Embracing the 'New Fire' of Life: Author Alison Wearing's Aztec Wisdom for Your 50s

Host Sherrilynne Starkie welcomes best-selling, multiple award-winning author, playwright and performer Alison Wearing to the 50 Women Over 50 podcast.

Alison’s critically acclaimed book, Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter: Growing up with a Gay Dad, was a National Bestseller and selected as an Indigo “Top 50 Books of 2013.” Her solo play based on this memoir has also won top awards in virtually every festival in which it has appeared.

Alison has lived and traveled all over the world, from the Amazon rainforest to the Middle East and the former Soviet Union to Sri Lanka. She wrote a bestselling memoir, Honeymoon in Purdah, about her journey and provided glimpse into the culture and people of Iran.

Alison is also a memoir writing coach who guides retreats and is the creator and facilitator of Memoir Writing Ink, an online program that guides people through the process of transforming personal stories into memoir.

In this interview she shares what she learned from Aztec culture about life in your 50s. She says, “In Aztec cultural, 52 is called new fire. It's the year of new fire. And when I turned 52, I was living in Mexico, and I had a big birthday party to celebrate the new fire in me. It was very special.”

Alison Wearing
Alison Wearing is a bestselling, multiple award-winning author, playwright, and performer. Her books have been nominated for the RBC Taylor Prize, shortlisted for the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Nonfiction, selected as an Indigo Top Pick, and become national bestsellers. Her essays and stories have been awarded the National Magazine Award Gold Medal, Western Magazine Award 1st Prize, and been a finalist for the Journey Prize. Her numerous theatre awards include Best Dramatic Script at New York City’s United Solo, the largest festival of solo theatre in the world.

Alison is the creator and facilitator of Memoir Writing Ink, an interactive online program that guides people through the process of transforming personal stories into memoir.

Alison was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario. She bolted out of town (and country) at the age of seventeen and spent the next twelve years studying, living and travelling throughout Europe, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, the Amazonian regions of Ecuador and Peru, and across Siberia and Mongolia to China.
• Alison Wearing
• Memoir Writing Ink
• Alison’s Performances
• You could make this place beautiful by Maggie Smith
• The Amy Award
• UNHCR
• Sierra Club
• Tree Canada
• David Suzuki Foundation
• The School of Life
• Alain De Botton
About the 50 Women Over 50 Podcast:
Sherrilynne Starkie started this show as a creative project with the goal of interviewing 50 women past their 50th birthday to learn how they see the world, what lessons they’ve learned and what advice they have for us all. She’s been blogging and podcasting for 18+ years as part of a successful marketing and communications career and loves learning from all the women she interviews. Subscribe to 50 Women Over 50 wherever you get your podcasts and please share it with your friends. Get each weekly episode dropped into your inbox by subscribing here. If you’d like to be one of the 50 Women over 50 featured on this podcast apply by clicking here.

Elevating the voices and stories of women navigating the enriching complexities of midlife, '50 Women Over 50' is an empowering podcast that draws inspiration from the experiences of 50 incredible women.