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Mira Ptacin

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Mira Ptacin
Ptacin in 2023

Mira Ptacin is an American writer.[1][2] She is the author of Poor Your Soul and The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna.[3][4] Ptacin has also written for The New York Times, Vogue, Guernica, BuzzFeed, and other publications.[5][6][7][8] She teaches memoir-writing to women at the Maine Correctional Center and is a former visiting professor of Creative Nonfiction at Colby College.[9][10][11]

In Poor Your Soul, Ptacin recounts her experiences terminating an unexpected pregnancy after an ultrasound revealed that her child would be born with various birth defects and no chance of survival outside the womb.[12][13] She goes into detail about her reaction to the grief that followed, while also sharing stories about her mother’s emigration from Poland to the United States and her late brother, who was tragically killed by a drunk driver.[14][15]

In The In-Betweens, Ptacin draws on her experiences at Camp Etna, a Spiritualist enclave in Maine, providing historical details about the community.[16][17][18] According to New York Times contributor J. Courtney Sullivan, Ptacin “has a curious, warm, non-judgmental tone about her, and she's funny, too.”[19]

Ptacin also hosts conversations with other authors for Literary Hub.[20]

Personal life

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Ptacin was born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan, and received a master's degree from Sarah Lawrence College.[21][22] She lives on Peaks Island with her family and farm animals.[23][24]

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References

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  1. ^ "Author Q&A: Mira Ptacin on developing empathy and learning from her students". Press Herald. 2016-01-03. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  2. ^ "Mira Ptacin". Maine College of Art & Design. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  3. ^ "Between the Lines: Writing Through Grief". WMUK. 2016-01-08. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  4. ^ Garcia-Navarro, Lulu. "Spiritualism In 'The In-Betweens'". NPR.
  5. ^ Ptacin, Mira. "We've Come a Long Way … Maybe?". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "How We Celebrated Halloween in Maine This Year". Vogue. 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  7. ^ Ptacin, Mira (2012-03-01). "Un-bearing". Guernica. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  8. ^ Ptacin, Mira (2019-10-01). "I Talked To My Deceased Brother Through A Spiritualist". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  9. ^ "Mira Ptacin | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  10. ^ "Entering Through the Side Door: Flash Nonfiction Writing with Mira Ptacin". Maine Media Workshops + College. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  11. ^ "Meet the Teaching Artist: Micro-Memoir & Flash Nonfiction with Mira Pt". Writing Workshops. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  12. ^ Davis, Dillon. "Mira Ptacin's 'Poor Your Soul' released today". Battle Creek Enquirer. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  13. ^ "On "Poor Your Soul": An Interview with Mira Ptacin – Michigan Quarterly Review". sites.lsa.umich.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  14. ^ Davis, Dillon. "Mira Ptacin's 'Poor Your Soul' released today". Battle Creek Enquirer. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  15. ^ Loeb, Eryn. "Loss and Labor: An interview with Mira Ptacin | Vela". Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  16. ^ Valentine, Genevieve. "Blending Memoir And Reporting, 'The In-Betweens' Exposes An Otherworldly Community". NPR.
  17. ^ Blum, Deborah. "A Sympathetic Look at Spiritualism Past and Present". The New York Times.
  18. ^ "Obscure chapter of Maine's history – 19th-century spiritualist camp – has unexpected resonance". Press Herald. 2020-03-08. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  19. ^ Egan, Elisabeth; Jordan, Tina. "Celeste Ng, Ann Patchett, Min Jin Lee and Others on the Books That Bring Them Comfort". The New York Times.
  20. ^ Ptacin, Mira. "Mira Ptacin". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  21. ^ Durnbaugh, Elena. "Author Mira Ptacin talks about talking to the dead, her new book and Battle Creek history". Battle Creek Enquirer. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  22. ^ "Poor Your Soul by Mira Ptacin MFA '09 Named One of 2016's Best Nonfiction Books—Kirkus Reviews". www.sarahlawrence.edu. 2016-12-06. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  23. ^ Ptacin, Mira (2022-03-14). "Keeping Chickens Taught Me How to Give a Cluck". Modern Farmer. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  24. ^ "How Salt alumni have spiced up the national media landscape". Press Herald. 2023-10-01. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
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