Lisa Johnson: Girl in Need of a Tourniquet is not a typical memoir. According to Dr. Janet Ellerby, Johnson compiles personal narrative, song lyrics, poetry, charts, and other oddities to comprise the memoir that inspired Ellerby to bring Johnson to UNCW for a performance. Johnson will be performing in Warwick Center on March 30 at 4:30.

“As soon as I heard about Lisa’s memoir, I knew I wanted to bring her to UNCW. We have so many wonderful speakers and exhibits on our campus, but often I find that the speakers I hear confirm my assumptions rather than ‘shake them up'” Ellerby said. “I like the controversial; I like to be unsettled; I like to be pushed our of my comfortable ivory tower so that I have to think in new ways and see the world through different eyes.”

Johnson’s story deals with a multitude of problems; she is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and is thrown from one predicament to another beginning in childhood all the way to her current position as a professor at the University of South Carolina. Ellerby’s “Women Writing Memoir” class will be reading Johnson’s memoir later in the semester, and Ellerby thinks that everyone can learn something from the story.

“Lisa tells a complicated story that touches us all,” Ellerby said. “Of course, we thankfully don’t all face a diagnosis of BPD, but we do experience mood swings, the fugues of depression, uncertainty about our worthiness, the frustration of failure, the pain of rejection.”

Students and faculty alike are for the perspective that Johnson’s performance will offer.

“I hope to gain a better understanding and appreciate the struggle and achievements of those with mental illnesses,” said freshman Hillary Lassiter.

The event’s primary sponsors are the English department and the Women’s Studies and Resource Center, but the WRSC, CARE, and the LGBTQIA office will be co-sponsoring the event. The event is open to UNCW students and the surrounding community.