Lynne Van Luven is mastering the art of anthology.  She has edited and co-edited several essay collections including Nobody's Mother: Life Without Kids and Somebody's Child: Stories About Adoption.  Most recently, she co-edited In the Flesh: Twenty Writers Explore the Body with Kathy Page and she contributed an essay to that collection about the body part that inspires the most ambivalence for her: her breasts.

 

Shelagh spoke with Lynne about her essay "Life with My Girls" and their conversation veered from Lynne's childhood on a Saskatchewan farm, to her growing unease at the onset of puberty, through to the cultural significance of breasts and the dual pushes toward breast-reduction and breast-augmentation surgeries.  More broadly, both their conversation and the anthology In the Flesh examine the uncomfortable relationship people have with their bodies and how we live with that discomfort.

The Next Chapter producers listened in the control booth to Shelagh and Lynne's conversation, and we were by turns laughing and nodding thoughtfully as it unfolded.  We enjoyed their conversation very much and offer you this extended version in the hopes that you will enjoy it too.