Molly Howes is a writer of nonfiction and memoir. Her writing received a Notable Listing in Best American Essays 2015 and has reached finalist rounds in national contests. In 2014, she completed the intensive, yearlong Memoir Incubator Program at Grub Street writers’ center. She is a grateful recipient of fellowships at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ragdale Foundation and MacDowell.
Her publications include the New York Times “Modern Love” column, Boston Globe Magazine, Bellingham Review, The Tampa Review, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, (which she also read on NPR’s “Morning Edition”), Passages North, Emrys Journal and Pangyrus. She has a regular blog at psychologytoday.com called “Make It Right.”
Molly’s new book, A Good Apology: Four Steps to Make Things Right, draws from academic literature and the broader culture to address the nature and importance of making amends. With personal and clinical stories, she illustrates why it’s so hard for most of us to make a meaningful apology and how to do it anyway, using her accessible model. A Good Apology was released in July 2020 by Grand Central Publishing. (Visit Grand Central Publishing/ Hachette Book Group to learn more and to order.)
Her previously completed memoir, The Temporary Orphan: A Tale of Invisible Wounds and Unexpected Grace, tells the story of three years she lived in an orphanage as a child. The book is about a child’s grit and spirit, but also about the costs of her resilience. The Temporary Orphan is a quiet but extraordinary tale of triumph, a story of indomitable hope, grounded by stubborn self-reliance.
Molly Howes’s many years of experience as a clinical psychologist in the Boston area have crucially shaped her sensibilities; rearing children has taught her more.