In Person: A Conversation with Juliet Patterson and Chris Stedman as part of The Literary Witness Series

Join authors Juliet Patterson (Sinkhole), and Chris Stedman (Unread Podcast) as they commemorate International Suicide Awareness Day with a reading and conversation. All grieve the loss of loved ones and search for meaning in different ways. Both authors turned to investigative practices as they moved through the shock and loss of losing a loved one to suicide.

In this conversation, Juliet and Chris will explore the role of investigation and documentation in their grief process and creative life. We look forward to having you join us for this evening of rich literature and conversation.

This event is presented in partnership with the Literary Witness Reading Series. Books will be sold by Subtext Books.

More about the authors:

Juliet Patterson is the author of Sinkhole, as well as two collections of poems, Threnody and The Truant Lover, a finalist for the Lambda Award. Her poems and essays have appeared widely. She has received fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Minneapolis-based Institute for Community Cultural Development. Her other awards include the Arts & Letters Susan Atefat Prize in nonfiction and the Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize. She lives in Minneapolis.

Chris Stedman is a writer, activist, and professor who teaches in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN. He is the author of two books, IRL and Faitheist, and the creator and host of Unread, named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by The Guardian, Vulture, HuffPost, Mashable, and the CBC, and honored by the 2022 Webby Awards. Additionally, Chris has written popular essays for outlets including The Atlantic, Pitchfork, BuzzFeed, VICE, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Washington Post. Previously the founding director of the Yale Humanist Community and a fellow at Yale University, he also served as a humanist chaplain at Harvard University. In 2018, Augsburg selected Chris for their annual First Decade Award, which recognizes alumni “who have made significant progress in their professional achievements and contributions to the community” ten years after graduating.