"Dramatic license" in sister's autobiographical work

[Anonymous]

My sister is a published poet and makes her living in the poetry field. Much of her work is written in the first person and based in part on real experiences, including family experiences. She has published poems about childhood vacations, fights with our parents, some medical scares I had, etc. But, the key details are fictional and exaggerated -- e.g., the romantic experience she had on that vacation (not possible), the time our parents threw her out of the house (they never did), the severity of my medical issues (not as described), etc.

I do understand that this is art, not reporting, and that the factual scenario is not the point of the poem. On the other hand, she presents these events as true and seems to get "credit" in her social and professional circles for having had these experiences. I want to support her work and buy her books, but I'm not sure how to react when I read or hear something that rings so false to me. I'm not interested in calling her out or upsetting her career -- just in finding a way to view her professional work that isn't "My sister lies about our family for professional gain."

Any input? Are there any literary types on DCUM who can speak to whether this is accepted professional practice?

[Anonymous]

Does she feel that emotionally these things happened? As in, when she writes about being thrown out of the house, did she feel so much rejection from her parents that it was tantamount to being thrown out?

I would let it go, but remind her not to bad-mouth you in her work, otherwise you will spill the beans

[Anonymous]

oh gosh. my mom self-published a book (not saying your sister is self-published). anyway, it had a bunch on non-flattering things about my sister. not saying that a writer has to "clear" their content. but as a family issue, it caused a permanent rift from my sister's perspective. (not from my mom's perspective, b/c my sister is too polite to constantly be mad about it, and my mom is too clueless as a mom to get it.) it seems to me that as a poet, your sister could mention in her various PR opportunities that she's taken a little liberal, artistic license here and there.

[Anonymous]

Just be glad she's a published poet and not mooching off you or your parents. What are the odds of that?

[Anonymous]

Let her earn a living.

[Anonymous]

She's cut from a different cloth. She knows she has talent, doesn't mind using it to better her circumstance - truth and feelings/family relationships be dam*ed. Not so different really from tell-all books from political children or life stories of politicians -families & stories used/manufactured for an audience. If she really cared about your feelings above her own success she would not write from personal experience. But that's what writers do. Of course they do.

[Anonymous]

Meh, I don't get the big deal, OP.

She is a poet, not a reporter. No reason to think she is misrepresenting the truth of your life because, wait for it, she is a poet, not a reporter.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who can make money doing anything is amazing. Your SIL making shit up and making money, leave it. I think you understand she lives in a different world you do.

[Anonymous]

From Wikipedia:

"You Can't Go Home Again is a novel by Thomas Wolfe published posthumously in 1940, extracted from the contents of his vast unpublished manuscript The October Fair.

The novel tells the story of George Webber, a fledgling author, who writes a book that makes frequent references to his home town of Libya Hill. The book is a national success but the residents of the town, unhappy with what they view as Webber's distorted depiction of them, send the author menacing letters and death threats."

[Anonymous]

If she's writing poetry, I don't think anyone assumes that everything she writes is factual. Poetry, even confessional poetry, is still fiction. It's pretty normal for people writing fiction based on their own lives to change things in order to convey the feeling or message or story that they want to tell.

And who cares if she "gets credit" for having had experiences she didn't have? If you're asked about an event, you can say that it didn't really happen, but that you admire your sister's talent for conveying emotional truths (or whatever).

[Anonymous]

I dunno. When a poet overtly claims to be writing autobiographical material, then I assume it's more or less true. I don't assume s/he has taken real life and then jumped off into fictional accounts and big fictional life events. I'd be a little irked if I were you, OP. Maybe get her the Thomas Wolfe book for her birthday!

[Anonymous]

"She is a poet, not a reporter"

+

[Anonymous]

Hopefully she becomes famous enough, so you can write a tell all book about her and her work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister is a published poet and makes her living in the poetry field. Much of her work is written in the first person and based in part on real experiences, including family experiences. She has published poems about childhood vacations, fights with our parents, some medical scares I had, etc. But, the key details are fictional and exaggerated -- e.g., the romantic experience she had on that vacation (not possible), the time our parents threw her out of the house (they never did), the severity of my medical issues (not as described), etc.

I do understand that this is art, not reporting, and that the factual scenario is not the point of the poem. On the other hand, she presents these events as true and seems to get "credit" in her social and professional circles for having had these experiences. I want to support her work and buy her books, but I'm not sure how to react when I read or hear something that rings so false to me. I'm not interested in calling her out or upsetting her career -- just in finding a way to view her professional work that isn't "My sister lies about our family for professional gain."

Any input? Are there any literary types on DCUM who can speak to whether this is accepted professional practice?

Writers are liars, my dear, surely you know that by now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she's writing poetry, I don't think anyone assumes that everything she writes is factual. Poetry, even confessional poetry, is still fiction. It's pretty normal for people writing fiction based on their own lives to change things in order to convey the feeling or message or story that they want to tell.

And who cares if she "gets credit" for having had experiences she didn't have? If you're asked about an event, you can say that it didn't really happen, but that you admire your sister's talent for conveying emotional truths (or whatever).

You can say that you admire your sister's gift with words, but that her work is more truthy than true.