Dear friends,
In the United States May is designated as Mental Health Awareness month—a critical issue, as the stigma associated with mental illness stops people and families from seeking help. The Covid-19 Pandemic has been especially hard—on caregivers, young people, the grieving… The isolation, lost jobs and lost routines have pushed the issue of mental health to the forefront.
May opens the conversation.
Novelist Florence Reiss Kraut and I will be participating in two events this month that address the issues of mental illness raised in our books, where the role of family and the impact on families take center stage.
As some of you know, my memoir, At the Narrow Waist of the World, is a mother daughter story whose central theme is a child’s longing for a mother affected by mental illness. Florence Reiss Kraut worked as a clinician and family therapist for over thirty years and is author of the multi-generational novel, How to Make a Life—a sweeping saga, “an engaging and heartfelt portrayal of intergenerational trauma and hope.” - Kirkus Reviews.
How do families try to “solve” the problem? How do we not lose sight of the fullness and wholeness of the person affected by mental illness or trauma?
We often turn to storytelling to find an openness about this delicate subject.
Please join us on one of these evenings:
Mental Illness in fiction and memoir -Thursday, May 13, 7:30 p.m. ET –Sponsored by the Scarsdale Public Library. Pre-register here.
Out of the Darkness: Stories About Mental Illness in Families – Thursday, May 27, 7:30 p.m. – Sponsored by the Friends of the Edgewater Library, Chicago. Pre-Register here.
About At the Narrow Waist of the World -“With sensitivity and candor, Baraf examines mental illness, immigration, forgiveness and community—all framed within the precarity of her life’s circumstances.” -Ms.Magazine
