Writer Jody Keisner will be on campus next week to give a reading from her new book, “Under My Bed and Other Essays.” 

The Del Mar Culture Programs and English and Philosophy Department are sponsoring the event at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9 on Heritage Campus. The literary reading is open to the public and will be in the Coles Building Reading Lab, Room CB119.

Keisner is an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Editor-in-Chief of “The Linden Review.” She also writes for AARP’s “The Girlfriend,” and her essay “Runaway Mother” was named a Best American Essay 2022.

Keisner’s book “Under My Bed and Other Essays” seeks to find the roots of fear of violence she experienced, as well as the root of fear and violence in women as a whole.

On the book page of Keisner’s website, it says: “We know that fear, like pain, is inevitable, yet we hope it away. Or we confront it. Does fearing keep us safe or make us weak? What—or who—should we fear? We build barriers between us and our fears, and then we wonder: will they be enough?”

Keisner’s book illustrates the media that women are surrounded by growing up. It explores the way that certain media she was exposed to—Lifetime movies, the news, the idea of a “monster under the bed”—and the very real prevalence of sexual assault taking place in the world around her during her young adult years, ultimately led to her developing compulsive behaviors when she was living alone, fresh out of college. 

“I think women absorb the negative portrayals of women in media and grow up witnessing women being victims of crimes—whether in entertainment or in the news—and sometimes we develop seemingly irrational behaviors. I say “seemingly” because it is also a pretty rational reaction to the reality of women being abused in our country,” said Keisner.

Keisner also takes a look at the way so many other women have had the same or similar experiences as her.

“While the title of my book, “Under My Bed,” is meant to be symbolic of all sorts of fears people confront, I literally looked for intruders under my bed for a good portion of my adulthood,” Keisner said. “Since writing my book, I’ve met so many women who take protective measures when they live alone, such as owning a big dog, installing deadbolts on main doors, using a security system, even barring a door with furniture.”

Keisner knows women will relate to the topics explored, simply because they were raised in this world. She hopes men “might better understand how the women they love—friends, sisters, lovers, daughters, aunts, mothers, teachers, etc—might experience life differently from them.”

“My book is the story of a woman, mother, and person living with a chronic illness, facing the kinds of fears we all eventually face that we or are loved ones will be harmed,” Keisner said.

This is Keisner’s first book and was written and published through the University of Nebraska’s American Lives Series and edited by Tobias Wolfe.