Esmé Weijun Wang
The Unexpected Shape
Most of us know Esmé Weijun Wang from her incisive yet deeply compassionate writing on mental health. Her gorgeous novel The Border of Paradise delves into intergenerational mental illness, and its potentially devastating impact on children. Her gloriously tender and wise essay collection, The Collected Schizophrenias, explores the lived experience of psychosis. With Esmé’s wide-open heart and keen intellect, it’s no surprise it became a New York Times bestseller. I’m not going to say more about Esmé’s writing at the moment (other than to encourage you to read it if you haven’t!); I’ll save that for our upcoming interview.
What some might not know is Esmé is also a gifted artist. Her favorite muse is her constant companion, sweet Daphne. But she also likes to draw family, fashion, and sometimes herself. Esmé began drawing as a child, and pursued visual art much earlier than she pursued writing. At Yale, she only took visual art classes, and was known as one of the people who painted weekly in the basement of Calhoun. She loves working with a fountain pen and Arches paper, but has lately become fascinated by the possibilities of digital illustration with Procreate. Working with images in this manner often helps her calm down if dealing with issues of mental illness or physical distress.
Also: Esmé recently founded a wonderful three-month writing program: The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy. By all accounts, the first term was a tremendous success! The new term starts on August 8th. You have the opportunity to work directly with Esmé; guest lecturers include Leslie Jamison, T Kira Madden, Soleil Ho, and Vauhini Vara. What a dream. All the details you need are right here.
Things are so rough right now, I thought it might be nice to look at some beautiful, uplifting artwork this week! I hope you’re all holding steady. Share in the comments some of the ways you’ve found to find calm amidst your challenges.
