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

Episode 23: Michelle Chikaonda on "Song for my Father"

Feb 19th, 2021 1h 26m

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. Mic

Episode 22: Hope Edelman on The AfterGrief

Dec 24th, 2020 1h 11m

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 Daughte

Episode 21: Taylor Hosking on Covid loss and support from women of color

Dec 3rd, 2020 49m 47s

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 r

Episode 20: Isabella Simonetti's reflection on writing about loss during a pandemic

May 29th, 2020 47m 37s

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 a

Episode 19: Gianna DeMedio on "Sixty-Three" and So Sorry For Your Loss

Mar 9th, 2020 1h 3m

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 gr

Episode 18: DPS featured on "Live at the Writers House" on WXPN

Dec 10th, 2019 56m 31s

This special episode of Dead Parents Society was recorded before a live audience at the Kelly Writers House and aired on WXPN, the public radio station at the University of Pennsylvania, in November 2019. Hosted as always by Jamie-Lee Josselyn,

Episode 17: Rachel Levy Lesser on "Hair Pulled Back in a Twilly"

Nov 5th, 2019 56m 31s

Rachel Levy Lesser, author of Life's Accessories: A Memoir and Fashion Guide, joins Jamie-Lee and Darcy Walker Krause, Executive Director of the Uplift Center for Grieving Children. The three of them discuss an essay from Rachel's new collectio

Episode 16: Molly O'Neill on "Parts of a Life""

Sep 13th, 2019 41m 42s

Molly O'Neill, a Los Angeles-based yoga instructor, writer, and longtime friend of the Kelly Writers House community reads from her essay "Parts of a Life" from YogaPoetica.com and discusses the piece with Jamie-Lee and DPS brilliant pal Anna S

Episode 15: Solomon Mussing on "Letter to My Father"

Aug 8th, 2019 1h 1m

Solomon Mussing, who also goes by the name L'Hussen Toure, an alum of the Summer Workshop for Young Writers at the Kelly Writers House, talks with Jamie-Lee about his piece "Letter to My Father," a memoir in the style of direct-address that he

Episode 14: Anna Strong Safford on "because my memories"

Jul 2nd, 2019 44m 15s

In our Season 2 premiere, Anna Strong Safford, instructor and curriculum specialist at Penn, joins Jamie-Lee and DPS brilliant pal Molly O'Neill to read and discuss her poem "because my memories" from her manuscript bled. Anna's poem inspires a

Episode 13: Rebecca Soffer of Modern Loss

Dec 20th, 2018 1h 2m

Rebecca Soffer, co-author of the book Modern Loss and co-founder of ModernLoss.com, joins Jamie-Lee and others in the Kelly Writers House garden for a live reading and conversation about writing about grief, the community that comes from it, an

Episode 12: John Culhane on "Little Mirrors of Mortality"

Oct 15th, 2018 1h 4m

Slate.com contributor and Widener Law professor John Culhane joins Jamie-Lee and Maya to read and discuss his piece "Little Mirrors of Mortality," which is from the perspective of a parent realizing his mortality in his children's eyes. Our usu

Episode 11: Arielle Brousse on "Grief Beach"

Sep 24th, 2018 1h 1m

Arielle Brousse, author of the TinyLetter "Grief Beach" joins Jamie-Lee, Maya, and Sabrina to discuss how she came to write a weekly letter to friends and others about her difficult year of loss and how the form of a TinyLetter has impacted her

Episode 10: Jamie-Lee Josselyn on "When News of a Suicide Comes During Memoir Class"

Sep 4th, 2018 52m 35s

Bassini Apprentices Maya Arthur and Sabrina Qiao interview Jamie-Lee Josselyn on her essay, "When News of a Suicide Comes During Memoir Class" from LitHub in September 2016. They discuss how personal history and the writing that comes from it c

Episode 9: Jess Bergman on "The Difficult Business of Dying"

Aug 15th, 2018 1h 10m

Jess Bergman (@jesslbergman), Features Editor at Literary Hub, joins Jamie-Lee, Maya, and Sabrina to discuss her essay "The Difficult Business of Dying" from The New Republic in December 2017. In the essay, Jess weaves together her own experien

Episode 8: Catherine Ricketts on "Eloquent Limbs" and "Books to be Buried In"

Jul 26th, 2018 1h 1m

Essayist and songwriter Catherine Ricketts (http://catherinedanaricketts.com/) joins Jamie-Lee, Maya, and Sabrina to discuss her essay "Eloquent Limbs" and her song "Books to be Buried In," which she also performs. Cat, who joined us for our li

Episode 7: Victoria Ford on "Elegy for Clitoris"

Jul 10th, 2018 1h 21m

The poet and essayist Victoria Newton Ford joins Jamie-Lee, Maya, and Sabrina to discuss her poem "Elegy for Clitoris" from Connotation Press. Victoria has said that she writes "to tell the truth, and the truth is often hideous. And though it f

Episode 6: Scott Gould and Jamie-Lee Josselyn on the pedagogy of writing about difficult experience

Jun 25th, 2018 1h 10m

Jamie-Lee talks with the writer Scott Gould, who is the director of creative writing at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, about how he approaches working with high school students who are facing difficult persona

Episode 5: Jamie-Lee Josselyn and Kristen Martin on Hope Edelman's "Motherless Daughters"

Jun 18th, 2018 49m 48s

Jamie-Lee Josselyn (@jljosselyn) and Kristen Martin (@kwistent) discuss Hope Edelman's 1994 book Motherless Daughters, which has remained successful in the more than 2 decades since its release. Jamie-Lee and Kristen, whose mothers died from su

Episode 4: Kristen Martin on "Don't Cover Your Eyes"

May 31st, 2018 55m 57s

Sabrina Qiao, Maya Arthur, and Jamie-Lee Josselyn gather with Kristen Martin (@kwistent) to discuss her essay "Don't Cover Your Eyes," from Catapult in 2016. Kristen's essay inspires conversation about how a television show -- in this case, HBO

Episode 3: Gabriel Ojeda-Sague on Where Everything Is In Halves

May 14th, 2018 55m 20s

Jamie-Lee Josselyn gathers with Emily Harnett (@therealeharnett) and Maya Arthur (@maya_s_arthur) to discuss Where Everything Is In Halves by Gabriel Ojeda-Sague (@hadeejasouffle) published by Be About It Press. Gabe reads a selection from the

Episode 2: Recorded live from Kelly Writers House

Apr 30th, 2018 1h 25m

This episode was recorded live at the Kelly Writers House on April 16, 2018 at Dead Parents Society's Beltran Family Teaching Award Program. Jamie-Lee hosts the writers Catherine Ricketts, Seth Laracy, Mingo Reynolds, Isabella Simonetti, and An

Episode 1: Emily Harnett on "When Art Cannot Console Us in Death"

Apr 16th, 2018 54m 45s

Jamie-Lee Josselyn (@jljosselyn) gathers with Gabriel Ojeda-Sague (@hadeejasouffle) and Sabrina Qiao to discuss "When Art Cannot Console Us in Death" by Emily Harnett (@therealeharnett) from Literary Hub. Emily reads the piece and then joins in

Rate