A Craft Conversation with the Author of Loudmouth
In this episode of Nonfiction Kidlit Craft Conversations, I had the joy of speaking with celebrated nonfiction author Deborah Heiligman, known for her award-winning titles Charles and Emma and Vincent and Theo. Her latest young adult biography, Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story), explores the fiery, complex life of anarchist Emma Goldman. Our conversation with insights about research, story structure, and the art of crafting narrative nonfiction felt like sitting in on a masterclass.
You can watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/ctbExUwTG-0
Falling for Emma Goldman
Deborah began by sharing how she first encountered Emma Goldman—not while researching, but at 19, when a friend’s anarchist boyfriend introduced her to Goldman’s radical ideas. That early spark lingered until decades later, when Deborah felt compelled to write about “another badass woman speaking truth to injustice” after completing She Persisted: Clara Lemlich.
As she put it, Goldman was someone who refused to simply endure injustice:
“Emma didn’t just keep working. She spoke out—and she never stopped speaking.”
That refusal to stay quiet led Deborah toward the book’s eventual framing: Emma Goldman vs. America, a push-pull relationship that Deborah ultimately came to see as a love story.
Hear Deborah explain this evolution at 7:10.
Finding the Story Beneath the History
One of the most remarkable parts of Deborah’s process is her commitment to primary sources first. She intentionally avoids reading other biographies of her subject because she wants to meet her subjects on their own terms—not through someone else’s lens.
For Loudmouth, this meant reading Goldman’s nearly 900-page autobiography, Living My Life, cover to cover before doing anything else. But she doesn’t take standard notes. Instead, she records only what gives her a visceral reaction—her “Oh wow notes.”
“Those initial reactions? Those are what I want to convey to my readers.”
Deborah discusses her “Oh wow” method at 15:20.
Writing the Book Backward (Or, the Magic of Starting in the Middle)
One of my favorite moments of our conversation was when Deborah discussed how she chooses where to begin a biography.
Instead of starting with childhood, she starts at a moment of peak selfhood.
For Emma Goldman, that meant opening with a young Emma standing before a crowd of thousands, delivering an electrifying speech that earned her the derogatory nickname “loudmouth.” Only after that moment does the book circle back to her early years.
Deborah originally considered opening the book with Emma’s deportation from the U.S.—a scene filled with drama and heartbreak. But ultimately, the speech scene felt truer to the question that drove Deborah: Who was this woman, and how did she become the person brave enough to do this?
She unpacks the decision at 26:20.
When History Doesn’t Cooperate
Another favorite moment from the interview is what happened when Deborah discovered a major factual discrepancy that appeared in her primary source: Emma Goldman described seeing the Statue of Liberty as her ship arrived in New York—but the statue wasn’t erected yet.
Deborah used the mistake as an opportunity to “show her work” and to use the error to shine a light on Emma Goldman’s personality.
Rather than omitting the scene, she preserved Emma’s memory and corrected it directly in the text, turning it into a poignant moment about immigrants’ hopes and the power of symbolic memory.
You can hear the full story—including how she “showed her work” inside the narrative—at 33:10.
Scenes, Tension & the Opera of Nonfiction
Deborah’s scenes feel dramatic on the page, and she shared a behind-the-scenes look at how she constructs them.
Her husband—also a writer—once told her that Vincent and Theo felt like an opera.
His advice?
“Write me the arias.”
So she did. And she still does.
Deborah identifies moments that must be in the book—scenes with emotional weight, inherent conflict—and drafts those first. She layers in detail from letters, memoirs, newspapers, and firsthand accounts, always grounded in verifiable fact.
But she never invents details.
Her rule of thumb?
If a detail is universally true of the environment or time period (like stepping over horse manure in Victorian London), she may include it. If it’s personal to the subject (like Darwin leaning on a lamppost), she will not.
Her philosophy on crafting truthful scenes is at 39:00.
Why YA Nonfiction Isn’t “Shorter Adult Nonfiction”
We also discussed how writing young adult nonfiction differs from writing for adults. What Deborah loves about YA is that it allows her to tell the story she wants to tell, rather than striving for the exhaustive, definitive, 800-page academic biography.
She writes narrative nonfiction with pacing, tension, and emotional stakes—books that teens (and adults) want to read.
“I’m a storyteller, not a scholar. That’s been on my wall since Vincent and Theo.”
Her reflections on YA vs. adult nonfiction begin at 45:45.
What She Hopes Readers Carry Forward
When asked what she hopes readers—young or old—take from Loudmouth, Deborah didn’t hesitate:
“I want readers to feel empowered to speak truth to injustice, just like Emma did.”
That spirit of resistance and courage threads through every chapter.
The Incredible Scene That Didn’t Make the Book
Near the end of our conversation, Deborah shared a scene she wanted to include but ultimately cut because it didn’t serve the story: Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman being allowed to shop the treasures of the Czar’s Winter Palace in Russia.
They picked out plates, silver, and linens to furnish the Pullman car Lenin assigned to them.
It’s a great story, but including it would have required a crash course in Russian history that didn’t serve the central story.
You can hear the full behind-the-scenes story at 50:16.
Where to Find Deborah
Deborah is currently on a social media break while she dives into her next book, but you can find more about her work at:
➡️ https://www.deborahheiligman.com
And if you reach out during her break, she welcomes thoughtful emails via her contact page.
If you want to watch the full conversation, you can find it here:
🎥 https://youtu.be/ctbExUwTG-0
