Press release from Warren Wilson:
Asheville, NC – Nov. 16, 2015 – Comedian and writer Sara Benincasa, a 2005 Warren Wilson College creative writing alumna The New York Times calls “utterly hilarious,” returns to the Asheville campus, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, for a public reading, talk and question and answer session about her postgraduate popularity. Her debut book, the soul-baring Agorafabulous! Dispatches From My Bedroom, is a critically acclaimed hit, and her most recent writing project, D.C. Trip, has been optioned for a movie. The event is free, open to the public and scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Cole Room of the campus’ Pew Learning Center and Ellison Library.
Since leaving the Swannanoa Valley, Benincasa has served as a citizen journalist for MTV, hosted a radio show on SiriusXM and appeared on countless television shows, including NBC’s Today Show, the CBS Early Show and CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Her work has been praised by the likes of Cosmopolitan magazine, Newsweek, LA Weekly and Vogue Italia with Time magazine calling her “adorably…hilarious.” She also recently completed a crowd-funded short film, The Focus Group, due out later this year.
Benincasa uses her dithyramb talks, stage shows and writings to discuss her life as an agoraphobic who suffers from panic attacks. It took hitting rock bottom to get her life back on track. As a student at a prestigious college in Boston, she slowly began recoiling from society and, in the end, only found solace in the safety of her bed. An intervention by close friends and her family led to the care she needed to get back on her feet and eventually enroll at Warren Wilson College.
“If I remember correctly, there is a brick outside the work program office that reads, ‘You saved me.’ I think this is true for a lot of people who end up at [Warren Wilson College],” Benincasa said. “Warren Wilson College has been such a huge influence on my life as an emotional creature, as an intellectual creature and as a spiritual creature.”
She credits the College with giving her insight to make a difference in the world. Benincasa’s impact can be found in the work she does as an author, comedian and television writer, not to mention speaking to college students about mental health, suicide prevention and good self-care.
“My hope is that because I say things that are hopefully funny, I can pull in an audience that might not necessarily expect or want to hear an educational message,” she said. “They are there to be entertained and, along the way, if I can get some of my messages in there, maybe I’ll affect somebody positively.”
For more information about Sara Benincasa, visit http://www.sarabenincasa.com.
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