“Unveiling Grief: Eiren Caffall Reveals the Hidden Wisdom in ‘The Mourner’s Bestiary'”
EC: A lot of unwillingness to admit privilege. I’ve been on both sides. My parents met in the film business, and they left the film business because they didn’t have financial support to stick it out. There are beautiful objects and films and sculptures and books that we won’t ever have, because we insist that the safety nets that are there for people aren’t there. I don’t have that net if I take a big artistic leap and fail. It’s embarrassing.
AE: Right.
EC: I don’t want to be embarrassed about that anymore. I have a net right now. It’s enabling me to do this. I never feel completely secure, because I know how perilous and mercurial life is. But while I have it, I don’t want to pretend I don’t have it. I want to say to young writers, “Oh, yeah, that person who had success right out of the gate at twenty? Were their parents in publishing? Did they have grandparental money, and we just don’t know about it?” I don’t want to shame anybody for that.
