Interview on Radio National's 'All in the Mind'

In September I was interviewed on Radio National for the show 'All in the Mind' hosted by Natasha Mitchell. The interview itself was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. We covered my book, Diary of a Schizophrenic, my PhD and my life with schizophrenia. It felt such a relief to finally have my battle with schizophrenia contribute in a substantial way to the public debate regarding the condition. One of the reasons I chose to pursue schizophrenia as a topic for my PhD was to help change public perceptions about the condition, and to help loosen the stigma that surrounds it.

I thought the show was very professionally put together. I had some music I selected (some Phillip Glass and Arvo Part) played to accompany some of the readings. I read from my diary, read a few poems, and delved into the philosophical intricacies of my PhD research.

It makes the long journey of the PhD seem utterly worth it, to have it enter the public domain, and hopefully make a difference.

You can download the interview, and see a few posted comments from listeners, on the ABC Radio National website:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2010/3011065.htm

I believe the interview may also be available as free download on itunes.

I hope now to turn this public exposure into the potential to help effect real change in perceptions of psychosis.

Victorian Premiers Literary Awards Dinner

Last week my wife and I attended the Victorian Premiers Literary Awards Dinner. My wife was convening judge for the Young Adult Fiction Prize. This is the second year we have attended, and a very enjoyable evening was had. The food was exquisite, the company very personable, and the presentations themselves were a real hoot. Each short list was performed as a musical comedy piece, which entertained the crowd no end. The speeches themselves by the winning authors were on the whole short, amusing, moving and at times inspiring. To see awards going to unpublished manuscripts, and seeing the look of utmost excitement on the winning authors face was quite a treat, and well worth being in attendance.

There were some real poignant, clever and biting speeches which gave a real insight into the minds of the winning authors. Awards such as these real change lives. One sentiment stuck in my mind. It went something like, 'its not the money or the fame which are important for awards such as these, but the opportunity to write one more book'.

Congratulations to all the winners, and looking forward to reading about those next books.

Writers Festival Wrap Up

The launch of my book, Diary of a Schizophrenic, at the Melbourne Writers Festival, couldn't have gone any better. Everything came together on the day. We started with a speech prepared for the occasion by Dr Matthew Sharpe. The speech was brilliantly read by Stu Hatton. Dr Sharpe's speech was eloquent and indeed moving, and I am grateful to him for spending the time to write such considered words. I then gave my speech, which went as smoothly as could be expected. I spoke of my life since the writing of the diary and some of the successes I have enjoyed. I then read a few selections from the diary, and finished with a few poems.

We estimated there to be about 70 people in attendance, which was great. After the readings I signed some books and answered a few questions. Its was great chatting to people and hearing their interests and concerns about schizophrenia.

The venue (Feddish at Federation Square) was the perfect back drop to really have an enjoyable day. My family was there, as were many of my friends, and I am delighted I could contribute some small thing to the cultural milieu of Melbourne during that important week of the festival.

And yes, if you weren't there, you can easily buy a copy of the book on Amazon.

Launch at the Melbourne Writers Festival

On Friday the 3rd of September I launch my book, Diary of a Schizophrenic, at the Melbourne Writers Festival. This has been a long held dream of mine, to participate in this festival, which I have attended over many years. The book itself is very close to my heart, and to see it gain a wider audience gives me a great sense of satisfaction. You can read blog entries below about the book, but in essence it is a dairy I kept in 1998 during a schizophrenic episode. A lot has happened in the meantime. I have passed a PhD, become married, become a father and had a rich working life. But most of all, I believe, I have lived, and in doing so given the book an added vitality which hopefully will serve it well.

At any rate, here are the details of the launch:

Date: Friday, the 3rd of September, 2010

Time: 11.30am - 12.30pm

Venue: Feddish, a bar at Federation Square, Melbourne , Australia

Attendance is free. You can buy the book, and I'll even sign it for you! Feel free to read below more about the book, how it came about, and its context in my life.

Hope to see you there.

Schizophrenia and Creativity

There is a strong and well documented link between the vicissitudes of schizophrenia and creative and cultural production. While all instances of schizophrenic psychosis do not inevitably lead to creative outcomes, there have been some important and famous examples. My last post detailed the work of Karl Jaspers, and his examination of the two highly influential artists - Holderlin and Strindberg. Holderlin's fragmentation in poetry, and his disconnected images have influenced whole generations of poets, most notably (I believe) the modernists. Heidegger's interest in Holderlin has given his poetry a cultural significance that is of great importance for understanding the intersection of creativity and schizophrenia.

What is it about schizophrenia that lends itself to creativity? One important aspect of the condition is what is diagnostically known as 'loosening of association'. Words and concepts can combine in the speech and writing of schizophrenics in ways of association that are highly unusual. In refractory schizophrenics, these associations lead to word-salad type expressions that run counter to meaning. In some schizophrenics however, this unusual and loosened conceptual play can lead to quite successful creative outcomes. Writing, especially in mediums such as poetry, associations of words and concepts has to be loosened via an imaginary obfuscation which gives a pleasant unusualness. With the right vocabulary, this unusualness can lead to expression of beauty which are at the heart of poetry. Schizophrenics are in a perfect position to capitalise on this linguistic gymnastics, due to the above mentioned symptom - loosening of association.

There may be other aspects of schizophrenia that lend the condition to acts of creativity. I will leave these to further blog posts in the future.

Karl Jaspers

In my PhD I looked at the philosopher and psychiatrist Karl Jaspers. Jaspers was important to my work, as he was medically trained in psychiatry, but held a deep interest in the cross-over between schizophrenia and creativity. His studies into the poet Friederich Holderlin and the playwright August Strindberg have been very important into my own studies into schizophrenia. Holderlin was very concerned with the world of Greek antiquity in his poetry, and through his schizophrenia, he came to believe that this world was a truly existing one. Martin Heidegger famously took an interest in the work of Holderlin, and this interest helped to ground his friendship (to an extent) with Jaspers. Strindberg, who also suffered from a deep schizophrenia, came to prominence through such plays as Miss Julie and The Father. He recorded his schizophrenic thinking in his work Inferno, and the document is important in understanding schizophrenic modes of being. Jaspers was well ahead of his time in examining these two seminal artistic figures. Even to diagnose them both as schizophrenic was ahead of its time - the diagnosis of schizophrenic cases was then, as it is now, a very controversial area of inquiry.

Jaspers gives a solid medical grounding to his work, and this gives his corpus a clarity which is invaluable into understanding creative manifestations of schizophrenia. Jaspers should be a first point of reference to anyone interested in how cultural production can be underpinned by schizophrenic processes.

Marcel Proust - In Search of Lost Time

There was quite an extended time, when asked who was my favourite author, I would say 'Marcel Proust'. His major work, In Search of Lost Time (also translated as Remembrance of Things Past) is a monumental work. One of the longest novels in world literature, it is an epic in a different sense to War and Peace. We might call it an aesthetic epic. This is one of the key narrative devices that Proust employs - an exploration of the arts and culture. Swann, one of the main protagonists, at one point hears a phrase from a sonata being played by a pianist at a soirée, and becomes obsessed. This concern with art is paramount for Proust. Proust had a passion for the English aesthete John Ruskin, who himself was a considerable dilettante who dedicate his life to the exploration of art. In Proust's In Search of Lost Time, people are continually being compared to classic works of art, as artists play their way around the stage of this sprawling drama. But it is a drama that is in a sense gentle and soothing (to an extent). I feel the book has a soporific quality. This normally would be said to detract from a book, but the kind of sleep it induces is one of those blissfully calm sleeps that one has a Sunday morning while it is raining outside. This brings me to the second quality of the book - and that is the poetic quality. Their are touching and moving descriptions of light playing amongst trees, wind rustling leaves, moonlight on still nights, and all the sorts of things that the poets of the ages have sung about. This combination of aesthetics and poetry makes In Search of Lost Time a powerful document. But a third ingredient elevates this text to greatness. And that is the psychological insight Proust employs to gather around his characters and their various forays into human drama. Character's words, actions and behaviours are imbued with a sharp clarity of description that gives each a wonderful human quality - a quality that all epic texts display.

Overall In Search of Lost Time stands above almost all of the great works written in the last hundred years. It is an achievement that will defy what time can bring down.