Meet Dan O’Brien | Poet, playwright, nonfiction writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dan O’Brien and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dan, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was raised in a large Irish American family in Scarsdale, New York, an affluent suburb of New York City. We weren’t wealthy though — in fact we were often just getting by. My parents felt a lot of shame about their lack of status and money. But more importantly there was shame in our household because it was such an unhappy one. My parents were emotionally and verbally abusive to each other and to their children, and my siblings and I were dealing with untreated mental illness. A formative experience for me was witnessing my brother’s suicide attempt when he was 17 and I was 12. Not long after that I started to write poetry, short stories, and eventually dramas, and I believe that writing saved me. The three books I have coming out in September all deal with the question and challenge of trauma: Survivor’s Notebook, a collection of my prose poems and photography about resuming life after treatment for cancer; From Scarsdale, a memoir about my upbringing, and True Story, a trilogy of docudramas about both of these traumas and my friendship with the combat journalist Paul Watson. All this is to say that my upbringing wasn’t an easy one, but I feel fortunate that I discovered literature and the theatre as a way to find sense and beauty in the struggles of living.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I tend to write autobiographically and biographically — I’m fascinated by true stories. From the start of my writing life I have felt compelled to try to tell the truth about taboo topics: in my case the abuse in my childhood and the mental illness in my family. If I’m not writing about myself then I’m drawn to writing about others — their stories of struggle and reinvention. I think of trauma as a shattering of identity, and survival requires the making of a new identity, arriving at a new understanding of oneself and one’s place in the world. I’ve always believed, rather instinctively, that vulnerability is a strength, and revealing one’s vulnerability to others is an offering of help. This kind of writing was a revelation to me as an adolescent, and I remain grateful to the artists who helped me find hope, feel less alone, and believe in a constructive future.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live on the west side so I would take them to the beach and on hikes. A favorite westside park for an easy hike and hanging out is Will Rogers State Historic Park. I’m an avid runner, so if they were up for a run I’d take them on a few of my favorite scenic routes. I’d also suggest some of LA’s museums: the Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits (my daughter’s favorite), and LACMA, of course. The American theatre is in dire straits at the moment, but I’d take a visiting friend to a show at two theaters where I’ve had my work presented: Center Theatre Group and Boston Court Pasadena, not to mention the many other theaters in LA’s vibrant theatre scene. And of course I’d bring a visiting friend to some of my favorite bookstores, like Zibby’s in Santa Monica, Diesel in Brentwood, and Skylight Books in Los Feliz.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife Jessica St. Clair deserves a lot of credit and all the recognition for the support, love, and encouragement she has given me over the decades that I’ve known her. She is always my first and my most sympathetic reader. She’s an actor and writer who works in TV and film — comedies, for the most part. In 2016 I was diagnosed with cancer on the last day of her cancer treatment, so she became my coach through the surgeries and chemotherapy, letting me know that she understood how I was feeling, both physically and emotionally, and giving me hope for the future. These three new books could not have been written without her and our beautiful daughter by my side.

Website: www.danobrien.org

Instagram: @bydanobrien

Twitter: @danobrienwriter

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