grief
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Poetry and a Son’s Death
Finding a way to grieve for the passing of a child is a complicated matter. Poet Edward Hirsch lost his son in 2011, and has just completed a 76-page elegy that will be published in September titled Gabriel. Alec Wilkinson goes…
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Weekend Rumpus Roundup
In the Sunday Interview, Anna March talks with Robin Black about her debut novel, Life Drawing. Black—who also received acclaim for her short story collection, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This—begins by discussing her approach to writing character.…
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Death Rituals and Grief Rituals
Death is messy and time-consuming and exhausting for the survivors. Death is confusing and maddening. At Blunderbuss Magazine, Essay Liu, a Taiwanese writer, documents her father’s death and the rituals in the days following. Translated by Kevin Tang. Day three,…
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The Rumpus Interview with John W. Evans
John W. Evans talks about his memoir Young Widower, which was partly borne from two Rumpus essays, and how to make meaning of something—especially grief and loss—if not through narrative.
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WANTED: DEATH LAMENT
the dog born March 30th who I will find 6 months from now to know what it’s like to hurl myself down the mountain for the wind to blow right through me
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On Loss and “Replacement”
Emily Rapp’s name has appeared frequently on the Rumpus as her book The Still Point of the Turning World came out detailing her and her son Ronan’s experience with Tay-Sachs disease, his ultimate death, and her experiences as a mother.…
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Icefalls
It seemed like nature might be offering up something fraught with emotion, a beautiful image that a writer could imbue with heartbreaking symbolism. But I couldn’t come up with anything. It was just fall, and so the leaves were red.
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Releasing Grief
Following some tumultuous years that included divorce, birth, separation, and her mother’s suicide, Rumpus contributor Gayle Brandeis has written an essay at The Manifest Station where she releases all of that from her body and finally asks the question: How…
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This Man Is Not My Father
I’m sitting across from the man who looks exactly like my father would look if my father had lived to be fifty-seven. If my father hadn’t died sixteen years ago when I was thirteen. But he did.
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The Sunday Rumpus Essay: Proof of Loss
As her new pregnancy progresses, Emily Rapp explores the human choices of survival and happiness after the wreckage.
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The Pot Thrower: Notes on the Death of a Brother
If Charlie had finally lost his focus after all these years, well, no wonder. I’d have lost it after about fifteen minutes wrestling with CF. We had to help him find his resolve again and get back his health, not…