Dead Parents Society Jamie-Lee Josselyn

Stephen Fried (@stephen_fried), a journalist, author of many books, and adjunct faculty member at Columbia and Penn joins Jamie-Lee to read and discuss his essay, "Dead Fathers Society," from his 2007 collection Husbandry. Stephen and Jamie-Lee discuss the nature of these respective societies and how not everyone who has lost a parent wants to tell the story of it. They also discuss teaching writing, Stephen's course Writing About Mental Health and Addiction, and how they approach student writers who are facing difficult material.

Michelle Chikaonda (@machikaonda), a nonfiction writer from Malawi currently living and working in Philadelphia, joins Jamie-Lee and brilliant pal Izzy Lopez to read and discuss her essay, "Song for My Father" from The Pennsylvania Gazette. Michelle elaborates on the role that faith and music played in her life with her father and following his death from cancer. Michelle also reflects on the essay and grief generally amidst Covid-19. You can read more of Michelle's writing at https://www.michellechikaonda.work/.

This episode is the audio recording from a virtual event held at the Kelly Writers House on November 18, 2020, featuring Hope Edelman, author of the new book The AfterGrief, as well as the widely successful and impactful book Motherless Daughters, and seven other nonfiction books. Hope and Jamie-Lee discuss Hope's process in writing and structuring The AfterGrief, how the book encourages those who've experienced loss to think critically about their own stories over time, and the way the Covid-19 pandemic impacted Hope and the book as she completed it. This event was sponsored by Penn's Creative Writing Program.

Taylor Hosking (@Taylor__Hosking), a culture journalist and podcast producer, joins Jamie-Lee to discuss her recent piece from The Guardian about how she turned to fellow women of color after her mother's death from Covid-19. They discuss the recent, ongoing nature of this loss in combination with the collective grief that so many are feeling in the wake of the pandemic and how this affected Taylor's approach to writing her piece. Additionally, they discuss the approaches Taylor has adopted from the women she interviewed, and more. You can find more from Taylor at https://www.taylormhosking.com/.

Isabella Simonetti, a current student at the University of Pennsylvania and the President of The Daily Pennsylvanian, joins Jamie-Lee for DPS's first Zoom episode. They discuss the writing Isabella has produced in an independent study at Penn about her mother's death from breast cancer, and how the scope of this work changed when the semester suddenly went remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gianna DeMedio, host of the podcast and blog So Sorry for Your Loss, joins Jamie-Lee to read and discuss her essay "Sixty-Three," about her discovery that several members of her family died at the same age, as well as the ordinary rituals of grief like a visit to the cemetery. She and Jamie-Lee discuss the notion of legacy, the community that comes through writing and podcasting about grief, and more, including how both Gianna and Jamie-Lee reacted to the recent deaths of Kobe Bryant and his daughter.