Tempe Public Library

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Women's History Month Book Talk: Poems from the Asylum

Martha’s Nasch's original story was published in over 90 international newspapers and in Time Magazine, in 1934.  

AZ authors and speakers, Janelle Molony and Jodi Nasch Decker, share on writing a compelling narrative biography, Poems From the Asylum (by Martha H. Nasch). 

After noticing something strange from a secret medical procedure in 1927, St. Paul, Minnesota, Martha Nasch's doctor claimed she just had a "case of nerves." With a signature from her adulterous husband, Martha was committed against her will to the asylum. She spent nearly seven years in the Minnesota hospital during the Great Depression and tried to escape twice. Martha's poems from behind bars include shocking eyewitness accounts of patient mistreatment and a long-suffering adoration for her only child.  Join authors Janelle Molony and Jodi Nasch Decker as they discuss Martha's poetry and its place in Depression Era history, her medical condition and treatments for being perceived as mentally insane, and the path to overcoming the sensationalistic journalism which attempted to destroy the reputation of women in the Nasch lineage. In celebration of National Women's History Month, we will hold a drawing for a free book for in-person attendees.

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