting them breathe.
Maybe writing on difficult topics is like having a complicated pregnancy. We all just hope and pray that the child is delivered whole and well. And that the mother survives, too.
As I write on anorexia nervosa and cardiac arrest survival, I’m discovering that though the issue is a complicated one, the solution may be as simple as one active verb: eat. Eat and enjoy and allow yourself the right of food. My own personal demons tempt me to backtrack and restrict not only food but also to reel in my female spirit and my writer’s instinct and polish up all that I need to say before it even hits the page. However, Fruitflesh has given me full permission to be free and to let out my heart, as vengeful as it may be.
Maybe writing on difficult topics is like having a complicated pregnancy. We all just hope and pray that the child is delivered whole and well. And that the mother survives, too.
As I write on anorexia nervosa and cardiac arrest survival, I’m discovering that though the issue is a complicated one, the solution may be as simple as one active verb: eat. Eat and enjoy and allow yourself the right of food. My own personal demons tempt me to backtrack and restrict not only food but also to reel in my female spirit and my writer’s instinct and polish up all that I need to say before it even hits the page. However, Fruitflesh has given me full permission to be free and to let out my heart, as vengeful as it may be.
May 28, 2018
Great book with writing prompts to help kick start or reignite inspiration. The book is geared towards female writers but I think men interested in writing will find some helpful advice. The author presents a variety of topics that are bound to trigger a memory or two. Highly recommend, especially for women in a creative rut as I was before picking this up.
April 19, 2020
This book is so beautiful! I took my time soaking up the meditations. Every writer should have this book in their arsenal.
January 18, 2011
Best book of writing prompts ever! "It will add depth, surprise and delight to your writing."
This book isn't full of writing rules or obvious ideas. It's different and fun and an enjoy to read even if you don't need help with your writing.
One of my favorite quotes:
"...capture a person's body language- how she holds her mouth when she's upset, what she does with her hands when she's bored, whether she slumps in a chair or sits like she has a steel-bar spine. The language of the body is often more illuminationg than spoken dialogue, which doesn't always express the character's true feelings."
This book isn't full of writing rules or obvious ideas. It's different and fun and an enjoy to read even if you don't need help with your writing.
One of my favorite quotes:
"...capture a person's body language- how she holds her mouth when she's upset, what she does with her hands when she's bored, whether she slumps in a chair or sits like she has a steel-bar spine. The language of the body is often more illuminationg than spoken dialogue, which doesn't always express the character's true feelings."
October 3, 2008
A beautifully written book geared toward female writers. The exercises in this book are fun, a true treat for the senses. If you enjoy a somewhat unconventional writing experience, you'll love this book! It also helps to like fruit.
August 12, 2010
Some great ideas for producing honest, vulnerable writing but because she used vile words such as "juices" "squirt" and "blossoming" more than once this book automatically gets knocked down to three stars.
April 10, 2009
Excellent book for inspiration and creativity... for a women's perspective, full of exercises and ideas that will jumpstart a writers brain
January 20, 2009
Some of the exercises seem like they might be helpful, but overall, I didn't get much out of this one.
Want to read
May 30, 2010Lent to Astrid on May 30, 2010.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews