Liz Macwhirter
l.macwhirter.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Research title: A novel and critical reflection
Research Summary
From Silence to Theopoetics: A creative-critical response to ontological suffering in a late medieval context that resonates with contemporary material and mystical interest.
As trauma research shows, emotional suffering can be hard to verbalise. Events feel too ‘present’, pain eludes description, complexity defies explanation; a person may choose silence or they may be silenced. My research project uses the form of a literary novel to create new ways to represent a range of liminal human experiences, including the spiritual. My characters explore themes of loss and exile, journeying and homecoming. The natural home for these non-dual experiences is as pre-modern as post-modern: the story takes place in late medieval Britain, when contemplative practice and political tension employed in the story still resonate today.
My praxis involves a creative response to primary texts from the period.
Publications
Macwhirter, L.J. (2018) Black Snow Falling. Scotland Street Press. ISBN: 978-1910895313
Supervisors
Grants
University of Glasgow School of Critical Studies, Strategic Research Support Fund 2021
University of Glasgow Centre for Scottish & Celtic Studies, Seedcorn Funding 2021
Conference
Edinburgh International Book Festival 2018 - panel speaker Feisty Fantasy; Coping with Change; Imprisoned Writers
AyeWrite! 2019 - Black Snow Falling solo events
Soutar Book Festival 2019 - Emerging Writers Showcase
Bramall Hall May 2019 - Black Snow Falling Schools Day May 2019 solo event
Cymera Book Festival 2019 - panel speaker Historical Fantasy
Scottish Book Trust Live Literature events 2019
YayYA! Scotland’s festival for Young Adult Fiction 2019 - solo events and panel events
