2020 has been a shithole of a year. Many people have lost loved ones, and have been unable to partake in the cultural rituals that we normally use to share our love and support for each other. Some of us may be processing losses of people or expectations from before this year: a changed world is as much a cause for mourning as the loss of a beloved. There is no timeline on grief, we live with it every day. However, we don’t have to experience it alone.
The Next Chapter reading group will use poetry, fiction, essays, and graphic narratives to explore the grieving process. We meet monthly, via Zoom, to discuss constellations of readings, rather than a particular set reading. The virtual meeting will also be supplemented with a discussion forum where members can post articles, essays, art, their own reflections or anything they find useful in this ongoing healing process. The Next Chapter hopes to provide a small step in the continual healing process.
Tickets are available here!
These are the readings you might like to try for November.
These were the readings for October.
Adult Grief by Louise Glück
These were the readings for September.
Mid-Term Break by Seamus Heaney
These were the readings for August.
and Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson
Coping with mortality: An essay on self-mourning by Thomas Attig, from Death
Studies, 13:4, 361-370, DOI: 10.1080/07481188908252314
Singing Death: Why Music and Grief Go Hand in Hand by Helen Maree Hickey and Helen Dell
The Wayward Girls' Book Club 