The BBC’s Fergal Keane: ‘The breakdowns get harder to recover from each time’

The former BBC war reporter, now special correspondent, on the terror of PTSD, his tips for living with it day to day, and the people and poets he admiresDuring a career spanning more than 30 years, BBC special correspondent Fergal Keane has covered brutal conflicts in South Africa, Rwanda and Bosnia. It’s taken a lasting toll on his mental health, and in 2020 he stepped back from frontline reporting, revealing that he’s suffering from acute PTSD. In his memoir The Madness, newly published in paperback, he goes into greater detail, powerfully describing multiple breakdowns, alcoholism, and the inherited trauma that shaped his Irish childhood, as well as the resilience he’s found in himself. He will be talking at the Edinburgh International book festival on 17 August.What part of The Madness was hardest to write?Most difficult was what it was like to be in a psychiatric hospital. People talk about going mad and it conjures up all kinds of stereotypical images, but it’s terrifying, it’s this implosion. I’ve never been so afraid in my life. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-06 08:30:06 UTC ]

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Lit Hub Weekly: August 8-12, 2022

Meeting language at its most elemental place: Belinda Huijuan Tang reflects on re-learning Chinese. | Lit Hub Memoir What do animals understand about death? | Lit Hub Science “When people try too hard to pin it down, they often ruin everything that makes poetry magical.” Chris Martin on poetry,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-13 10:30:45 UTC ]
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‘The Man Who Could Move Clouds’ is a memoir full of magic

Ingrid Rojas Contreras tells the story of her grandfather Rafael Contreras Alfonso, a Colombian healer with otherworldly gifts. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-08-11 14:57:38 UTC ]
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Ingrid Rojas Contreras on Unraveling Her Memoir (and Listening to Her Mother)

Ingrid Rojas Contreras is the author of the memoir The Man Who Could Move Clouds, available from Doubleday. Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts!  From the episode: Brad Listi: I want to hear you talk about creative strategies that you undertook to overcome... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-10 08:50:58 UTC ]
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Snowman author Raymond Briggs dies aged 88

Beloved creator of Fungus the Bogeyman and Father Christmas brought a distinctive strain of melancholy to the genre• The Snowman, the Bogeyman and Father Christmas: the world of Raymond Briggs – in pictures• Raymond Briggs obituary• Share your tributes and memories of Snowman author Raymond... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-08-10 07:20:39 UTC ]
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Book Review: “Mothercare,” by Lynne Tillman

Lynne Tillman’s taut memoir of caring for an aging parent runs an emotional gamut. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-08-08 19:30:06 UTC ]
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Augusten Burroughs wants to help you process your trauma through writing (for $50,000).

If you have unprocessed trauma, $50,000, and a sense of adventure when it comes to your mental health, a new “wellness recovery program” created by Augusten Burroughs—author of the best-selling memoir Running With Scissors—may be right up your alley. The week-long program, called Focus-Directed... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-08 14:41:32 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Weekly: August 1-5, 2022

Ella Risbridger muses on the pain-writing-money trifecta, Nora Ephron’s Heartburn, and memoir as fiction. | Lit Hub Criticism Lulu Miller in praise of “the uncrushable beetle.” | Lit Hub Nature How Kiki de Montparnasse, a muse with a mind of her own, “essentially invented the idea of making an... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-06 10:30:41 UTC ]
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'iCarly' alum Jennette McCurdy alleges Nickelodeon offered her hush money

'iCarly' and 'Sam & Cat' star Jennette McCurdy says in her new memoir that Nickelodeon offered her $300,000 not to talk about her experiences there. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-08-06 01:42:15 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of August 8, 2022

Little, Brown buys a memoir from MacArthur fellow Nicole Fleetwood, Spiegel & Grau takes on a debut novel, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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CJ Hauser on Wanting To Learn Everything From Katherine Hepburn

This week on The Maris Review, CJ Hauser joins Maris Kreizman to discuss her new memoir in essays, The Crane Wife, out now from Doubleday Books. Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts. * On the beauty of the second person: I have a beloved teacher, the writer Mark... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-04 08:52:39 UTC ]
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Pardis Mahdavi's Debut Memoir Quietly Canceled by Hachette

'This Goes Out to the Underground: A Mother, Her Daughter, and How We All Rise Together,' the debut memoir from Pardis Mahdavi, was canceled by Hachette Book Group shortly before its planned July 26 release. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: August 2, 2022

“It seemed like having a kid was the only adventure I hadn’t undertaken.” Michelle Tea on embracing (unconventional) motherhood. | Lit Hub Memoir Are contemporary novels that don’t acknowledge the pandemic just alt-history? Clare Pollard has thoughts. | Lit Hub Criticism “For every pet that’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-02 10:30:03 UTC ]
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Britney Spears: (oops) the supply chain did it again.

As you all undoubtedly know, Britney Spears landed a $15 million book deal with Simon & Schuster earlier this year. Her untitled memoir is apparently already finished(!) and her team was vying for a January 2023 release date… until the paper shortage reared its ugly head, baby, one more... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-01 16:05:23 UTC ]
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Writing Intimate Truths and Why Memoir Is a Force That’s Changing the Culture

Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is currently in its fourth year. We are a weekly podcast for writers craving a unique blend of inspiration and real talk about the ups and downs of the writing life. Hosted by Brooke Warner of She Writes and Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-01 08:51:12 UTC ]
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Escaping Gravity Takes a Brutally Honest Look at NASA

Lori Garver's new memoir details her struggles to get NASA colleagues to embrace SpaceX and Blue Origin. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2022-07-29 16:00:00 UTC ]
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So, Prince Harry’s memoir is done – but what’s likely to be in it?

Ghostwritten book, with interviews conducted mostly during ‘peak rage’, expected to be published by end of yearThe manuscript is, reportedly, written; the ink now dry. Publication is said to be on course to capitalise on the lucrative Christmas market.Few crumbs, if any, of the contents of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-07-29 11:04:37 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: July 29, 2022

“The US immigration system knows I am here. I shudder to think where my information is stored within the government apparatus and for what purpose.” Luz Aguirre on living as an undocumented American. | Lit Hub Memoir The Literary Film and TV You Need to Stream in August, from the Sandman... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-29 10:30:57 UTC ]
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8 Surprising New Memoirs to Add To Your TBR ASAP

From a memoir about African-Jewish cooking, Koshersoul, to one about grieving our pets, Good Grief, these new memoirs take a different approach to the genre. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-07-28 10:33:00 UTC ]
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A Daughter’s Memoir of a Mom Who Passed Down Her Trauma

Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. In this episode, Andrew is joined by Leah McLaren, author of Where You End and I Begin. Find... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-27 08:51:24 UTC ]
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Aaand, Skyhorse is publishing Blake Bailey’s memoir about cancel culture.

While we do not, under any circumstances, have to hand it to Skyhorse, publisher of Sandy Hook deniers, anti-vaxxers, January 6th conspiracy theorists, and Woody Allen—their brand is extremely consistent. To wit: they will be publishing another book by disgraced biographer Blake Bailey (they... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-26 20:31:25 UTC ]
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