E221 - Cathy Sosnowsky - Poems for Alex

After teaching poetry as an academic for over 20 years, Cathy Sosnowsky started writing poetry herself in response to the sudden death of her teenaged son. Two lines of poetry came to her in a dream on the very night he died. She had to get out of bed and write them down. From then on, in her grief journey, writing poetry saved her. Eventually, many of these poems were published in the book, Holding On: Poems for Alex. Cathy has since published two more books: Snapshots: A Story of Love, Loss, and Life, and, more recently, Finding Heartstone: A Taste of Wilderness. As a chapter leader of The Compassionate Friends, a support group for bereaved parents, Cathy often gives “Writing as Healing Workshops.” You can find more about Cathy at www.cathysosnowsky.com 

In this episode we talk about the death of her 17-year-old son, how she used poetry to process her grief, poems she wrote, and a grief dream of her deceased son.