Traumata

A brilliant, fiercely profound work of creative non-fiction in the vein of Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts.In this extraordinary book, Meera Atkinson explores the ways trauma reverberates over a lifetime, unearthing the traumatic roots of our social structures and our collective history.Using memoir as a touchstone, Atkinson contemplates the causes of trauma and the scars it leaves on modern society. She vibrantly captures her early life in 1970s and '80s Sydney and her self-reflection leads the reader on a journey that takes in neuroscience, pop psychology, feminist theory and much more.Searing in its truthfulness and beauty, Traumata deals with issues of our time -intergenerational trauma, family violence, alcoholism, child abuse, patriarchy - forging a path of fearless enquiry through the complexity of humanity.

'Traumata tells a powerful story with unflinching honesty and forensic curiosity ... Passionate, intimate and important storytelling.' Julianne Schultz AM FAHA

'Meera Atkinson captures her misspent youth with originality and vigour.' The Sydney Morning Herald

'An extraordinary journey through darkness, Traumata emerges courageously where "breath meets love."' Leah Kaminsky, author of The Waiting Room

Meera Atkinson has published widely- her writing has appeared in scores of publications, including Salon.com, Meanjin and Southerly, and she contributes to the quarterly journal Griffith Review. Meera is a PhD graduate from the Writing and Society Research Centre at Western Sydney University, and was the recipient of the Varuna Dr Dark Flagship Fellowship for 2017, awarded for a non-fiction application of outstanding quality in social, historical or political writing. She won the Griffith Review Contributors' Circle competition 2016 and Emerging Writers' Prize in 2011, and was shortlisted for The Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2007. Her most recent book, The Poetics of Intergenerational Trauma, was published in 2017 by Bloomsbury Academic. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and teaches at several universities.

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