Ouroborous

“What I'm really interested in is the idiosyncratic shape of trauma. How memory creates hoops to jump through or the way conversations with friends become choral during the act of sharing. One story is never just that – an isolated incident – but a stone thrown in a pond that ripples outwards. Different shaped stones splash into the same pond, which isn’t a pond, but a pool, then a lake, then a delta that meets the sea.”

In the Shadow of Trauma

The piece explores the parallels between silencing and disbelieving victims of sexual violence and sick women through Charlie’s own experiences. By jumping back through time to some of her most vivid trauma’s, she reflects on how she was discredited and seen as an unreliable witness to her own illness and assault, contemplating the effect this had and still has on how she interacts with others, particularly within a medical setting.

Those words live in my body. Those words live

In their second poem for LCA, Elizabeth George walks us through the intricacies of having to painstakingly explain to someone how they can try make us feel ‘safe’ in a world doused in violence. Ultimately, they bring us to a place where we realise this someone was never ‘safe’ to begin with.

We're Hiring!

As we approach the half-way mark for our Autumn/Winter submissions period, we’re looking to hire a temporary freelance editorial and social media assistant.