Fathom
An Uncovering Of Trauma
By Lisa Dart
Lisa Dart has a doctorate in Creative Writing from the University of Sussex, England. She has published poetry, book reviews, creative non-fiction and articles and has won both the Grolier Prize, USA, and the Aesthetica Prize. Her work has been published in The British Journal of Psychoanalysis and the International Journal of Psychotherapy. Her last book, This Thing of Darkness, was given an Arts Council Award in 2015.
The narrative of Fathom focuses on a tantalising fragment from the past. ‘I think I saw a lot of blood’ and other odd surfacings from memory are explored through the work of psychoanalysis. Much like a kind of detective work to begin with, the narrative unravels the depths that appear in psychotic breakdown.
Fathom, an experimental memoir, has unique qualities: playing with time, memory and style, it explores the hinterland of the narrator’s mind. Identity is evoked through three personas of the self: the puppet, the puppet-master and She-who-knows. Poetic in style, though something of a detective story, the first-person narrative is richly layered — Plath, Shakespeare, Sophocles and pop songs all have their place.
Today’s huge interest in mental health and the newly developing market for experimental writing suggest Fathom would quickly find an audience among therapists as well as all involved in off-shoot therapeutic practices. Fathom will also be of immediate interest to anyone having psychoanalysis themselves. Highly concentrated in 40,000 words, structured in three parts, non-linear in chronology and highly metaphoric, those interested in experimental books, excited by the play of fact and imagination and would actively seek out Fathom.
Additional Information :
Published 2019 (Ortus/Free Ass. Books) - ISBN: 9781911383284 - 150 Pages - Paperback
Rights: World