Home > Interviews > “Grief Demands Compassion”: An Interview with Emma Hansen
Photo by Aaron Vandenbrink
Emma Hansen’s debut memoir
Still ebbs and flows around the reader, much like its recurring motif of water. At times, it brims with heartbreak; at other times, it is tender and overflowing with love. Hansen guides readers through her journey of grief after discovering her first child, Reid, has died––and she will have to deliver him stillborn––and then through the aftermath of her mourning.
Natasha Ramoutar: There is an overarching water metaphor woven throughout
Still
––grief coming in “waves,” for example. What were your intentions with this repeated motif? Was the motif added in during the editing process or was it apparent in the first draft?