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The Walrus
The Walrus
Various Contributors

20 Years of The Walrus: Memoirs

Over the past twenty years, The Walrus has been a steady bellwether of must-read writing. For our 20th anniversary, we’ve collected works that still surprise us, impress us, move us.

Here are some of the best memoirs that we’ve published.



Mon Ami, Vice

BY DENI ELLIS BÉCHARD
Happiness is a sold gun



We Want a Black Poem

BY AUSTIN CLARKE
In search of an interview with James Baldwin, a young Canadian immigrant experiences the intensity of Harlem in the 1960s—and ultimately finds Malcolm X



My Life and Death on Opioids

BY CHRIS WILLIE
In November 2017, The Walrus started working with Chris Willie on a memoir about his fentanyl addiction. While writing the article, Willie died from an overdose. This version of his story is published with his family’s approval



How I Remember My Brothers

BY TROY SEBASTIAN / NUPQU ʔA·Kǂ AM̓
Growing up, I never knew two of my brothers—but I could picture them




Playing God

BY RICHARD KELLY KEMICK
I sold my wife’s clothes to build a Christmas village in my parents’ basement



When My Wife Developed Alzheimer’s, the Story of Our Marriage Kept Us Connected

BY STEPHEN TRUMPER
To prepare for a future of losing her, bit by bit, I began reciting a love letter



The Truth about Wanting to Die

BY ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY
Suicide is scary and messy and exhausting, Anna Mehler Paperny writes in her new book. And we need to be far more honest about it




After Two Decades on Antidepressants, Who Am I?

BY EMILY LANDAU
I was diagnosed with a mental illness at age eleven and joined one of the first generations to grow up on prescription pills

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