Described as ‘A meditation on sickness, spirituality, creativity, and the redemptive powers of writing’, Jenn Ashworth’s Notes made while falling (Goldsmiths, 2019) is a story of a disastrously traumatic childbirth, its long aftermath, and the out-of-time roots of both trauma and creativity in an extraordinary childhood. Moving from fairgrounds to Agatha Christie, from literary festivals to the Bible, from Chernobyl to King Lear, we journey through familiar landscapes transformed through unexpected encounters and comic combinations. Hovering on the edge of madness, writing, it seems, might keep us sane – or might just allow us to keep on living. At this event Jenn will read from Notes made while falling and discuss the personal and creative process of writing.

Jenn Ashworth is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Creative Writing and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She has a recognisable media profile including contributions for the Guardian newspaper and BBC Radio 4 and has written many fictional and non-fiction works based on her own life experiences in the North West of England. Along with Notes made while falling, she has published four other novels, A kind of intimacy (Arcadia Books, 2009), Cold light (Sceptre, 2011), The Friday gospels (Sceptre, 2013) and Fell (Sceptre, 2016). More on Jenn and her work can be found on her website.

The event is being held at Seminar Room 6, Bowland North College, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YN. The campus map can be found here. Information on travel and transport arrangements to the University can be found here.

Professor Imogen Tyler (Professor and Head of Department, Sociology) will Chair the event and lead the discussion.

We would welcome all those in the department, faculty, university, city and beyond to come along and hear Jenn read from Notes made while falling. Copies of the book will be made available for sale at the event.

All questions and queries about the event should be directed to Dr Michael Lambert, Postdoctoral Fellow in Social Inequalities, Sociology.