It might surprise you to think about it, but writing is, in many ways, similar to a funeral. Both rely on processes that are steeped in structure and tradition but at the same time allow for unique personalization and deep reflection. Both are filled with stories of lives lived, and both often attempt to make sense of senseless things.
For poet and essayist Thomas Lynch, the connections between writing and funerals are profoundly intertwined. Lynch has spent more than four decades as the funeral director in Milford, Mich., and he is also the author of five collections of poems and four books of essays largely focused on his work as an undertaker. His 2009 book, The Undertaking, was a finalist for the National Book Award and was adapted into a film by PBS, and Lynch’s stories, poems and essays have been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times and elsewhere. His powerful and meditative writings question our shared mortality, celebrate our finite lives and draw wonder at the possibilities beyond the world we know.
In his newest collection, The Depositions: New and Selected Essays on Being and Ceasing to Be, Lynch returns to familiar themes as he probes deeply into our shared humanity by questioning our individual mortality. The Depositions extends beyond the morgue to share stories of fatherhood, travels in Ireland, the demise of a marriage and the honor that can be found in work. Lynch’s latest release contains previously written essays as well as new literary pieces that together create a contemplative and emotional portrait of life and death.
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Lynch will discuss The Depositions at Boswell Book Co. on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m.
