Latest Novel: The Wonders of Doctor Bent
Paul Crawford
- Regions:
- Bristol, London, Worcestershire, West Mids, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire
- Notice Period:
- Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
- Type:
- Professional
- Fee:
- Free
- Category:
- Humanities
- Updated:
- 15th November 2024
- Tagged:
- Mental Health | Crime | Creativity | Wellbeing
A talk about writing fiction and mental health, drawing on my latest novel, The Wonders of Doctor Bent, out February 25th 2025 at Waterstones and all good bookshops.
A dark psychological thriller bringing together two unlikely companions, each suffering from their own forms of psychological trauma, in a complex tale of murder, revenge and abandonment. This is inspired by my own personal experiences, academic interests, and recent criminal cases, not least those concerning diminished responsibility.
The talk should be of interest to a wide audience interested in mental health and fans of the dark academia genre, combining an academic setting with darker themes of murder, loss, and exploitation.
Blurb
When everything is falling apart, who do you trust?
The worlds of Jason Hemp, an English lecturer, and Dr Bent, the unlikely Medical Director of high-security psychiatric hospital Foston Hall, come together in this dark tale of murder, revenge and abandonment.
Attempting to track down his twin brother’s killer, Jason finds his life unravelling in unexpected and frightening ways, whilst visionary Dr Bent attempts to reform Foston Hall into a place of comfort, all while facing his own mental health challenges.
Will both men survive the death of trust?
Views: 8 | Enquiries: 0About Paul Crawford
Paul Crawford is a trained public speaker, award-winning author and a leading figure in mental health, with Fellowships of the Royal Society of Arts, the Academy of Social Sciences and the Royal Society for Public Health. The world’s first professor of Health Humanities, which seeks to enhance people’s well-being through creative practices, he directs the Centre for Social Futures at the Institute of Mental Health, based at The University of Nottingham, UK. He has spoken on mental health and the importance of the creative arts globally to all kinds of audiences.
His new novel, The Wonders of Doctor Bent is out on 25th February 2025. It is a dark psychological thriller bringing together two unlikely companions, each suffering from their own forms of psychological trauma, in a complex tale of murder, revenge and abandonment. His first novel, Nothing Purple, Nothing Black about psychosis was acclaimed by major writers such as David Lodge, Paul Sayer, Sara Maitland and Roy Porter. It was optioned for film with British film producer Jack Emery (Breaking the Code, Little White Lies, Inquisition etc.) at Dramahouse, London.
His recent non-fiction work, Florence Nightingale at Home, won Best Achievement in The People’s Book Prize 2022. He also led What’s Up With Everyone, an animated series with Aardman (Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep etc.) to support young people’s mental health. This won Best Design and Content in the 2021 Design Week Awards, multiple categories in the 2021 PR Week Pride Awards and reached over 17m people within four months of launch alone. He is Joint Editor-in-Chief for The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Health Humanities and Commissioning Editor for two book series, Arts for Health (Emerald), and Routledge Studies in Literature and Health Humanities.
Social media and website links: X (previously Twitter): @ProfessorPaulC1 www.paulcrawfordauthor.com
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