Asked to write an introduction for our conversation, I scanned the piece for the line that so impacted me as to take a deep dive into her oeuvre. I found Brittany Ackerman ’ s piece “ Mia ’ s Birthday ” in Forever Magazine in the summer of 2021, in the midst of an intolerably painful breakup for which I was wholly to blame.
Elements Contest 2018: Character | Dialogue Setting. “Told in simple, spare language, Ackerman’s story is powerful not only for the story it tells, but also for the eloquent silences and chronological ruptures that symbolize the painfully fractured nature of her life and that of her brother. Her prose is accessible and affecting, and her family story is exquisite in its luminous detail and intimacy, full of heartbreak and humor.” ―Davy Rothbart, author of My Heart is an Idiot, creator of FOUND Magazine, and contributor to This American Life “ instantly engaging and wildly engrossing memoir. an exquisite chronicle of family and trauma and hope and longing, and announces Brittany Ackerman as an exciting new voice in letters.” -Alan Heathcock, author of VOLT and 40 “Full of hard-won wisdom, beautifully written and deeply moving. The project has been one giant experiment-to see if they can all make it out alive. The preparation has been “in the field” in that it is built upon the gathering of lived experience the evidence is photo albums, family interviews, and anecdotes from friends. The collection has been a science project in its study of memory, in the calculation and plotting of the moments that make up a childhood. 
Inspired by a brother’s high school science project-a perpetual motion machine that could save the world- The Perpetual Motion Machine is a memoir in essays that attempts to save a sibling by depicting the visceral pain that accompanies longing for some past impossibility. A memoir exploring a young woman’s troubled childhood, her bond with her older brother, and the toll of drugs and alcohol on their lives.
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