Columnist
Joan Wickersham’s memoir The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death in Order was a National Book Award Finalist as well as appearing on “best books of the year” lists including the Boston Globe, the LA Times, New York Magazine, Salon, and the Washington Post. She is also the author of a novel, The Paper Anniversary, and her fiction has appeared in The Best American Short Stories and is forthcoming in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. Joan writes a regular op-ed column for the Boston Globe and has contributed on-air essays to the NPR shows “On Point” and “Morning Edition.” She has been awarded fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the MacDowell Colony, and Yaddo.
Latest stories
JOAN WICKERSHAM
‘Scenes From a Marriage,’ as seen from a marriage
By Joan Wickersham, Globe Columnist
The movie reminds us how much trust and vulnerability there is in a marriage, how much power married people put into each other’s hands.
JOAN WICKERSHAM
The violence pitch
By Joan Wickersham, Globe Columnist
Apparently, we’ve gone beyond the action-movie truism of “mayhem sells” to the truly shocking belief that mayhem is an effective strategy for selling anything and everything.
JOAN WICKERSHAM
Words in a time of trauma
By Joan Wickersham, Globe Columnist
Sometimes a single word, in its use or omission, acquires so much meaning that entire views of the world, and possible courses of action, are embedded in it.
JOAN WICKERSHAM | The future of classical music
Discovery Ensemble keeps the music alive
By Joan Wickersham, Globe Columnist
Energy, charisma, talent, nuanced musical understanding, an exceptional conductor, and a sense of social responsibility — this group shows what the future of classical music will look like.