I speak with award winning author Leslie Browning about her experience with miscarriage and how it impacted her mental health, as well as the subsequent depression, anxiety, and her bout with dissociative disorder
Leslie Browning is an award-winning author of twelve books. In her writing, she explores the confluence of the natural landscape and the interior landscape. In 2010, she debuted with a three-title contemplative poetry series. These three books went on to garner several accolades including a total of 3 pushcart-prize nominations, the Nautilus Gold Medal for Poetry, and Foreword Reviews’ Book of the Year Award. She has freelanced for several publications and has a biannual interview column in The Wayfarer Magazine in which she has interviewed dozens of notable creative figures such as Academy Award-Nominated filmmaker Tomm Moore, Peabody-winning host of On Being Krista Tippett and celebrated poet David Whyte. Balancing her passion for writing with her love of learning, Browning is a graduate of the University of London, a Fellow with the International League of Conservation Writers and sits on the Board of the Independent Book Publishers Association. In 2011, she opened Homebound Publications. She is currently working to complete an l.b.a. in Creative Writing at Harvard University’s Extension School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Leslie is joining us today to discuss her new book, To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity. Unlike other books in her library, she wrote it with absolutely no intention of sharing it with others. This book, more than any other she has written, is meant aa conversation starter around a topic that’s important to her and society as a whole. Thus, even as a notoriously private person―she’s sharing the story of her most difficult moments with the world.
In this week's episode I discuss miscarriage with Leslie and how her experience impacted both her mental health and her writing. We discuss stigma, coming out, and how the world needs more stories like hers to be told.