Reimagining Community Speaker Series: Nellie Hermann

Oct. 8, 2015 | 7 p.m. | 2452 Knauss Hall, WMU

“Creative Writing and the Capacity for Empathy”

Nellie Hermann is Creative Director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. Her first novel, “The Cure for Grief” (Scribner: 2008), received national acclaim and was chosen as a Target “Breakout” book. Hermann’s short story, “Can We Let the Baby Go?” won first prize in Glimmer Train’s 2008 “Family Matters” competition and was published in the Winter, 2010 issue. Her latest novel about the early life of Vincent van Gogh, “The Season of Migration”, was published by FSG in January 2015, and was a New York Times editor’s choice.

In this discussion Nellie Herman will talk about the use of creative writing and narrative to enhance our capacity for understanding and empathy in the clinical encounter.