Free the Strange by Andrea Berns

In Free the Strange author Andrea Berns intricately weaves poetry and prose, creating a hybrid genre to vividly illustrate the often underrepresented but unexpectedly universal struggle with mental illness. Berns engages experimental form to cultivate thoughtful, descriptive imagery, intimately documenting the disruptive nature of this taboo subject on everyday routines. By leading readers through a harrowing and recognizable journey of darkness, mania, and ultimately life, Andrea Berns closely chronicles emergence out from under the overbearing shadow looming in her own mind. Virginia Pillars prefaces this work, proposing that, “Perhaps, if we all share our journeys, others can bridge their understanding from indifference to support.” Within the confines of Free the Strange, Andrea Burns begins the courageous work of constructing this very bridge by sharing her experiences, cemented within the foundations of her work. Mental illness can be a repressive cage, and Andrea Berns holds the key.