Mariel Hemingway is one of the foremost advocates of mental health awareness in this day and age. She has been consistently sharing the optimism and promise of life with a world swimming more and more through dire straits.

As the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, she has a total grasp on the importance of staying positive and living healthy because of what her family has experienced.

But now she has done something new her prolific grandfather would be proud of – she has created a book club – Mariel Hemingway’s Book Club.

 

I was able to catch up with Mariel to find out more about her newly launched book club:

DC Life Magazine: How’s everything been for you lately?

Mariel Hemingway: Amazing and super busy.

DC: Why did you create Mariel Hemingway’s Book Club and how does it work?

MH: I work with Mindstir media on writing forewords and doing PR videos for books that don’t necessarily make it to the NYTimes bestseller list (or other) and the book club is an opportunity for people to have me read your book and determine whether or not it should be on the list. Look, as you know writing a book is hard work and it is often the pouring out of one’s soul but sometimes that hard work goes unseen. I just think that with an opportunity to work with Mindstir media, you have a chance for that book to get promoted and read. In the world of technology that is a lot. The book club enhances that ability to get your hard work and vision read by more people.

Mindstir and I have teamed up with publishers weekly too, so there is a vetting process for the books that go into the club worthy of recognition. If someone is interested in the club you go to Mindstirmedia.com and click to read about the book club.

DC: Did you feel something was missing in the reader’s market to have launched this project?

MH: I know that there are not enough resources for books these days. I want people to read and have an opportunity to read all kinds of different literature and nonfiction and even self-help. BOOKS BOOKS READ READ  … my grandfather Ernest Hemingway said that to write one needs to read and I say one needs to read to keep their brain in tune and functioning throughout your lifetime.

DC: What kind of books do you look for? 

MH: I don’t look for things in particular but I have a tendency to love anything that tells a daunting family story, one that reflects any kind of mental health struggle because of my work with The Mariel Hemingway Foundation. MHF is a foundation that will help people across the world find resources in their area to meet their personal mental health needs. Right now we are hosting a podcast to highlight mental Health called Out Comes The Sun podcast… which is taken from my own memoir Out Came The Sun, where I wrote about my struggles with depression and the many suicides in my family.

DC: Mariel Hemingway’s Book Club is unique in that it accepts submissions from independently and traditionally published authors alike, is that right?

MH: Exactly. We want to be able to have an option for people that have self or independently published that aren’t good at this new social media world we currently live in and need some extra push for their books.

DC: Should we go ahead and tell Oprah there’s a new book club on the block?

MH: Absolutely… step back there’s a new book club in town (laughs).

Follow Mariel Hemingway’s book club on Instagram: @marielhemingwaysbookclub