Earwitness A Search for Sonic Understanding in Stories

In his twenties, Ed Garland came close to suicide but later discovered reading to help him cope with hearing loss and tinnitus. In this unique blend of memoir and literary criticism, right at the cutting edge of research drawing on both the literary and the medical worlds, the author reveals his own journey – through music then fiction – towards an understanding of sonic loss and, ultimately, towards healing. A genre-busting mix of literary criticism, sound studies and memoir, the essays explore what fictional sonic experiences can tell us about sound in everyday life. Written with humorous honesty about the ups and downs – mostly downs – of a young man’ s mental health, this is a thoughtful and original exploration of recovey, and of literature’ s ability to challenge preconceptions. Winner of the New Welsh Writing Awards 2018 Aberystwyth University Prize for an Essay Collection.

Ed Garland, was born in Manchester in 1984. After living in Leicester and Bristol, he moved to Aberystwyth in 2016. He received a PhD in English Literature from Aberystwyth University in 2022. His thesis analyses sonic experience in contemporary fiction. His book of essays, Earwitness: A Search for Sonic Understanding in Stories, won the New Welsh Writing award in 2018.