“The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus” by Margaret Atwood is a book that confirmed what I already believed, an excellent way for a book to get your attention.

Atwood was asked to reinterpret an ancient myth as part of the Canongate Myth Series.  She takes the story of the Odyssey, especially the end when Odysseus returns home after 20 years to reclaim his kingdom that has been managed by his faithful wife, Penelope, and rewrites it from the women’s point of view. We get a glimpse of what life could have been for Penelope and her maids in that culture. Atwood explores issues of gender, class, and politics to address the disparity between what Penelope’s point of view would have been and the tale written about the famous exploits of her husband.

Being born with the Penelope moniker I’ve always been disturbed by the interpretation of the name as “faithful wife”.  It just seems so subservient, too secondary for my personality.  Atwood imagines how Penelope would have been the mistress of the kingdom and sustained it even without the protection of her man. This I could relate to.

Penelope is also a weaver.  The story goes that she would choose a suitor (Odysseus was presumed dead) when she finished weaving a shroud for her father-in-law. She wove during the day and had her maids unweave at night thereby putting off making a decision.  I was a weaver for 25 years – self-fulfilling prophecy?

And now I am the weaver of stories at Odyssey Storytelling. I chose the name to signify a long journey of one’s own invention.  My job is to facilitate people reimagining their lives by telling their true stories in front of an audience.  Atwood and I have the same goals, just different media.

This story first appeared in the “Books that Made a Difference” section of the Arizona Jewish Post on Sept. 3, 2010.

Journalist Sheila Wilensky has a gift.  Her in-depth interviews get right to the core of who her subjects really are and, as the assistant editor of the Arizona Jewish Post (AJP), she’s had lots of opportunities to sharpen her listening and writing skills.  Now Sheila is bringing her talents to the general public with her new business, Spinning Family Stories: Writing Your Life.

Her flyer explains that she can “weave a narrative from your life into a chapter / book / work of art” with photographs, illustrations, digital stories, or a memory quilt  “based on in-depth, friendly interviews”.  Anyone who has wanted to write an autobiography or the story of their family but is daunted by the task and doubts their abilities would benefit from this service.  Sheila can craft a creative, witty, literary legacy of their life stories by asking questions that people haven’t been asked before that really makes them think about the story.  She says, “My favorite thing that readers have told me about my AJP profiles is “You really got it right.”

Our lives are all interesting to our families — what they don’t know about us, what they think they know but got wrong. I want to “spin” well-written — even literary — witty, insightful stories of people’s lives. Not the chronological boring stuff that you often see in family histories. I want readers to stop, maybe even gasp, and say, “Hot damn, that’s what it was like.”

Sheila has more than 35 years experience as a writer, editor, high school social studies teacher and owner of Oz Books, the oldest children’s bookstore in Maine, from 1982-1997. Besides the AJP she has been published in Publishers Weekly, New England Reading Journal, Bangor Daily News, Tucson Weekly, Zocalo and other publications.

You can contact her at sheilawilensky@gmail.com to find out more about writing your life.  Or become a fan of Spinning Family Stories on Facebook.