Scottish Writers' Centre The Dark Side of Reality with Jean Rafferty

The true artist is interested in the art object as an art process, the thing in being, the being of the thing, the struggle, the excitement, the energy, that have found expression in a particular way. The true artist is after the problem. The false artist wants it solved (by somebody else.) –Jeanette Winterson

Jean Rafferty's previous incarnation as an award-winning journalist led her into uncomfortable territory - prostitution, suicide, and torture were just a few of her subjects. She has been at the end of the world with a cult in the Ukraine and at what felt like it in Goma, when a million refugees from the Rwandan genocide of 1993 ended up in camps there. Her first two works of fiction were both subsequently nominated for literary prizes. Myra, Beyond Saddleworth, a fiction based around Myra Hindley, was shortlisted for the inaugural Gordon Burn award, while The Four Marys, her collection of four novellas, was longlisted in the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered awards.

Her fiction continues to explore the dark side of reality - The Four Marys features shape-shifting, baby-snatching, infanticide and a hanging, while the choice of Myra Hindley as a topic for fiction brought opprobrium down on her. This type of subject matter poses particular problems for the writer. Does a sensational subject require sensational treatment? Just because a thing is real, does it feel true in a work of fiction? Through readings from her work and discussion, Rafferty will explore the process of using real life in fiction. For more information: www.jeanrafferty.com