Join me for Writing Your Story, Feeding Your Soul

Ten years ago, when I launched Poor Man’s Feast, I could not have dreamt the places it would take me; since 2008, there have been two memoirs with (mostly) food at their core and, coming in 2019, a third, the catalyst of which was a yearlong column I wrote for the Washington Post. I have traveled from the Balsamico Tradizionale cellars of Emilia Romagna to the salmon farms of Tromso, Norway, four hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle. I have ghostwritten a celebrity cookbook (not telling, then I wouldn’t be a ghost), acquired and edited scores of others, and become an adopted member of the Edible Communities consortium of hyperlocal food magazines. I have spoken  about the language of food — its poetry, its magic, and its place in our culture — alongside some of my heroes, including Molly O’Neill and Carolyn Forche. I have taught the craft of narrative food writing in Ireland at Lens & Larder with my dear friend Diana Henry, and at the Loft Literary Center the day after an election that would push the world off its axis and send many of us scrambling for comfort. I have spent much of the last decade immersed in a rapidly changing food culture, one that is inextricably bound up with politics, war, celebrity, scandal, and heartbreak. It is a world that is simultaneously nurturing and utterly withering.

Over time, how I talk about the narrative of food and this mundane act of creating sustenance has taken a turn for the contemplative. I believe that feeding oneself and others is an inherently meditative and spiritual practice that extends far beyond the confines of the hottest new restaurants, the edgiest new chefs, the trendiest new techniques, the most stunning new kitchens. This is not a revelation: watch the opening scenes of Il Postino, and see Massimo Troisi slurp a bowl of soup with his father, and know that you are witnessing a true poor man’s feast. Read the story of La Cocina, a San Francisco not-for-profit food business incubator for low income, largely immigrant women and the impetus behind Refuge, a storytelling project focusing on the role of food during times of crisis, war, loneliness; this is an idea born of hope, history, and sustenance.

Wherever I’ve traveled and to whomever I’ve spoken over the last ten years has brought me to the understanding that humans are naturally drawn to what the late food writer Marion Cunningham called The Modern Tribal Fire. The quality of the food itself is important, but it’s not the focus here; that’s reserved for the sharing of table stories — the storytelling that goes on around the place of nurturing. Table stories bind us together in joy and sorrow. They are the human connective tissue possessed of the quiet power to transcend politics, war, religion, socioeconomics, family dynamic. Table stories can be meditative, therapeutic, heart-filling. They form the basis of our individual narratives of sustenance and nurturing that extend beyond the walls of our homes and deep into our communities. Table stories make us who we are: each one of us, regardless of our background, can write, share,  contemplate them.

Many of you have reached out to ask me about upcoming writing programs that marry contemplative practice to the personal narrative of sustenance. I am delighted to announce that this November, after Thanksgiving, I will be launching my program, Writing Your Story, Feeding Your Soul, at the beautiful 1440 Multiversity, located in the Santa Cruz mountains amidst the majestic redwoods. Together, during a two-day post-holiday retreat, we will break bread, read, write, and examine the stories we tell around the table, and how our modern tribal fire connects our past to our present, to inform the way we think about nurturing and sustaining ourselves, our families, and our communities. While this will be a generative food-related writing workshop, it will require no prior experience beyond the willingness to recognize the healing nature of sustenance and storytelling. Yoga and meditation will be included, as will delicious meals created by the amazing Chef Kenny Woods of 1440. Some scholarships will be available.

Please join me. For more information, feel free to contact me at Elissa@Poormansfeast.com, and at

Writing Your Story, Feeding Your Soul