HEARING THE VOICE AT THE INTERNATIONAL EDINBURGH BOOK FESTIVAL

At the Edinburgh Book Festival I was on a panel with the brilliant writers Nathan Filer and Matthew Quick. Their two extraordinary novels, Nathan’s THE SHOCK OF THE FALL and Matthew’s THE GOOD LUCK OF RIGHT NOW deal very directly with voices in the head. It was an enormous privilege hearing them talk and being sat next to them, and getting a chance to talk a little about Clod Iremonger.

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Here’s some more on the project, via the Guardian

Researchers from Durham University’s Hearing the Voice project will be at the festival asking both readers and writers what their experiences are. There will also be interviews, panel discussions and workshops delving into what is still a little-talked-about subject.

The project’s director, Charles Fernyhough, said: “It is usually considered a troubling symptom of a severe mental illness but is more and more being recognised as something that happens to a lot of people and there are a lot of different contexts.”

Contributors to the project, ranging from novelists to medical researchers, will blog about what hearing voices means to them throughout the festival. To take part in the study, fill in the questionnaire on the Inner Voices website