Collaboration in Healing and Creativity with Kevin Carey

Out of the Blue - The Podcast: Finding the Way Forward

One ordinary Thursday in 2019, while preparing to teach a class, Kevin Carey – coordinator of creative writing at Salem State University and author of seven acclaimed books – suddenly experienced distorted vision and temporary blindness in one eye. What followed was a harrowing medical journey that nearly ended in tragedy—twice. Despite recognizing the seriousness of his symptoms, Kevin was almost sent home from two different hospitals without proper diagnosis. It was only due to his wife's persistent questioning about his lingering fever that doctors finally discovered a life-threatening bacterial blood infection that had sent fragments to his brain.
Kevin takes us through his treatment of a PICC line delivering antibiotics directly to his heart, and the profound gratitude he feels for surviving what many others don't. The permanent slight vision loss in his peripheral vision serves as a constant reminder of his brush with mortality.
But Kevin's story isn't just about survival—it's about transformation and creative resilience. With disarming honesty and humor, he shares how his journey as a writer has been marked by persistence through rejection and an openness to unexpected directions. After focusing on fiction writing for years, Kevin found his initial publishing success in poetry. His novel "Junior Miles and the Junkman," which tells the story of a disabled, bullied boy whose deceased father leaves him a junk sculpture that comes alive, took nine years to find a publisher.
Kevin's experiences illuminate the power of collaboration, intuition, and perseverance in both healing and creativity. Whether developing a movie from a playful conversation with a friend or co-creating poetry inspired by photography, his willingness to follow inspiration wherever it leads exemplifies the "out of the blue" moments that shape our lives most profoundly.
Join us for this powerful conversation about recognizing life's signposts, embracing unexpected opportunities, and finding deeper meaning through our most challenging experiences.

For more from Kevin Carey: https://kevincareywriter.com/

Order "Junior Miles and the Junkman": https://regal-house-publishing.mybigcommerce.com/junior-miles-and-the-junkman/

Out Of The Blue:

For more: outoftheblue-thepodcast.org

For exclusive content: patreon.com/podcastOOTB

Chapters

1. Introducing Kevin Carey (00:00:00)

2. The Life-Threatening Emergency (00:02:12)

3. Hospital Mistakes and Recovery (00:06:36)

4. Writing Journey and Finding Poetry (00:12:02)

5. Junior Miles and the Junkman (00:27:38)

6. Creative Collaborations and Recent Projects (00:38:28)

7. Life Lessons and Gratitude (00:50:42)