Who I am.

I write about the landscape of grief, nature, and the wisdom of fools. The author of four books, my essays, poems, and reviews have been published in over 50 journals, including in the Huffington Post and Colorado Review. I’ve won the River Teeth Nonfiction Book Award, the Chautauqua and Literal Latte’s essay prizes, and my work has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and named a notable by Best American Essays. My account of hiking in Yosemite to deal with my wife’s death, Mountains of Light, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. http://www.markliebenow.com.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Grief's Fractured Fairy Tales

Grief and fairy tales aren’t obvious dinner companions. Not the Disney versions, anyway.

When we’re grieving, we would dearly love for someone to ride in on a great white horse and rescue us. This seldom happens with grief, and if it does, it happens in an unexpected way. It's more like a wolf that wants to play fetch.

* If you would like to read the rest of this post, let me know and I’ll send it to you. *

4 comments:

  1. Wonderfully insightful as usual. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Mark. You're right that grief is no Disney movie. I knew in a cerebral way that love would end in grief for someone, but nothing could have or should have dissuaded me. Love and grief are the dance partners. Many years ago I bought a copy of Grimm's Fairytales because Vic and I thought we'd read them to each other. We were shocked by how very grim they were. They reflected the difficulty of life. Somehow that balance got lost in the modern stories. Thanks so much for mentioning me, my book, and the book in progress where I'm digging into ancient myths and grief.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elaine, I love your brief essays about mythology and fairy tales, especially when you dwell on the Green Man. I am eager to read more.

      Delete