Bird in Hand hosts a conversation between Emmeline Clein, author of the “fiercely compassionate” book on the dark underbelly of Western beauty standards, Dead Weight, and psychiatrist Dr. Angela Guarda.
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Dead Weight draws on a kaleidoscopic array of sources–from cult classic films like Jennifer’s Body to the aughts-era Tumblrverse, the writing of Simone Weil, Chris Kraus, and Anne Boyer to the medieval canon of anorexic saints–and calls for a feminism that doesn’t compel women to shrink their bodies to increase their value, urging radical acceptance of all our appetites instead: for food, connection, and love.
It’s a book that is boldly interdisciplinary, and we’re excited that this conversation will reflect that spirit, bringing together an established medical professional in the field with the author herself. We look forward to seeing you there.
EMMELINE CLEIN is the author of Dead Weight: Essays on Hunger and Harm (Knopf, 2024) and Toxic (Choo Press, 2022). Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, The Yale Review, The Nation, and The Washington Post, among other outlets. She received her MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts; she lives in New York.
DR. ANGELA GUARDA is the Stephen and Jean Robinson Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Director of the Eating Disorders Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She attended Johns Hopkins undergraduate, obtained her medical degree from the University of Maryland and completed residency in Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins. Her clinical research interests include weight restoration and behavioral treatment for anorexia nervosa as well as ethical issues in the treatment of severe and chronic anorexia. Her translational research has focused on the pathophysiology of eating disorders including predisposing, precipitating and sustaining factors. Dr Guarda has been named annually in Castle Connolly’s “America’s Top Doctors” for eating disorders since 2009 and has been interviewed by NPR, New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal on topics related to eating disorders.
