Emilie Pine Book Talk

When it was published in Ireland last year, Emilie Pine’s astonishing essay collection NOTES TO SELF (Dial; 6/11/2019) rocketed to the top of the bestseller list and helped ignite a vital, overdue conversation about modern life and “all of the things women are supposed to hide.” In these pages, Pine tells the stories of the events that have marked her life—the emotional disruptions for which our society has no adequate language. In many cases, they are stories she’d never told anyone before, or even, she writes, “admitted to myself.” These essays explore infertility, caring for an alcoholic parent, depression, and sexual violence. They give credence to Anne Enright’s laudatory words: “Do not read this book in public: it will make you cry.”

But NOTES TO SELF is also a testament to the transformative power of finding inner strength, and silencing the voice that lives inside too many women—the one that says: “your life is too small, too messy, or too painful to share.” These are Pine’s personal stories, but as the scores of women who have reached out to her in the months since the book’s release have shown, they are, in a sense, the stories of all women. As Pine has said, “The emotions I kept in the dark for so long, it turns out, are not mine alone. The things we are afraid to say, the things we are ashamed of, or embarrassed by, these are not, after all, the things that isolate us. These are the things that connect us.” Emilie Pine is associate professor of modern drama at University College Dublin, Ireland. Pine has published widely as an academic and critic on culture and memory. Notes to Self is her first collection of personal essays.











When: Tue., Sep. 24, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Where: American Irish Historical Society (AIHS)
991 Fifth Ave.
212-288-2263
Price: Free
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When it was published in Ireland last year, Emilie Pine’s astonishing essay collection NOTES TO SELF (Dial; 6/11/2019) rocketed to the top of the bestseller list and helped ignite a vital, overdue conversation about modern life and “all of the things women are supposed to hide.” In these pages, Pine tells the stories of the events that have marked her life—the emotional disruptions for which our society has no adequate language. In many cases, they are stories she’d never told anyone before, or even, she writes, “admitted to myself.” These essays explore infertility, caring for an alcoholic parent, depression, and sexual violence. They give credence to Anne Enright’s laudatory words: “Do not read this book in public: it will make you cry.”

But NOTES TO SELF is also a testament to the transformative power of finding inner strength, and silencing the voice that lives inside too many women—the one that says: “your life is too small, too messy, or too painful to share.” These are Pine’s personal stories, but as the scores of women who have reached out to her in the months since the book’s release have shown, they are, in a sense, the stories of all women. As Pine has said, “The emotions I kept in the dark for so long, it turns out, are not mine alone. The things we are afraid to say, the things we are ashamed of, or embarrassed by, these are not, after all, the things that isolate us. These are the things that connect us.” Emilie Pine is associate professor of modern drama at University College Dublin, Ireland. Pine has published widely as an academic and critic on culture and memory. Notes to Self is her first collection of personal essays.

Buy tickets/get more info now