William Styron’s fiction grapples with some of the most harrowing events and unresolved moral questions of our time. But Styron’s work about mental illness — specifically, the dark demon of depression — deserves an equal share of praise.

Styron entered the literary landscape with a statement about the consequences of depression. His debut novel, Lie Down in Darkness, published in 1951, charts the tragic descent into suicide of a young woman raised in a troubled Virginia family. Forty years later, Styron confronted his own illness in Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness.

Yet no matter how grave his stories were, Styron realized that they must portray both the dark and the lighter sides of life to make an impact. Watch this video clip in which Styron explains the importance of mirth in dark works.

A discussion about mental illness

Below, William Styron joins director Alan Pakula and Robert Boorstin, former senior advisor to the secretary of treasury, for a discussion with Charlie Rose about living and coping with depression.

A posthumous appreciation of William Styron

You can also watch this appreciation of William Styron and his work, which aired a few days after the 81-year-old author’s death in November 2006.

For more about the life of William Styron, visit the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s profile at AMERICAN MASTERS online.