Communing With Ghosts

By Dallas Woodburn

Why do I write nonfiction? To commune with ghosts.

As a young girl through my teen years, I kept a journal. I addressed each entry not “Dear Diary” but “Dear Auden.” Auden was my paternal grandmother who died when I was five. She was the first ghost I attempted to understand and keep close through writing. Spilling out my dreams, frustrations and heartbreak on those lined journal pages felt like I was confiding in her.

The first personal essays I wrote were abo...