The writer and former broadcaster Tara McGuire discusses her debut memoir Holden After and Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022), with Joseph Planta.

Holden After and Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose by Tara McGuire (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Holden After and Before

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

A rich, necessary read this season is the debut memoir from Tara McGuire, who joins me now. She has written Holden After and Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose. It’s a reflection on grief, and a fascinating navigation and documentation of her son Holden Courage’s life. She retraces his last months, investigating the confluence of events leading to his death at twenty-one of an accidental opioid overdose. The sorrow of a parent is evident throughout the book, but the reader is also uplifted by learning about Holden and what kind of person he was to so many people. It is a beautiful life, and one that is reflected in the work he did as a graffiti artist. There’s also a lot of blank space in Tara’s excavation, and she employs some embroidery in her narrative, making for a conversation of sorts between her and her son. It’s a moving dialogue, and one that is informed by whatever fact Ms. McGuire could collect. The book is also a reminder that the opioid crisis is still with us, and needs addressing quickly. The lives lost that we see reflected in stark numbers monthly are more than that, they’re lives like Holden’s cut short needlessly. Tara McGuire is a former broadcaster turned writer, who is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing. This new book is published by Arsenal Pulp Press, and will be launched tomorrow night, Wednesday, 28 September 2022. Visit Tara’s website at www.taramcguire.com for more information. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Tara McGuire; Ms. McGuire, good morning.

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