Follow the link to read my paper Darling Adopted Daughter: searching for catharsis through the process of writing a memoir, published in the Australian Journal of Adoption. Abstract Even though I understood adoption had impacted my life, I remained uncomfortably silent on the subject for close to forty years. I say uncomfortably because as a journalist/public relations writer, I always had plenty to say. It was only on the subject of my adoption that I found myself bound and gagged. I was silent because I had no idea how to articulate my adoption experience—words truly failed me. The memoir I wrote for the degree of Doctor of Creative Arts (Creative Writing) at the University of the Sunshine Coast, heralded my first completed attempt at portraying how my adoption experience had impacted my life. The accompanying exegesis explored adoption in literature, especiallly the theories of Nancy Verrier and Betty Jean Lifton—both of which had an enormous impact on me. It also considered how Adoption Wounds could be portrayed in an autobiographical narrative and asked whether through the process of writing a memoir, I could create a new self-narrative and gain catharsis. To answer these questions I researched trauma in literature and searched for the narrative devices that would allow me to articulate my own experience. The results were a revelation to me. This paper discusses the literary journey of healing I undertook when I wrote my memoir, entitled ‘Darling Adopted Daughter’. ‘Drink from the well of your self and begin again.’ ---- Charles Bukowski
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 10:02:09 +0000
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