Writing Coercive Control Episode 6: Carla Jenkins

Coercive control is endemic and therefore it must be cultural. If
1 in 2 women experience coercive control, it’s in our homes in
childhood. How does this affect us? And how do we talk—and
write—about it? This 6-part live-recorded, interactive talk
series will inspire writers and readers to explore literature
about coercive control in wider contexts, including state
control, parent/child relationships, historical control, and
control in industry and workplace. Guest authors Sahar Delijani,
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Winnie M Li, Chimene Suleyman, Kim Moore,
and Carla Jenkins, meet with host, author Abigail Tarttelin, to
discuss their experiences writing coercive control.


In this episode, debut novelist Carla Jenkins discusses
hierarchies and power in the therapist/patient relationship, as
represented in her novel FIFTY MINUTES.


Therapy was meant to solve her problems, not make them worse...


Twenty-year-old Dani is desperate to overcome her demons, leave
her dead-end job and return to her hard-won place at university.
Using her limited earnings, she decides to start seeing a
psychotherapist.


Richard Goode is educated, sophisticated and worldly-everything
Dani aspires to be. As he intuitively unpicks her self-loathing,
Dani assumes the fantasies she's developing about him live only
in her head. That is, until things take a shocking turn...


Descending into a maelstrom of twisted desire, manipulation and
mistrust, the power struggle between Dani and Richard escalates
until she's forced to make a decision she never would have
anticipated.


With host Abigail, Carla speaks about the aims of writing
coercive control into fiction, how to take care of yourself while
writing about difficult subjects, and how our cultural and youth
histories of coercive control can frame our adult receptivity to
it. She also discusses how easy it is to become a therapist, how
the lack of oversight is putting vulnerable people at risk, and
how making meaning through writing our own narratives about
coercive control allows us to take back power and make sense of
our experiences.


Also, host Abigail looks back on the last five episodes of
WRITING COERCIVE CONTROL, a podcast funded alongside her
work-in-progress novel ORDINARY WOMAN TURNS 30, an autofiction
novel about a woman dealing with the aftermath of coercive
control in an intimate partner relationship as she approaches her
30th birthday. The previous five episodes of the pod feature
discussions on state control with Sahar Delijani, parental
control with Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, industry control and #metoo
with Winnie M Li, domestic and romantic relationship coercive
control with memoirist Chimene Suleyman, and exploring the same
topic in poetry with Kim Moore.


Follow Carla on Instagram here.


Carla’s novel FIFTY MINUTES is available now to purchase or order
through all good bookstores.


Follow Abigail as she writes her novel on Substack at
abigailtarttelin.substack.com


Send your questions and comments for the podcast to Abigail’s
https://Instagram.com/abigailtarttelin_


Abigail’s novels FLICK, DEAD GIRLS, and GOLDEN BOY are available
now to purchase or order through all good bookstores.


This podcast is co-produced by Abigail and Clear Lines Festival.
Clear Lines started in 2015 as the UK's first festival addressing
sexual assault and consent through the arts and discussion. Since
then, their events have continued to promote a survivor-centered
dialogue that emphasizes creativity, community, and artistic
self-expression. You can check out their website with videos of
past events at:


https://clearlines.org.uk/


And sign up to their newsletter to learn about upcoming events
through their network:


https://clearlines.org.uk/contact-us/


They also offer a free downloadable creative writing guide for
survivors of sexual violence and abuse:


https://clearlines.org.uk/our-free-creative-writing-guide-for-survivors-available-here/


This podcast is supported by Arts Council England.


Get full access to Abigail Tarttelin at
www.abigailtarttelin.com/subscribe