Wildly precious time: Poet Matthew Dickman on suicide and mending
In this talk and reading, poet Matthew Dickman speaks eloquently about the often taboo subject of suicide. He says he can’t offer an answer to the question, why do people commit suicide?
Instead, he shares what he has learned from the suicides of his brother Darin and close friends, what he has learned from research and what other poets have written.
Matthew Dickman received the May Sarton Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Guggenheim award. He is the author of “All-American Poem,” “50 American Plays” (co-written with his twin brother Michael Dickman) and “Mayakovsky’s Revolver.” His poems have appeared in McSweeney’s, Ploughshares, and the New Yorker. Dickman is the poetry editor of Tin House Magazine. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Dickman spoke at the temporary location of Seattle’s Hugo House on June 29. His reading was presented in partnership with the Bagley Wright Lecture Series in Poetry.
Please note: This recording contains graphic language and details about suicide.
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John O'Brien
Senior Producer, All Things Considered
John O’Brien is KUOW's All Things Considered Senior Producer. He spends his days setting up interviews with newsmakers on subjects from politics and public health to arts and culture. John learned to make radio starting in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds.
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