The Memoir Land Author Questionnaire 188: Terese Svoboda
"Some have said 'Hitler and My Mother-in-Law' is a double memoir, about myself and my mother-in-law, but its real subject and what unites it, is truth—in family, journalism and politics."
Since 2010, in various publications, I’ve interviewed authors—mostly memoirists—about aspects of writing and publishing. Initially I did this for my own edification, as someone who was struggling to find the courage and support to write and publish my memoir. I’m still curious about other authors’ experiences, and I know many of you are, too. So, inspired by the popularity of The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire, I’ve launched The Memoir Land Author Questionnaire.
Here’s the 188th installment, featuring Terese Svoboda, author most recently of Hitler and My Mother-in-Law: A Memoir. - Sari Botton
P.S. Check out all the interviews in The Memoir Land Author Questionnaire series.
Terese Svoboda has published books of poetry, novels, story collections, memoir, biography and translation. Her opera WET premiered at Disney’s RedCat theater. She lives part of the year in Victoria BC and the rest in NYC. Her website is here, and her substack here.
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How old are you, and for how long have you been writing?
75. I completed my first book about a prince and a princess at age 8. It was spiralbound.
What’s the title of your latest book, and when was it published?
Hitler and My Mother-in-Law, December 2, 2025.
What number book is this for you?
24.
How do you categorize your book—as a memoir, memoir-in-essays, essay collection, creative nonfiction, graphic memoir, autofiction—and why?
Memoir. Some have said it’s a double memoir, about myself and my mother-in-law, but its real subject and what unites it, is truth—in family, journalism and politics. I include my life for a contemporary perspective, and to let readers understand what I think is truth. Memoir, after all, purports to be true, and what I’m trying to do is best understood by the title of my interview with Christa Lei: Memoir, Reinvented. I had another wonderful interview about truth at Bibliocracy. The book has sixty-six pages of footnotes. Does that make it a new genre?
My brothers-in-law were always poo-pooing their mother’s war stories, comparing, for example, all the different versions of her dancing with Goering and how she came upon his medals—my husband included. Then her journalist son decided he wasn’t going to write a book about her after all. Not to mention being inspired by the soaring number of our Pinocchio President’s astonishing untruths. Once I thought up the title, I had to write the book.
What is the “elevator pitch” for your book?
“Threaded with dark humor and personal reflection, Hitler and My Mother-in-Law explores the stories we inherit and the ones we invent, the official histories we parrot, and the quiet manipulations we accept. From Cold War propaganda and McCarthy-era paranoia to newsroom sexism and the strange theater of postwar art-world politics, Svoboda reveals a life extraordinary—and perhaps crafted.”
What’s the back story of this book including your origin story as a writer? How did you become a writer, and how did this book come to be?
In the 60s everyone was an artist. In the 70s everyone had become lawyers and doctors but I was still trying to be an artist, especially in media. At least that’s what I thought happened until going through a box of juvenilia, I found a notebook entitled “My Anthology.” Apparently, Louis Untermeyer was a big influence.
About this book’s becoming, my brothers-in-law were always poo-pooing their mother’s war stories, comparing, for example, all the different versions of her dancing with Goering and how she came upon his medals—my husband included. Then her journalist son decided he wasn’t going to write a book about her after all. Not to mention being inspired by the soaring number of our Pinocchio President’s astonishing untruths. Once I thought up the title, I had to write the book.
What were the hardest aspects of writing this book and getting it published?
The first press wanted to change the title. I moved on. About the writing, I tried to be cautious about family sensitivities although I needn’t have bothered, because her sons —except for my husband—refuse to read it.
“Threaded with dark humor and personal reflection, Hitler and My Mother-in-Law explores the stories we inherit and the ones we invent, the official histories we parrot, and the quiet manipulations we accept. From Cold War propaganda and McCarthy-era paranoia to newsroom sexism and the strange theater of postwar art-world politics, Svoboda reveals a life extraordinary—and perhaps crafted.”
How did you handle writing about real people in your life? Did you use real or changed names and identifying details? Did you run passages or the whole book by people who appear in the narrative? Did you make changes they requested?
Although I was careful to acknowledge the existence of my mother-in-law’s sons for narrative reasons, I did not elaborate. I am very beholden to the journalist brother who had shared many of her letters until the other brothers forbade him to share more. I did not show the book to any of them. I did send the journalist brother a link to a Slate article about my mother-in-law’s purported polio and received so many equivocations that I felt I was justified in not sharing the whole book. After all, it was “my” mother-in-law, not their mother.
Who is another writer you took inspiration from in producing this book? Was it a specific book, or their whole body of work? (Can be more than one writer or book.)
Poppy by Australian Drusilla Modjeska, a fictional biography of her mother in 1950s and 60s England. The non-events of the subject remembered showed me that every life can have shape and meaning.
And really, my first memoir, Black Glasses Like Clark Kent, at least in form. Short scenes with the structure of a lyric poem that allowed me to gracefully include prosaic excerpts as well as interview material. Once a poet, always a poet.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers looking to publish a book like yours, who are maybe afraid, or intimidated by the process?
Enjoy researching and interviewing and reminiscing. Keep track of the material chronologically because what happens in congruence is often quite revealing.
What do you love about writing?
It opens a door to what I’m thinking. Otherwise, I’m dumb.
What frustrates you about writing?
Publicity.
What about writing surprises you?
How hard it continues to be. You’d think after nearly sixty years of use and abuse, the sentences would flow.
Does your writing practice involve any kind of routine, or writing at specific times?
I write often.
Although I was careful to acknowledge the existence of my mother-in-law’s sons for narrative reasons, I did not elaborate. I am very beholden to the journalist brother who had shared many of her letters until the other brothers forbade him to share more. I did not show the book to any of them. I did send the journalist brother a link to a Slate article about my mother-in-law’s purported polio and received so many equivocations that I felt I was justified in not sharing the whole book.
Do you engage in any other creative pursuits, professionally or for fun? Are there non-writing activities you consider to be “writing” or supportive of your process?
I cook. One has to eat.
What’s next for you? Do you have another book planned, or in the works?
I have three or four novels awaiting homes, at least one book of stories, two books of poetry and one strange collection of prose poems about Negritude and Surrealism based on a piece I did for Guernica.
I try to remind anyone interested that dead authors don’t go on tour, please consider me even though you’d rather launch a new young thing. My 98 year old friend Betty Fussell had a great review in December in the NY Times for her excellent How to Cook a Coyote: The Joy of Old Age and although she’s blind, she’s working on a murder mystery. There’s hope.
There's hope indeed!
"I try to remind anyone interested that dead authors don’t go on tour, please consider me even though you’d rather launch a new young thing. My 98 year old friend Betty Fussell had a great review in December in the NY Times for her excellent How to Cook a Coyote: The Joy of Old Age and although she’s blind, she’s working on a murder mystery. There’s hope."
"Keep track of the material chronologically because what happens in congruence is often quite revealing." So great!