For a while, I worked as a French teacher, a permanent substitute filling in for stretches at a time. The experience changed my life, and I wrote about it. The essay is in this new anthology from Creative Nonfiction.
Last year, I wrote an essay about my mother and her love of Morocco. This week, it won a Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers in the Personal Comment category. It’s my fifth essay that has been honored by the SATW, and it gets more exciting every time. Here’s what the judges said:
Silver: Marcia DeSanctis, “Time or the Sahara Wind,” Tales To Go
A photo album brings back memories not only of trips taken but also, as importantly, of the photographer herself — the writer’s mother, who now is lost in the mists of Alzheimer’s. This personal and poignant story reminds readers of the fragility of life.
Another lovely volume from Travelers’ Tales/Solas House, with a terrific introduction by Rolf Potts. My memoir essay from Morocco is in this anthology.
My friend Erin Byrne edited these two marvelous collections of travel stories: Vignettes and Postcards from Morocco and Vignettes and Postcards from Paris. I’m very excited to have essays in both of them.
