Ghost Stories: An Embodied Reading with Jane Wong

What stories does grief tell?

What does it mean to speak to ghosts?

How can art and stories be a conduit to other realms?

Jane Wong is the author of the memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City (Tin House, 2023). She also wrote two poetry collections: How to Not Be Afraid of Everything (Alice James, 2021) and Overpour (Action Books, 2016). She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Harvard's Woodberry Poetry Room, Artist Trust, Hedgebrook, Ucross, Loghaven, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and others. She grew up in a Chinese American take-out restaurant on the Jersey shore and is an Associate Professor at Western Washington University. Her poetry installations which engage haunting and nourishment have been exhibited at the Frye Art Museum, the Richmond Art Gallery, and the Asian Art Museum.

Derek Dizon is the owner and operator of A Resting Place, a grief resource center located in Seattle’s CID. He holds a Master's Degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Washington and has worked as a grief therapist for several years. Derek is a queer Filipino American and multi-media artist who also identifies as a survivor of traumatic death. Much of his creative works are centered around mourning and remembrance. Derek's work has been showcased in Out of Sight (2016), ArtXChange Gallery (2017), Poetry on Buses (2017), The Tacoma Art Museum (2018), and Los Angeles’ Avenue 50 Studio Gallery (2019). In 2020, he curated an exhibit at the Columbia City Art Gallery which explored arts and healing in Asian immigrant communities of Southeast Seattle. As a survivor of homicide loss, Derek dedicates his art and community organizing as a vessel of care and love for our local grieving community.