Dr Martin Cathcart Frödén Book Launch – A Circular Argument

Discussant – Professor Yvonne Jewkes, University of Bath

Chaired by Professor Fergus McNeill, University of Glasgow

Uniquely combining two parts, one critical in the form of a research piece, and the other creative in the form of a fictional novel, this ground-breaking book spans creative writing, criminology and architecture to look at the ways in which power and hierarchies are explored and exploited in space.

Part one, A Circular Argument, is informed by a series of reflections on the author’s work as a prison teacher. Delving into the obsession with the circular as an architectural gesture and as a concept combining containment and transparency, the author examines spatial hierarchies across time, from the ideal planned city of the Middle Ages, to the all-seeing eye of modern digital society.

Part two, The Out, follows the fictional story of a disgruntled architect, a clever prisoner and an ingenious escape plan. Exploring how the complications and surprises of human interaction colour and change the supposedly watertight systems of social control society designs, the novel disrupts how we might think about space and power.

Injecting new energy and creative perspectives into traditional academic research, this practice-led book is an innovative exploration between critical and creative approaches, and between multiple social and spatial hierarchies.

Biography:

Martin Cathcart Frödén is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Malmö University, Sweden, and former PhD student with SCCJR. His debut novel Devil take the Hindmost won the Dundee International Book Prize. He has been Poet in Residence for The National Trust for Scotland and his short fiction has won awards including BBC Radio 4's Opening Lines.

https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/A-Circular-Argument/?k=9781800713857

Registration closes at 2pm GMT.

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SCCJR Seminar: A Circular Argument Book Launch