TNM Talks: Shannon Luders-Manuel in Conversation with TNM Founder Shari Foos

About Shannon Luders-Manuel: Shannon Luders-Manuel is a writer and sensitivity reader whose memoir, The One Who

Loves You: A Memoir of Growing Up Biracial in a Black and White World, is forthcoming in February 2025 from Lawrence Hill Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press.

Shannon’s book artfully details her experience growing up mixed-race with her white family in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s and ‘90s, and her complicated relationship with her absent Black father who struggled with alcohol addiction. The book intimately explores her quest for identity and belonging with her father, her family, her partners, and the evangelical church, culminating in taking care of her father in hospice when she was 24.

Shannon holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written extensively about race, with bylines in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the LA Review of Books, among others. Her 2015 For Harriet essay, “What It Means to Be Mixed Race During the Fight for Black Lives," was shared over 50,000 times on Facebook. She was a featured writer at the 2014 Mixed Remixed Festival in Los Angeles and presented her master’s thesis at the Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference in Chicago in 2012.

Shannon Luders-Manuel works as a sensitivity reader for major publishers, providing feedback on Black and mixed-race characters and issues. She is also a certified DEI content reviewer for Pearson. Shannon lives in Los Angeles.

Those who join in TNM online sessions should familiarize themselves with our participation disclaimer and agreement at https://www.thenarrativemethod.org/tnm-disclaimer

How It Works (1-hour Sessions):

INTRODUCTION & INSPIRATION:

• A TNM facilitator sets up the session, including group agreements and the TNM Core Concept of the week.

WRITING:

• The facilitator shares a photo and the first prompt. You're invited to use prompts as a starting point and take them anywhere your imagination leads in any style, any voice. The only parameter is to keep it to 1 page or 500 words.
• Next, you'll get a second prompt to weave into your piece and tie it all together.

BREAKOUT GROUPS:

• After the writing, you are randomly assigned to small breakout groups with other participants.
• Everyone takes turns reading their piece without stopping for conversation or feedback. Simple acknowledgments such as "Thank you for sharing." are welcome. While each person shares, focus on witnessing without judgment.
• After everyone has shared, feel free to discuss your process, the TNM Core Concept and prompt or share about something else that's going on with you that may be relevant to the TNM experience. Speak for yourself only and refrain from giving advice or asking probing questions.
• NOTE: If someone in your group shares something deeply personal and may be in distress, please ask them if they are okay in this moment and don't hesitate to send a direct message to the TNM facilitator.

GROUP SHARE:

• In the final minutes, the group comes together to share their thoughts about their experience, answer questions, go deeper and have fun!

Salon Guidelines:

MUTUAL RESPECT

Remain aware and conscientious of your choice of words and tone. Please do not ask personal questions or give advice. Hate speech or hurtful behavior, regardless of the context will not be tolerated and will lead to immediate removal from the session.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Confidentiality is essential. What is said in the group must stay here. We do not record these sessions and will not tolerate any recording, transcribing, repeating others' stories or otherwise infringing on the rights and privacy of others.

CAMERAS ON

To ensure that everyone feels comfortable sharing their stories and their feelings, we require everyone to have their cameras on during sessions, except while writing. If you do not comply you will be removed from the session.

LISTENING

When listening to others' stories, put yourself aside so you can hear others from their perspective, without your own assumptions getting in the way. Your job is only to witness each other with appreciation.