So, prompted by many debates on various internet boards, my own experiences, and the comments of others, particularly on my recent #fridayflash, Twenty-Six Funerals, I have decided to take on the topic of suicide.
I’ve been on both sides. I’ve lost someone very dear to me that way, and I’ve looked it in the face myself. It’s an ugly, horrible, scary place to be. And it’s almost impossible to understand if you haven’t been there. So people hurt. And people get angry. And they get judgmental. And people don’t get the help they need. And people make attempts and… Anyway, it’s hard even for me to articulate in cold, clinical terms this particular issue. So naturally I’ll retreat behind a fog of fiction. 😉
Therefore, I’ve taken on a new project. A collection of flash fiction pieces called Suicide Notes.
At present, I see Twenty-Six Funerals as a prologue to twenty-six first person accounts that address the issue. My next #fridayflash and #teasertuesday will be one of the pieces I’ve already written. If you have thoughts on this project or ideas for how it can be used for prevention advocacy, or to promote understanding or awareness, please comment or email me.
Be well.
Hey, Leah. I don’t know if you remember back in February when a massive row erupted on Year Zero over Daisy’s amazing “Do You hear Voices?” video that featured an excerpt from her novel, Babylon, in which the protagonist attempts suicide.
What emerged (I’ve since done some talking about this with the mental health groups I work wiith – I have a planning meeting for One in Four Magazine next week to discuss articles for 2010-11 – I would love to feature your project – e-mail me if you’re interested) is that there are two very distinct camps. There are those who see the potential damage that, in particular, talk about the specifics of suicide, can do. The statistics for this camp are easily measurable, and seem compelling. On the other hand there are people like Daisy and me who find it imperative to be able to talk – who find being able to read stories and memoirs by people who are or have been (interesting point that came out of a conference I spoke at on mental health and the media is that there is quite a backlash amongst the mentally ill against survivors’ stories, because when you’re at your lowest you can’t imagine ever coming through it – you need to relate more than you need hope) where we are absolutely essential to survival. The problem is the stats for this camp are immeasurable – how do you ever know how many lives have been saved (a mathematical conuncrum that faces the safety industry every day)?
My recent concern with confessional art, and my own book celebrating the horrific, marvellous, messiness of life (life:) razorblades included came out of this debate. Since then I very nearly lost my best friend to suicide, and I am even more determined that it be talked about. eight cuts gallery press is opening its account with two remarkable novels. “Charcoal” by Oli Johns is directly about suicide – it is a series of variations and fugues on the suicide of model Daul Kim. “The Dead Beat” by Cody James (Daisy Anne Gree) has a sublayer of suicide running through the whole work. I’m also bringing out my collection.
I’d like to help with this in any way I can. In particular, I can offer you gallery space for “headspace” the second eight cuts gallery installation, lots of blog coverage, and articles. A piece goes without saying. I would be happy to talk about publication or some other kind of promotion.
Hi Leah. This sounds a really worthwhile project and I will be really interested to see how you get on with it and to read the finished result. Am going to read your flash now. All the best.
Hi Leah,
I wish you all the best with the project – as a piece of art alone it sounds amazing, irrespective of the advocacy/awareness it may bring. In my playwriting days I wrote a series of 6 short plays about teen-suicide and recently adapted one of them into a short story for an anthology. It’s a vital subject to approach through art (although I don’t believe there are any subjects beyond tackling) and permeates much of my work having had some experience of its immediate aftermath.
All the best and I shall be reading each #fridayflash posting eagerly, because I know how hard this subject is to nail down.
Thanks for the great comments, guys. Dan, I totally agree with what you said about “when you’re at your lowest you can’t imagine ever coming through it – you need to relate more than you need hope.” It’s a large part of what motivates me to write these. I know that feeling.
And, too, having been there and survived it, it was such a healing experience with regard to the friend I’d lost, to look at it and know how she must have felt. It’s something I would love for people to get just a glimpse of. It looks/feels like such a drastic reaction to fixable problems from the outside but if you knew what it looked/felt like from the inside… .
Thanks, Alison and Marc. If you have any feedback or crit on any of the stories I post, I’d love to hear it. This sort of thing you want to get right.
Leah, I have sent you an email my friend.
This topic resonates deeply with me. The suicide of my dear friend last September is what prompted me to finally write my biography. I had promised her I would.
Anything I can do to help, or If you would like to use the essay I sent you in the email, please just let me know. This is a Topic that absolutely must and needs to be discussed frankly and openly.
Leah –
What a wonderful (and challenging) project! I agree that if we don’t look things in the eye, they will never change. I’ve never been suicidal myself, but I’m all too familiar with its corollary, self-harm. Good luck with it – I can’t wait to read the results!
Hi Leah,
Huge subject to tackle and one I find which is more controversial and taboo than racism or murder, or many of the big nasties people don’t want to talk about. Suicide is a very real and very common element to life-ironically enough. Most people have been or know someone who is suicidal. People balk at it, people claim they don’t understand it, people sweep it under the rug like it’s a dirty secret, when in reality, it is a part of us all, because it affects us all.
A friend of mine killed himself when I was younger and I have family members who have contemplated or tried to execute it (poor choice of words, perhaps). It’s like many mental disorders, we don’t see a physical issue and so we can’t see something is wrong. I’ve found in my travels suicide is often linked to many other things, deeper things, things that maybe ever more taboo than the idea of suicide itself. It’s a long road.
Your idea is really interesting and I am interested in hearing more about it.
T.L Tyson