Critics at Large | The New Yorker
Episode: Why We Turn Grief Into Art
Release Date: June 19, 2025

Introduction

In the June 19, 2025 episode of Critics at Large titled "Why We Turn Grief Into Art," hosts Naomi Fry, Vincent Cunningham, and Alex Schwartz delve into the profound relationship between grief and artistic expression. They explore how art serves as both a reflection and a coping mechanism for individuals and societies grappling with loss and trauma.

Exploring Yiyun Li’s Things in Nature Merely Grow

The episode centers around Yiyun Li's memoir, Things in Nature Merely Grow, a poignant tribute to her son James, who tragically died by suicide in 2024. This work follows her earlier memoir, Where Reasons End, dedicated to her first son, Vincent, who also succumbed to suicide in 2017.

Naomi Fry highlights the depth of parental grief in Li's work:

"[...] we are all parents around this table. You don't have to be a parent, I think, to understand that this is probably the worst thing that can ever happen to a person, not just to lose a child, to lose both your children."
[Timestamp: 05:04]

Vincent Cunningham offers a critical analysis of the memoir’s thematic essence:

"It's a work of criticism that is precisely about the gulf between feelings and facts and about articulation. [...] There's no easy way to say this becomes not only a refrain in the book but also its ethos."
[Timestamp: 06:28]

Alex Schwartz emphasizes the philosophical undertones of Li’s writing:

"She is a kind of messenger to describe one of the farthest points of human experience and to just illuminate it for the sake of doing that, for the sake of using language to explain it."
[Timestamp: 08:12]

Language, Expression, and the Abyss of Grief

Li's memoir grapples with the limitations of language in conveying profound grief. The term "abyss" is recurrent, symbolizing the chasm between the lived experience of loss and its verbal articulation.

Vincent Cunningham underscores this by discussing the poem-like rhythm of Li’s narrative:

"The four-beat rhythm, the iambic tetrameter...like an enactment of things in nature. [...] lyric poetry is the best place to look for why we would come to art to do this."
[Timestamp: 40:54]

Alex Schwartz reflects on the struggle to encapsulate grief in words:

"What do you think the point of depicting grief in art is? If words are gonna fall short, if depiction is gonna fall short, then why do we do it?"
[Timestamp: 38:07]

Naomi Fry adds a layer of personal connection to the artistic depiction of grief:

"I think it has to be a desire to connect, you know, there has to be a desire to somehow ameliorate or explicate or at least articulate the experience..."
[Timestamp: 39:13]

Comparisons with Other Grief-Centric Works

The hosts draw parallels between Li’s memoir and Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, examining different literary approaches to personal tragedy.

Alex Schwartz notes the structural similarities:

"It is also trying to put down an order of events simply for sanity's sake, like to be grounded in reality."
[Timestamp: 23:03]

Naomi Fry shares her initial reaction to Didion’s work, providing a contrasting perspective:

"I remember being entirely unmoved by The Year of Magical Thinking. [...] I weirdly didn't believe her."
[Timestamp: 24:46]

The conversation extends to other works that portray complex emotions surrounding grief, such as Molly Zhang Fast's How to Lose Your Mother and Lou Reed and John Cale's album Songs for Drella. These examples illustrate the multifaceted nature of grief, encompassing both sorrow and ambivalence.

Art as a Collective and Personal Testament

The discussion broadens to encompass collective expressions of grief, highlighting projects like the AIDS Memorial Quilt and Instagram’s Dates Memorial account.

Alex Schwartz describes the quilt’s significance:

"It's about the collective. It's about saying we are sharing this. We are stitching ourselves together. This matters."
[Timestamp: 43:30]

Naomi Fry brings attention to personal storytelling on social media:

"Each post is an account of a person who has died of AIDS written by someone who was close to this person. [...] it's a testament to her life having been lived."
[Timestamp: 43:30]

These collective memorials contrast with individual narratives, emphasizing shared human experiences and the communal aspect of mourning.

Contemporary Approaches to Grief in Art

The hosts explore modern methods of addressing grief through various art forms, including comedy. They reference Marc Maron’s From Bleak to Dark and Sarah Silverman’s Postmortem, which use humor as a coping mechanism.

Alex Schwartz explains the role of humor:

"It's about using humor to speak to something that is so scary and, like, cliche calls it unimaginable."
[Timestamp: 30:01]

Vincent Cunningham adds depth by connecting humor with complex emotions:

"Sometimes things are terrible and something else is funny. And it's a bizarre mix."
[Timestamp: 30:55]

These examples illustrate how art can encompass a spectrum of emotions, providing relief and a different lens through which to view loss.

The Role of Formal Elements in Grief Art

The episode delves into how the structure and form of artistic works influence the depiction of grief.

Vincent Cunningham highlights the interplay between form and content in Tennyson’s In Memoriam:

"The four-beat rhythm, the iambic tetrameter... it sounds like life just keeps on going."
[Timestamp: 40:54]

Alex Schwartz emphasizes music’s unique capability to convey emotions without words:

"Music can give feeling like nothing else can, just the emotions without words, which I think is sometimes hugely needed."
[Timestamp: 41:53]

The discussion underscores that the formal aspects of art—be it poetry, music, or visual arts—play a crucial role in how grief is articulated and experienced.

Conclusion: The Necessity of Art in Processing Grief

The hosts converge on the idea that, despite the inherent limitations of language and form, art remains an essential tool for expressing and processing grief. It serves as a bridge between personal suffering and collective understanding, offering both solace and a means to bear witness to loss.

Naomi Fry encapsulates the essence of artistic grief expression:

"But in art in general, there has to be a desire to connect... for like a missive to pass between these two people, even if it seems impossible."
[Timestamp: 39:13]

Alex Schwartz reiterates the cathartic and connective power of art:

"It can be a testament, but also it can just transmit experience. And that itself can be cathartic for the artist, perhaps for the readers, but it's a point of connection."
[Timestamp: 40:54]

The episode concludes by affirming that art’s engagement with grief is not just an artistic endeavor but a fundamental human need to understand, express, and find meaning in loss.

Notable Quotes

• Naomi Fry: "It's better to go to the kind of works that try to deal with things from a perspective."

  [Timestamp: 02:31]

• Vincent Cunningham: "There's no easy way to say this becomes not only like this refrain in the book, but also kind of its ethos."

  [Timestamp: 06:41]

• Alex Schwartz: "Words fail and fail and fail, but still they do something."

  [Timestamp: 09:49]

• Naomi Fry: "This is the water cooler. This is a wonderful chance to sit down with two of the smartest colleagues in the country and just kind of compare notes."

  [Timestamp: 20:32]

Final Thoughts

"Why We Turn Grief Into Art" offers a deep exploration of how individuals and societies process loss through creative expression. By examining literary works, music, and collective memorials, the hosts illustrate the multifaceted ways in which art serves as both a mirror and a balm for the human experience of grief.

Listen to the full episode on The New Yorker's website.