Through time, writers have grappled with addiction in their work and in their lives. As New Hampshire confronts an opioid addiction epidemic unbound by education, vocation, or class, New Hampshire Humanities has awarded a grant to Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) to explore the concept and ramifications of addiction in literature. On August 17 at 7:30 p.m. at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, acclaimed best-selling author Leslie Jamison will speak about how writers have dealt with addiction as a subject and as a personal struggle. The event is facilitated by Benjamin Nugent, writer and director of SNHU’s graduate writing program.

 

Jamison is the author of The Empathy Exams, a New York Times best-selling essay collection, and a novel, The Gin Closet, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times First Fiction Award. The Empathy Exams, chosen as a Notable Book of 2014 and an Editor’s Choice by the New York Times, was named one of the Top 10 Books of 2014 by Publisher’s Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Oprah, Slate, Salon, The L Magazine, and Time Out: New York. She holds a PhD in English from Yale University and has taught at Yale, Wesleyan University, the NYU Journalism Institute, and the University of Iowa. For information about the event, please contact Benjamin Nugent at (347) 217-3942.