ÈÕº«ÎÞÂë

Join Sussex alumni, Naomi Booth and Joanna Kellond, for this free event at the University of Brighton.

‘My childhood was a map marked with danger zones . . . Me and my sister were cared for. We were bathed and fed and clothed. But, as with many children, we couldn’t have told you if we were loved. Our experience of care came in the form of a warning’

Join Cartography of the Political Novel in Europe (CAPONEU) for an evening in conversation with Naomi Booth, discussing her recently published third novel. Raw Content examines the profound psychological impact of becoming a mother, against a backdrop of social violence. Exploring themes of vulnerability, trauma and family politics, Raw Content makes an important contribution to understanding the relationship between our social contexts and psychic states, whilst giving voice to the strangeness and wonder that surrounds birth and early life.

‘Raw Content is a beautiful and thought-provoking story of post-natal mental health, violence, paranoia and unconditional love in all its forms… and the landscape of Yorkshire is beautifully depicted weaving a thread through the narrative. Another five-star read from Naomi Booth.’ New Books Magazine

Naomi Booth is Professor of English Studies at the University of Durham. Her first novel, Sealed (2017), was shortlisted for the Not the Booker Award 2018. Her second novel, Exit Management (2020), was named a Fiction Book of the Year 2020 by the Guardian, who described it as a “timely and original dissection of class and desperation in Brexit London”. Her academic research focusses on literary depictions of the body. Her monograph, Swoon: A Poetics of Passing Out, was published by Manchester University Press in 2021.

and  (to give the organisers an idea of numbers for catering purposes).

Posted on behalf of: Faculty of Media, Arts and Humanities
Last updated: Thursday, 12 June 2025