Image courtesy of Melanie Wilson/Death of the Party

About the Event

Description: Join us for a panel discussion on how you can bring Postal Service for the Dead (PSD) to your community, friends, or family! Janelle, Founder of PSD, will facilitate a conversation with three panelists who have hosted their own community workshops which included letter writing prompts, art making, and the opportunity for participants to send a letter to PSD. This conversation aims to be an extension of our blog post: How to Organize a Collaging & Letter Writing Party. Can’t join us on this date? No worries! We will be recording the conversation to be used as a future resource. The panelists who will speak about their experiences organizing letter writing events are:

Melanie Wilson, she/her, Founder of Death of the Party
Nina Castillo-D’Angier, she/they/siya, Immersive theatre designer
Trista Riggs, she/her, Preservation Librarian

Please see below for full panelist bios

Where: This is a virtual event on Zoom. You will be provided the Zoom information upon signing up. You must register to receive the Zoom information.

Register: Please register using the form below.

Cost: Free

Who: All ages

Questions: Please reach out to j@sleepysue.studio with any questions.

Help Spread the Word: Know someone who might be interested in this event? Please share this webpage with them or download and share our social media graphics HERE.

Panelist Bios:
Melanie Wilson, she/her, Founder of Death of the Party

I’m the founder of “Death of the Party”, an event series for grieving LGBTQ+ folks and allies in NYC. Our events explore how we can bond over and express our grief creatively in community. We encourage folks to show up authentically and meet others who “get it.” Additionally, we host “Outings” to public events in the death education and grief spaces. We invite those who are interested in death ​education, supporting grievers, and end-of-life planning along with our grief community to these Outings.

Additionally, I have a certificate in funeral & memorial ​celebrancy. I am also a host and host trainer for The Dinner Party (thedinnerparty.org). Besides being in community around grief and death education, I enjoy life by volunteering at a thrift ​store, being crafty, beekeeping, and traveling.

Learn more at Death of the Party’s website and on Instagram @DeathofthepartyNYC

Nina Castillo-D’Angier, she/they/siya, Immersive theatre designer

NINA CASTILLO-D’ANGIER is a literal world-builder who makes and holds space to safely explore vulnerability through production design; interactive immersion; and the art of ritual griefwork. Moonlighting as Nina Nightingale, she is one of fewer than 100 silhouette portrait artists in the world and daylights as a professor for The Theatre School at DePaul University. Their multidisciplinary, diasporic work as a queer Filipinx-American is informed by a desire to indulge curiosity and bring mindful connection to everyday interactions, whether that be with strangers, objects, or the many things that we consider familiar.

Learn more on Instagram by visiting @ninadngr and @silhouetteportraits

Trista Riggs, she/her, Preservation Librarian

Hello fellow grievers and death positive folks! My name is Trista Riggs (she/her) and I am a Preservation Librarian in Southern Indiana, graduating with an MLIS in Archival Management in May 2024. I have been working both professionally and personally within grief and death spaces since 2020. Professionally, I have conducted community programming promoting the history of local cemeteries, creating personal digital legacies, and providing grief/death/dying resources to patrons and staff. I also belong to a local group, Death and Donuts, which encourages open and honest conversations about death. I am a member of the Association for Gravestone Studies, and also volunteer as a photographer for Find-A-Grave. In the near future, I will be launching a traveling grief library, The Graveside Library. You can find me on Instagram @thegraveyardbookclub, or at the newly created @thegravesidelibrary, with a website by the same name coming soon! 

Registration Form

Image courtesy of Melanie Wilson/Death of the Party