We bumped into Emma O’Brien at the launch of the PhotoIreland Festival who told us about her debut phonebook with launched at Tsundoku Book Fair last weekend. Responding to themes of family and place, The Holding Place unpacks the psychological and physical landscape of motherhood.
The small world that is inhabited, the recurring daily routines, the scant time available, and the intimacy of the mother-child relationship. The personal and political blur as she explores the emotional complexities and challenges of motherhood. From a cracked hard-boiled egg familiar to any breakfast table on the go to the night-time glow emitted by a screen on her son as they play video games, it’s a powerful and honest reflection on the juggle of life as a creative and care-giver.
