AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Linda Murphy Marshall

​Linda Murphy Marshall is a multi-linguist and writer with a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing. Her memoir, Ivy Lodge: A Memoir of Translation and Discovery received a starred review from Kirkus. Her writing has been published or is forthcoming numerous publications, including The Los Angeles Review, The Catamaran Literary Reader, The Ocotillo Review, The Blue Earth Review, Maryland Literary Review, Under the Gum Tree, Critical Read, American Writers Review, Bacopa Literary Review, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Sip Cup, Hobo Camp Review, Mom Egg Review and elsewhere. In addition, she is a Trustee for the National Museum of Language, a docent at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and served as Translation Editor at the Los Angeles Review. She is putting the final touches on her second memoir: Through the Window of Languages: A Memoir.

​In her work as a language analyst and translator, she worked with over fifteen languages. Working as an African language specialist, she co-authored a book on Xhosa, a South African “click” language, and acted as a consultant on another book on another South African “click” language, Sotho. In addition, she made over a dozen work trips to the continent of Africa and has visited/stayed in every continent but Antarctica.

Q: What made you write this book?
Answer: My parents had recently died and, in going through their home — my childhood home (Ivy Lodge) — I realized that I was “translating” many events of my childhood differently than when they were alive. Using my skills as a translator, I re-translated those events, using memories evoked by the house itself and by many of the objects in that house. I came up with a completely different “translation” of my life.

Q: What can readers learn from this book?
Answer: I think readers can learn that each of us needs to discover our own “truth,” that who others say we are is often erroneous, that they may have their own personal agendas for labeling us, and that, ultimately, we get to decide who we are without the interference of others’ opinions, often a difficult task after a lifetime of indoctrination.

Q: What was your writing process like?
Answer: Ivy Lodge began as a 10-page essay, an assignment I submitted to the Iowa Summer Writers’ Festival. Writing that essay provided me with new insights, with a new way of looking at my past, and I felt compelled to continue, to write the truth of my life.

Q: Did you learn anything from writing this book?
​Answer: I learned my own truth and I was able to elevate my self-confidence in the process, but I was also able to look at my parents more charitably, to acknowledge that they were battling their own demons and had their own challenges, challenges which affected the way they raised my siblings and me.

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Visit Linda on her website: 
lindamurphymarshall.com

LINK for BOOK:
https://www.amazon.com/Ivy-Lodge-Memoir-Translation-Discovery/dp/1647423678
MEDIA & REVIEWS:
https://lindamurphymarshall.com/media/