An Afternoon with Greg Wise

Much-loved actor, author and screenwriter, Greg Wise, will be joining us to talk about his new book Grief Talking. Greg will share his personal experiences with loss, and encourage us to be more open in our own.

The actor whose film and TV credits include Sense and Sensibility and The Crown, and who is of course married to fellow actor Emma Thompson, said,

“I am a being formed by loss, and I am uniquely more alive, more grateful, more compassionate, more understanding of my capabilities, more loving, more connected as a result of it. But I had to do the work… I don’t think I ever really felt joy until I faced into my grief…”

Greg is able to offer solace and understanding through his own moving stories. He advocates for a change in our modern suppressive culture of mourning. Instead, we should allow ourselves and others an open healthy processing of grief so we can become kinder, more connected and experience happiness again.

About the Book

Grief shapes us but we can learn from it. Through honesty, vulnerability and ritual we can navigate the chaotic, messy journey of death.

Wise explores traumatic grief – the sudden drowning of a close friend in his twenties; intergenerational trauma and the sorrow that can be passed down through families; the emotional aftermath of his sister’s death from cancer; and anticipatory grief – the pain of infertility and failed IVF when cherished hopes are dashed and we grieve a loss before it is born.

‘Everyone needs to read this wonderful and profoundly helpful book.’ – JULIA SAMUEL

About Greg

Greg Wise is an actor, writer, documentary maker and screenwriter. He has also made documentaries about a rock and roll monk and tax evasion.

His previous book Not That Kind of Love , written with his sister, Clare, chronicled the journey to her death from cancer at the age of 51.

He is an ambassador for the charities Marie Curie, the Carers Trust and the Good Grief Trust, and a patron for End of Life Doula UK.