Jane Olmsted, a poet and retired professor of English at Western Kentucky University, will read from and discuss her memoir, “The Tree you Come Home To,” at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at Milkweed’s event room, 202 E. Ninth St.
“‘The Tree You Come Home To’ tells the story of Jane’s family’s struggle with mental illness, addiction, and the crises that followed the murder of her youngest son,” the publisher, Legacy Book Press, describes. “It can provide hope and comfort to those facing similar situations and encourage empathy and compassion in those who haven’t.”
Novelist Sena Jeter Naslund, a former Kentucky poet laureate, said, “Jane Olmsted’s meticulously detailed account is a wake-up call for schools, churches, social workers, legislators, psychologists, medical doctors, and all those engaged with the mental and emotional wellness of at-risk youth.”
An essay that Olmsted wrote about the loss of her son, “The Weight of a Human Heart,” won the 2001 Memoir Journal grand prize for the guns issue. Her poetry and stories have appeared in Nimrod, Poetry Northwest, The Beloit Fiction Journal, Adirondack 2Review and Briar Cliff Review.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
