FIGURE OF A FOOL LOOKING THROUGH HIS FINGERS
Master of 1537, possibly Franz Verbeek, c. 1548,
Oil on panel, 13.5 x 9.5 in.
Tickets
General Ticket: $10
Members: $5
We are delighted to welcome Jill Bialosky, acclaimed editor and writer of History of a Suicide and Poetry Will Save Your Life, back to The Church to discuss her latest publication, The End Is the Beginning: A Personal History of My Mother. This profoundly moving elegy is a brave and compassionate examination of the life and death of Jill’s mother, told in reverse order from burial to birth. After reading from the book, Jill will be joined in conversation by Executive Director Sheri Pasquarella to discuss the impetus for the memoir, illuminate audiences to the stylistic choice of reverse storytelling, and more. The floor will then be open to questions from the audience. Following the program, there will be a book signing with the author. The event commemorates the book’s release from Washington Square Press on May 6th, 2025.
The End Is the Beginning begins with Iris Yvonne Bialosky’s death in an assisted-care facility on March 29, 2020 — an event compounded by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented Jill from being with her mother in her final moments and kept her from attending her funeral. Jill then takes readers on a journey backward through time, exploring the many nuances of Iris’s life in ways that are simultaneously celebratory, elegiac, and probing. The book is a poignant reminder that we are all the sum of our experiences and illuminates Iris as a multidimensional, fascinating woman who raised four daughters on her own.
Join us Mother’s Day weekend with a book that traces’ one daughter’s inextricable bond to her mother; join in her compassionate celebration of Iris’s life, and help frame the portrait of healing through remembrance and understanding.
JILL BIALOSKY
Photo by Beowulf Sheehan
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Jill Bialosky is the author of five acclaimed collections of poetry, most recently Asylum. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, among others. She is the author of many novels, including The Deceptions, and several works of nonfiction, including The End Is the Beginning, History of a Suicide, and Poetry Will Save Your Life. In 2015, Jill was honored by the Poetry Society of America for her distinguished contribution to the field of poetry. She lives in New York City and Bridgehampton. Find out more at JillBialosky.com.