Episode 162: Dimity McDowell on Creative Identities

About this episode

Dimity McDowell discusses the intersection of creative identity and personal change after her transition from running to writing.

For thirty years, Dimity McDowelll made a life–and a living–with running and writing about running. Then, for health reasons, she had to stop. In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk with Dimity about how our creative identity is linked with other identities and what to do when that radically changes. We discuss her new book The Twenty-Seventh Mile: How to Smooth the Rough Transition out of Your Running Years , and the difference between writing a book with a partner and writing alone. We talk about embodied writing, the importance of empathy when incorporating other people’s stories, and the challenges of writing about loss. Before focusing her career on running, Dimity McDowell was a sports journalist, holding staff positions at Self , ESPN: The Magazine , and Sports Illustrated for Women . She co-authored three running books ( Run Like a Mother, Train Like a Mother , and Tales from Another Mother Runner ) and co-founded Another Mother Runner , an inclusive community for all female runners, with Sarah Bowen Shea. A personal trainer and running coach, she has finished countless races, including Ironman Coeur d’Alene and the Pike’s Peak Half Marathon. Dimity is the mother of…

People in this episode

Host: Christie Aschwanden

Guest: Dimity McDowell

Topics covered

• creative identity
• writing
• running
• loss
• empowerment
• transition

Keywords

• Dimity McDowell
• creative identity
• running
• writing
• loss
• The Twenty-Seventh Mile
• Another Mother Runner

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Self, ESPN: The Magazine, Sports Illustrated for Women, Another Mother Runner

Books & works: The Twenty-Seventh Mile: How to Smooth the Rough Transition out of Your Running Years

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