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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How Cuomo's Book Became a Cautionary Tale

The pandemic memoir “American Crisis” has become a financial and ethical headache for Penguin Random House, dragging the company into the scandals that prompted the governor’s resignation announcement. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-08-10 22:21:07 UTC ]
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Kate Clanchy to rewrite memoir amid criticism of ‘racist and ableist tropes’

Poet and teacher has apologised for ‘overreacting’ to scrutiny of book’s portrayals of autistic pupils and children of colourKate Clanchy is rewriting her critically acclaimed memoir after widespread criticism of her portrayal of her pupils, particularly children of colour and autistic... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-08-10 18:58:54 UTC ]
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A Memoir of Pretending to See

In “Blind Man’s Bluff,” James Tate Hill opens up about the measures he took to avoid admitting that he had lost his eyesight. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-08-05 09:00:03 UTC ]
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Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, Rock Journalist, Dies at 75

She took the music seriously at a time when not many writers did. Among her books was a memoir of her life with one of its biggest stars, Jim Morrison. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-08-04 22:08:44 UTC ]
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Canongate acquires Fleming's outdoor climbing memoir

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-04 21:31:00 UTC ]
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Wilcox wins PEN Ackerley Prize for 'vivid' memoir Patch Work

Claire Wilcox has won the PEN Ackerley Prize 2021 for her "vivid" memoir Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes (Bloomsbury). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-04 21:28:36 UTC ]
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‘Lieutenant Dangerous’ uses wry humor to point out the absurdity of Vietnam War

In his memoir about being drafted into the Vietnam War, Jeff Danziger lays bare the futility and waste, as well as his own naiveté. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2021-08-03 20:35:22 UTC ]
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Tackling stigma

Piers Morgan really gets my goat. I suppose I should be grateful to have one of the many Twitter accounts he’s blocked over the years. But as someone who works in mental health, Morgan’s relentless stigmatising rhetoric, including his recent attack on gymnast Simone Biles for speaking openly... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-30 19:59:44 UTC ]
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A Memoir About Divorcing the Patriarchy

Gina Frangello had a suspicion there was a hunger to talk about women who break the rules. In advance of the release of Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism and Treason, she admits after some prodding, “I got more letters from women before this book came out than I ever received for... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-07-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
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How to watch filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia discuss 'A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes'

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-07-29 20:18:15 UTC ]
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11 New Books Coming in August

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[ The New York Times | 2021-07-28 17:14:59 UTC ]
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Not even published, already damned – why are people running scared of Prince Harry’s memoir? | Catherine Bennett

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[ The Guardian | 2021-07-25 07:00:45 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of July 26, 2021

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Viola Davis is publishing a memoir she describes as “straight, no chaser.”

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The risible launch of ‘Britain’s Fox News’

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[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-07-20 12:38:46 UTC ]
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Prince Harry to Write a Memoir

Penguin Random House said the book, tentatively coming in 2022, would be “an intimate and heartfelt memoir from one of the most fascinating and influential global figures of our time.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-07-19 20:26:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-18 21:27:23 UTC ]
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Graeme Macrae Burnet | 'In order to immerse yourself in a novel I think you have to feel that it is real'

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-16 17:48:55 UTC ]
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Art as a “Catalyst for Conversations”: A Conversation with Philbrook Curator Susan Green, by Michelle Johnson

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