Hope Edelman: “The Law and Ethics of Writing About Real People”

Hope Edelman discusses the difficulty of incorporating real characters and events into fiction and non-fiction. Edelman exposes the “legal aspects and ethical dilemmas” which writers meet with when attempting to create fictional worlds or true accounts out of actual relationships. Edelman advises writers how to interact with potential subjects in order to fully consider each person’s “different relationship with the truth.”

Listen: Hope Edelman: "The Law and Ethics of Writing about Real People"

Hope Edelman (M.A.W., The University of Iowa) is the author of four nonfiction books, including the bestsellers Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss and Motherless Mothers. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Child, Self, Parade, and Real Simple, as well as in the anthologies, The Bitch in the House, Toddler, and Blindsided By a Diaper. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize for creative nonfiction and teaches at Antioch University in Los Angeles. This is her eighth year with the Festival.

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July 19, 2007
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