The Berry Best
It is hard to explain the gut-wrenching embarrassment aspiring writers feel when they hand their precious work over to somebody to read – it is a combination of fear and (self) loathing, to paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson. Sam Barry, the creative writing winner of the Bulmers Berry ‘Who’s Hiding In The Undergrowth?’ competition, knows this feeling all too well.
Anne Sexton, 07 Oct 2011
“People read about it in the papers and it is an issue that is not being dealt with,” says Sam. “You can really touch the seriousness of it with writing. With a subject like that you have to face how you feel at the end of reading about it and it is something you really have to think about.”
Domestic violence is a topical subject and reports from those working in the area have noted that incidents have been on the increase since the economic downturn set in. Worse still, with more women and children trying to access refuges, there isn’t enough space for them all. At the end of this September, Sharon O’Halloran, director of Safe Ireland, which represents a number of domestic violence services across Ireland, noted that cutbacks had had a serious effect on the ability to deliver essential services to victims. There is no money to open new refuges and existing refuges are finding it more difficult to maintain their services.
‘The Last Goodbye’ examines the intersecting factors that change a happy relationship into an abusive one. Perhaps its most successful feature is Sam’s exploration of the myriad reasons why some women choose to stay with violent partners. These are both practical, such as lack of options caused by poverty, as well as psychological and emotional.
“That’s something a lot of people don’t understand about domestic violence – that there is a self-esteem issue and that the person loves their partner despite what they do. And it is not until they decide that they do want out, that they will leave.”
Read 'The First Goodbye' here.
Anne Sexton
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