The rooms we build: poems of place and memory

Abstract

The rooms we build is my Master’s thesis in creative writing. My thesis consists of two parts. The first part is a semi-autobiographical collection of poems, prose poems and short fiction pieces entitled “Letters to ourselves”. The second part is a reflexive essay entitled “The rooms we build”, that briefly examines mental health, memory and place as forms of connection and disconnection, with specific reference to my creative component. In my creative component, “Letters to ourselves”, I use an epistolary form to express the breakdown of human relationships as a result of a lack of communication. The idea and process of letter writing, seen through the form of this collection, is intended to analyse the effects of catharsis on grief, loss of communication and mental health. A deconstruction of relationships through memory and loss becomes the main focal point. Overall, this collection seeks to understand the human condition and how catharsis found in letter writing can be a way of expressing memory.