Book Talk: Too Poor to Die by Amy Shea | Arts + Literature Laboratory | Madison Contemporary Arts Center

Book Talk: Too Poor to Die by Amy Shea

Arts + Literature Laboratory and Madison Death Studio welcomes Amy Shea for a discussion of her book, Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins, on Thursday, December 11, 7:00pm. Free admission.

Shea will be in conversation with Kendra Deja, Executive Director of Solace Friends, an adult family home supporting unhoused people at the end of life. Together, they’ll explore what it means to die in the margins of our system. The discussion will be moderated by Meghan Allynn Johnson, Founder and Director of the Madison Death Studio. Books will be for sale by Lake City Books.

Author Amy Shea

Amy Shea

Amy Shea is an essayist, and is the author of Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins. Her work has appeared in The Missouri Review, Pangyrus, Portland Review, The Massachusetts Review, Spry Literary Journal, Fat City Review, From Glasgow to Saturn, & the Journal of Sociology of Health & Illness. She works as the Writing Program Director for Mount Tamalpais College, a free community college for the incarcerated people of San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

Kendra Deja, Solace Friends

Kendra Deja

Kendra Deja comes to Solace Friends with 25 years of experience working in hospice and palliative care. Kendra holds a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) from UW-Madison, a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from Marquette University, and completed her Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) at UW-Madison. Prior to joining Solace Friends, Kendra worked as a hospice and palliative care clinician for several community hospices, VA medical centers in San Diego and Palo Alto, CA, and for hospital and clinic-based palliative care teams in California and Madison. Helping people to know that they matter has been at the core of her clinical work in every setting. Kendra is committed to bringing her core values of joy, empathy, and growth to the Solace Friends residents and community.

Artist Meghan Allynn Johnson

Meghan Allynn Johnson

Meghan Allynn Johnson is an artist and former art gallery director. After losing both of her parents within 18 months and returning to Madison where she was raised, she completed Naridner Bazen's Nine Keys to Death Arts Apprenticeship in 2024. Meghan has a BFA in Studio Att from UW-Madison, and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, and has published artwork with the David Krut Print Workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her work has been exhibited in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Madison, and more. She has curate numerous artists exhibitions, and is included in the text, Singular/Serial: Contemporary Monotype and Monoprint (Kernan, Oresman, Einstein). Source: Madison Death Studio.

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