F240.
Writing with Fire: Poetry and Mental Illness
Friday, February 9, 2024
3:20 pm to 4:35 pm
This panel will explore representations of mental illness in poetry and the complex relationship between mental illness and the artistic temperament. While the “mad poet” archetype is flawed, a poet’s mental state and the poetry they produce are inextricably linked. After reading a sampling of their own work, panelists will share their experiences with writing about mental illness, including a discussion of craft, therapeutic benefits, destigmatizing mental illness, and intersectionality.
Participants
Stevie Edwards is a lecturer at Clemson University and poetry editor of the South Carolina Review. She is the author of Quiet Armor, Sadness Workshop, Humanly, and Good Grief. Her poems appear in Poetry magazine and American Poetry Review. She has an MFA from Cornell and PhD from University of North Texas.
Marlin M. Jenkins studied poetry in University of Michigan's MFA program and is the author of the poetry chapbook Capable Monsters. They currently live and teach in Minnesota.
Eugenia Leigh is a Korean American author of two books of poetry. Poems from her new collection, Bianca, were awarded Poetry's Bess Hokin Prize and have appeared in The Atlantic, The Nation, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. A Kundiman fellow, Eugenia serves as a poetry editor at Adroit Journal.
Danez Smith is the author of three collections, most recently Homie and Don't Call Us Dead, a finalist for the National Book Award. They are the cohost of the podcast VS with poet Franny Choi.
Leila Chatti is the author of Deluge (Copper Canyon Press, 2020) and multiple chapbooks. She teaches in the MFA program at Pacific University and is a provost fellow at the University of Cincinnati.
