Kay Redfield Jamison at the Cambridge Public Library

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome KAY REDFIELD JAMISON—Dalio Professor in Mood Disorders and professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Lowell: Setting the River on Fire—for a discussion of the paperback release of her book Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind. She will be joined in conversation by DR. ARTHUR KLEINMAN—author of The Soul of Care and professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Ticketing

RSVP for free to this event or choose the "Book-Included" ticket to reserve a paperback copy of Fires in the Dark and pick it up at the event. Kay will sign copies of her new book after the presentation.

About Fires in the Dark

“To treat, even to cure, is not always to heal.” In this expansive cultural history of the treatment and healing of mental suffering, Kay Jamison writes about psychotherapy, what makes a great healer, and the role of imagination and memory in regenerating the mind. From the trauma of the battlefields of the twentieth century, to those who are grieving, depressed, or with otherwise unquiet minds, to her own experience with bipolar illness, Jamison demonstrates how remarkable psychotherapy and other treatments can be when done well. She argues that not only patients but doctors must be healed. She draws on the example of W.H.R. Rivers, the renowned psychiatrist who treated poet Siegfried Sassoon and other World War I soldiers, and discusses the long history of physical treatments for mental illness, as well as the ancient and modern importance of religion, ritual, and myth in healing the mind. She looks at the vital role of artists and writers, as well as exemplary figures, such as Paul Robeson, who have helped to heal us as a people. Fires in the Dark is a beautiful meditation on the quest and adventure of healing the mind, on the power of accompaniment, and the necessity for knowledge.

Praise for Fires in the Dark

"In this loose sequel to a bestselling memoir of bipolar illness, Jamison, a writer and a psychologist, explores the process of prying a mind from disease or despair. Healing, she writes, depends on “harvesting the imagination” and navigating “the balance between remembering and forgetting”; it also, crucially, relies on support . . . Jamison emphasizes the importance of recognizing a diversity of sources of fortitude and models of accompaniment." —The New Yorker, “Best Books of 2023”

“Jamison, the exquisite chronicler of her own unquiet mind, reflects on the process—and adventure—of healing in this beautiful cultural, historical, and creative exploration of what makes us whole. She introduces us to the groundbreaking work of World War I physicians working with shell-shocked soldiers; delves into public grieving; and brings in the mythic patterns and imaginative literature we need as touchstones for relief. Jamison’s elegant prose, imbued with personal warmth and deep humanity, is itself a solace, lighting the way on the path that leads us to a more peaceful present and imaginative future.” —Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk To Someone and co-host of the Dear Therapists podcast

“Like all of Kay Redfield Jamison’s books, Fires in the Dark is a wonderful blend of rigorous scholarship and intimate address. As she tracks the history of American (and, specifically, Baltimorean) medicine through the First World War, explores the relationship between war poets and early healers of the mind, then explores their influence and effect in wider as well as more personal settings, she creates a history of healing, which is at once thrilling in its scope and deeply touching in its particular details.” —Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, 1999–2009

Masking Policy

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.