OUTOF THE TRAUMA, INTO THE LIGHT...
Since the #MeToo movement, the number of people contacting the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has soared, as victims seek help coming to terms with the physical and psychological effects of sexual assault.
For some women, the damage has lasted decades, as it is only now – prompted by the campaign to speak out about abuse that in many cases happened in plain sight – that women are seeking help.
And recovery is very much the theme of a new anthology of short stories by some of our best-known literary names, written specifically for the Rape Crisis Centre. The Broken Spiral: Short Stories for Healing, compiled by author Remie Clarke, is ultimately a journey of hope.
Clarke herself was a volunteer for two years with the DRCC from 2013 to 2015 and began the project four years ago.
‘I felt that a collection of stories would offer something good for people who might be going through something difficult. It’s also a way of raising badly needed funds for the DRCC as their income was badly slashed after the economic crisis,’ she says.
Some of the biggest names in literature have generously contributed to the anthology, including Pat McCabe, Mia Gallagher, June Caldwell, Colin Barrett, Roisín O’Donnell, Louise O’Neill, Claire Hennessy, James Martyn Joyce and Geraldine Mills. Clarke herself has also written a piece. She says the collection is united by one fundamental thread: that being heard and believed and accepted is the only way to emerge from the shadow of a trauma such as rape or sexual assault. ‘Pockets of light,’ she says, point to another way of living that is not defined by trauma.’
The title The Broken Spiral is taken from the symbol of the Rape Crisis Centre itself, emblematic of the winding and unwinding that happens on the path to healing.
It was only by chance that publication of the book coincided with the #MeToo phenomenon.
‘It was only as we came close to publishing date that all of this started to happen,’ she says. ‘So it was really bizarre timing. And now the book is coming out into that atmosphere.’
But she insists: ‘This is a book of fiction. All of the stories are short stories. The subject matter isn’t necessarily about sexual abuse or sexual assault. It’s not a book of stories about that. They are stories about healing.’
The Broken Spiral: Short Stories for Healing Edited by RM Clarke €15