I’m pleased to introduce you to my new work The Light Streamed Beneath It: A Memoir of Grief and Celebration. Let’s begin this intimate conversation about life, death, community, chosen family, sex, and aliveness… more.
Read My Latest Essay for The Walrus
A few words about my latest book…
Whether I’m on stage or behind a computer, my work is to shape and understand my life’s peak experiences—often through humour. The Light Streamed Beneath It is not a comedy. However, this book isn’t a misery memoir. My story, like life, contains many ups and downs.
Now entering my forties, I understand my talent: I can feel and withstand emotional extremes. I can connect those intense sensations, the beauty and terror, to words. When life handed me more than my body could tolerate, when my flesh radiated with heat and my skin flared with pinpricks, I felt lucky to have a way to communicate my inner emotional landscape.
As I wrote, I was like a fledgling lawyer character in an Aaron Sorkin film. Assigned to sort through boxes and boxes of discovery, I built multiple timelines, taped sheets of paper on walls, and brewed endless pots of coffee. I studied the evidence of memories, Instagram posts, birthday cards, text messages, sweaters, and trinkets. I wove hard facts with emotional truths, and now I humbly offer my experience to you.
While reading, please think of us enjoying an intimate conversation. When you learn a tender detail, please know I’ve shared it for a reason, but that I’ve kept the most sacred moments private. When you feel overwhelmed, please remember this is just a story. Remember my testimony is printed on recycled paper and contains the pulp of other stories told by many authors before me who felt a deep longing to share their direct experience with the world.
Remember that even during the worst moments, I never lost my sense of humour.
Award-Winning Writer & Performer 