The writer Paula Kamen has had a constant, mostly medium-grade headache for 22 years. In 2005 she published All in My Head, a memoir about her efforts to make it go away and about how she learned, eventually, to deal with the constant pain. The process of creating the book, she says, introduced her to a community of people grappling with the same issues.
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More of them are also writing about it, enough to support a burgeoning literary movement. “It’s not kitschy, and it’s not self-help,” says Stacy Oliver, the assistant director of Northwestern’s Center for the Writing Arts. “What captivates me is that it’s not ‘Oh, poor me,’ but usually ‘It’s fascinating what’s happening to me . . . what is happening to me?’”
The four panelists have a variety of styles and experiences. Edwards is a historian, while Prokopy’s Chronic Babe offers support and encouragement for its readers to, as she writes, “have amazing lives.” Kamen and Wisenberg are more prone to black humor; at one reading, Wisenberg, who had a mastectomy, showed off her artificial nipple, which cost her $45 out-of-pocket because it wasn’t covered by insurance.
With Laurie Edwards, S.L. Wisenberg, and Paula Kamen; moderated by Jenni Prokopy Tue 10/15, 6-7:15 PM Annie May Swift Hall 1920 Campus Dr., Evanstonnorthwestern.edu/writing-arts free
