Tamarin Norwood: Writing a very brief life

Tamarin Norwood discusses her current project: writing the brief life of her son, Gabriel, who died shortly after his birth. Reflecting on her background as an artist and researcher, she talks about the deep coincidences between her doctoral research and her experiences of pregnancy, as well as how pervasive metaphors (to do with sleeping, being underwater, or in the dark) structure our cultural narratives around birth, death, and bereavement.

Content warning: this episode discusses neonatal loss, grief, motherhood, and pregnancy.

Find out more about:

The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing: https://oclw.web.ox.ac.uk/  @OxLifeWriting.

Tamarin Norwood: https://tamarinnorwood.co.uk/  @TamarinNorwood

Works mentioned:

Sarah Knott, Mother is a verb (Sarah Crichton Books, 2019).

If you'd like to be more involved, access exclusive events and attend our online book club, then join our Friends Scheme. We also offer writing groups and mentoring to those working on their own writing projects.

The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing is based at Wolfson College, University of Oxford.

Artwork by Una.

Edited by Charles Pidgeon.

If you'd like to be more involved, access exclusive events and attend our virtual book club, then join our Friends Scheme. We also offer writing groups and mentoring to those working on their own life writing projects.