Samuel Beckett on the Couch

This presentation will trace the impact of Samuel Beckett’s analysis with W.R. Bion on his personal and creative life, as well as the early glimpse the treatment offers of the work of an analyst who would go on to become an important figure in his field, alongside Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott, and Jacques Lacan.

Nuar Alsadir’s most recent book, Animal Joy: A Book Of Laughter And Resuscitation (Graywolf Press/Fitzcarraldo Editions), was a TIME Magazine must-read of 2022 and a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2022. She is also the author of two poetry collections: Fourth Person Singular, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Forward Prize for Best Collection, and More Shadow Than Bird. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, Granta, The Paris Review, The Yale Review, and The New York Times Magazine. She is currently working on a book about boredom for Graywolf Press and Fitzcarraldo Editions, a published essay of which was selected for The Best American Essays 2025. She is a fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities and a member of the curatorial board of The Racial Imaginary Institute. She works as a psychoanalyst in private practice and teaches in New York University’s Creative Writing MFA program.

Readings:
Alsadir, Nuar. “Samuel Beckett on the Couch.” The New Yorker, 3 December 2025.
Bion, Wilfred R. “Making the Best of a Bad Job.” In Clinical Seminars and Other Works, edited by Francesca Bion, 321-332. London: Routledge, 1987.

Please register for access to readings and to reserve a seat and a box lunch.