Episode 5

Joanna Wolfarth on non-fiction and writing intimate cultural history

Published on: 22nd February, 2023

Joanna Wolfarth is a cultural historian with a PhD in Southeast Asian art history. Her first book Milk: An intimate history of breastfeeding is a fascinating look at the social, historical and cultural contexts for this very personal of experiences, through art, philosophy, folk wisdom and interviews.

Joanna talks about how needing to make sense of the experience of new motherhood, led to a furious dive into the research between feeds and in tiny snatches of time when her baby slept, how motherhood made her fearless when it came to writing and non-fiction that seeks to ask questions, rather than provide all of the answers.

Links

Milk: An intimate history of breastfeeding

Joanna Wolfarth on Instagram @joanna_wolfarth

Penny on Instagram @pennywincer

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About the Podcast

Not Too Busy To Write
Writing amongst life's many other demands
Penny Wincer is not too busy to write. Except of course, sometimes she is too busy to write as much as she would like. Join Penny as she has conversations with other writers about writing, publishing and creativity whilst juggling all the demands on them such as motherhood, caring and other paid work.

Penny Wincer is the author of Tender (Hodder, June 2020), a mother of two, a non-fiction writing coach and an Australian and long-term resident of London. She’s currently writing her second narrative non-fiction book, Home Matters (July 2024) and working on her first novel.

About your host

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Penny Wincer

Penny Wincer is the author of Tender: The Imperfect Art of Caring (Hodder, June 2020) and is a single parent to two kids, one of whom is disabled. She is also a non-fiction book coach and an Australian and long-term resident of London. She’s currently writing her second non-fiction book and working her first novel.