Depth of Field My Guided Journal for Self Healing

by Kon, Desmond

• ISBN13: 9789814954662
• ISBN10: 9814954667
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2021-12-21
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

Depth of Field, deftly combines the self-help book with the activity book. Prefaced by epigraphs from Freud, Jung and Lacan, this book comprises 37 creative exercises, which may also be read as prompts or riddles. Accompanied with illustrations for ekphrastic inspiration, this book premises its ethos on the idea of writing as witness, investigating how people engage with their personal history through writing, and render particular experiences through the fine act of deeply felt writing. The collaborative engagement approaches writing as a powerful means of healing, in excavating buried emotions and expressing them in such purposeful intimation. Depth of Field excellently spans a wide-ranging demographic of reader, from the adolescent to young adult, mature reader to retired elderly. The exercises work with such thoughtful complexity, so much so that they come across at once accessible and intellectual. These are easy to read, yet compelling in their introspective scope. Depth of Field, a guided journal is also a reminiscent of activity books during childhood, filled with games and puzzles that encourage meaningful, self-initiated activities. In the same manner in which such books

Author Biography

Desmond Kon is the author of an epistolary novel, a quasi-memoir, two lyric essay monographs, four hybrid works, and nine poetry collections. A former journalist, he has edited more than twenty books and co-produced three audio books, several pro bono for non-profit organizations. Trained in book publishing at Stanford University, Desmond studied sociology and mass communication at the National University of Singapore, and later received his Masters in theology (world religions) from Harvard University and Masters in fine arts (creative writing) from the University of Notre Dame. In addition to grants from the National Arts Council and Singapore International Foundation, Desmond has enjoyed literary appointments at the Notre Dame Poetry Fellowship, NAC Writer-in-the-Gardens Residency, and NTU-NAC Creative Writing Residency. Among other accolades, Desmond is the recipient of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, Independent Publisher Book Award, National Indie Excellence Book Award, Poetry World Cup, Singapore Literature Prize, two Beverly Hills International Book Awards, and three Living Now Book Awards.