A Conversation with Poet Jane Seskin, Author of "Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65"

In a world where aging is often feared, award-nominated author, poet and psychotherapist Jane Seskin, who is 80 years of age, takes readers on an emotional road trip where they can celebrate the joys and challenges of aging. In Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65 (Tallfellow Press, 2024), Jane reflects on how resilience and self-discovery helped her combat life’s trials and tribulations, especially as she grew older. Through a collection of 89 poems, Jane redefines the narrative of aging and offers readers a positive take on what is often perceived as a negative.

Older, Wiser, Shorter is an insightful collection of poetry; authentic, funny, quirky and heartfelt, acknowledging the physical vulnerabilities, emotional losses, and surprises people encounter in their senior years. Jane also pays tribute to the sense of power, resilience and new-found joys people discover as they acknowledge and accept their aging. Jane's talent for finding the universal connecting tissue of even our most intimate moments will resonate with readers seeking to discover new ways to honor the past, celebrate the present and welcome the future.

Jane says that growing old is a gift. Believe in it. Respect it. Embrace it. From varicose veins to doctors’ appointments to forgetting why you walked into the kitchen, Older Wiser Shorter illuminates the ups and downs of growing older, one poem at a time. Not to be feared but welcomed, aging is natural, exciting, and it’s better than the alternative!

Said Mary Pipher, author of Women Rowing North and My Life in Light, “I sat down to read one poem last night and I ended up reading half the book. I feel as though I know you. You have definitely captured the experience of aging.”

Jane is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the author of 13 books, most recently the poetry collection Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65. Sometimes laughably simple, other times simply profound, Jane's collection is a non-saccharine and delightful account of what getting older is really like. And she actually lost two inches of her height by her 8th decade!

In this episode, Jane talks about:

• stereotypically negative view of aging into a humorous and intimate poetry collection

• How writing has allowed her to explore self-discovery and resulted in resilience

• The process of writing poetry versus her other works

• Her mindset that aging is natural, can be exciting, and something to look forward to

• How creating each poem is an experience in navigating aging

Jane also has written nonfiction articles and poetry online and for national magazines and journals. Twenty of her poems were published in Cosmopolitan Magazine, five poems in Woman’s Day. Eighteen of her posts have been published in the Metropolitan Diary column in the New York Times. Jane has been a writer-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center and Noepe Center for Literary Arts in Martha's Vineyard. She has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Jane is a practicing psychotherapist, who counseled survivors in individual and group treatment at the Crime Victims Treatment Center in New York for 20 years. In her free time, she enjoys the theater, walking by the Hudson River, visiting with friends, reading poetry and mysteries (Louise Penny, David Baldacci, Donna Leon) and listening to jazz (Keith Jarrett, Houston Person, Chris Botti). Jane wrote therapeutic soundbites on Twitter under the title: “Emotional Band-Aid. Small Steps for Change.”

Find out more at:

https://www.olderwisershorter.com/