Gail Papp and Rose Styron Talking Memoirs with Bridget Marmion — A Women’s Media Group Event

GAIL PAPP and ROSE STYRON, two of the most accomplished women in American culture, discuss their memoir writing process, the challenge of writing about lives lived in public, and tips for aspiring memoir writers.

Sponsored by the Women’s Media Group and moderated by marketing pro BRIDGET MARMION, this lively and far-ranging conversation occurred on September 26, 2023 on Zoom. WMG Programming Chair Jane Wesman introduces the participants.

GAIL MERRIFIELD PAPP joined Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival in 1965 and became Director of New Works Development for the Public Theater, working alongside Joe to create a new kind of theater. She was responsible for some of its best-remembered productions including The Normal Heart and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Partners in work and life, Gail Merrifield and Joseph Papp were married in 1976. Gail’s memoir, Public/Private: My Life with Joe Papp at The Public Theater, was published by Applause Books in October 2023.

ROSE STYRON is a poet, journalist, human rights activist, a founding member of Amnesty International USA, a foreign policy advisor, discoverer of Philip Roth, and longtime wife of Bill Styron. Her new memoir, Beyond This Harbor: Adventurous Tales of the Heart was released this summer. Rose currently serves as a Board Member for the Academy of American Poets, the Association to Benefit Children, and The Brain and Creativity Institute at USC. Rose is an overseer for New York University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

WMG member BRIDGET MARMION spent over a decade each at FSG, Random House and Houghton Mifflin, working in editorial, publicity, sales, advertising, and marketing during her career. She now runs a full-service marketing firm, www.bridgetmarmionbookmarketing.com.