Are madness and creativity related? Two literary scholars and a psychologist bring a blend of professional skills to bear on this question, first reviewing the contemporary scientific evidence and then examining the lives and works of ten authors, dating from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, who demonstrably suffered from a psychotic illness. For its material the book draws extensively on the subjects' own written words to illustrate the intimate connection that existed between the authors' creative expression and what they felt and perceived as psychotic persons.

Sounds from the Bell Jar: Ten Psychotic Authors

Literature & Fiction

Watkins, Gwen

Claridge, Gordon

Pryor, Ruth

British & Irish

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

Book by Watkins, Vernon Phillips, Pryor, Ruth

I That Was Born in Wales: A New Selection from the Poems of Vernon Watkins

Watkins, Vernon Phillips

History & Criticism

Univ of Wales Pr

<p>Using genetics, experimental abnormal and clinical psychology, personality research, descriptive psychiatry and literary analysis, the authors present the revolutionary idea that normality and psychosis are continuous with each other. This groundbreaking work explores the lives and works of ten authors, among them Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath, who embody both serious mental illness and great originality of thought. The book draws upon personal diaries, historical archives, clinical records and literary productions, and examines modes of thinking such as divergent thought, over-inclusiveness, and autism, which psychosis and creativity might have in common.</p>

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Malor Books

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Books by Pryor, Ruth