Marrow Memory: Essays of Discovery
Margaret Nowaczyk
June 4, 2024
300 pages | ISBN 978-1-989496-90-9
In Marrow Memory: Essays of Discovery Margaret Nowaczyk explores different facets of her life, from listening to the radio dramas of her childhood in Communist Poland to her work now as a pediatric clinical geneticist. These are beautifully crafted essays, full of hard-won truths and insights, generously shared with the reader. Whether struggling with English as a teenaged refugee or documenting the process of permanent hair dye, Nowaczyk moves seamlessly between scientific and personal writing, bridging the gap between these two areas with elegance and humour. Marrow Memory is an invitation to the reader to marvel in the unexpected beauties of human experience and the ability of language to capture that.
Advance Praise
"The essays in Marrow Memory dazzled and moved me with their erudition and sensuousness, their humour and their breadth in subject. Whether it’s writing about Tay–Sachs disease, life in Communist Poland or her peasant ancestors, Margaret Nowaczyk never once falters in making her personal fascinations feel vital and relevant." – Kevin Chong, author of The Double Life of Benson Yu
"These essays shine with candour and insight. In lively prose, rich with empathy and detail, Margaret Nowaczyk recounts moments of discovery in her life as a daughter, lover, mother, geneticist, reader, traveller, writer and seeker. Marrow Memory finds beauty in the heart of the familiar and the extraordinary, revealing the essence of a memorable life." – Lorri Neilsen Glenn, author of Following the River: Traces of Red River Women
Articles
What We're Reading: Staff Writers' Picks, Spring 2024 (Hamilton Review of Books, 05/04/2024)
It's wonderful to see Margaret Nowaczyk on this great list.
Most Anticipated: Our 2024 Nonfiction Spring Preview (49th Shelf, 07/02/2024)
Margaret's book makes this roundup of most anticipated nonfiction.
About the Author
Born in Poland, Margaret Nowaczyk is a pediatric clinical geneticist and a professor at McMaster University and DeGroote School of Medicine. Her short stories and essays have appeared in Canadian, Polish and American literary magazines and anthologies. She lives in Hamilton, ON, with her husband and two sons. Visit her website at www.margaretnowaczyk.ca.
Other Titles by This Author
Chasing Zebras: A Memoir of Genetics, Mental Health and Writing (2021)
